Jump to content

Balance wheel won't start swinging

BFernandes
 Share

Recommended Posts

BFernandes Member

BFernandes

Posted
Posted

Hi Gents,

So I pickup an manual wind Unitas like movement to try to get it to work.

I opened it, wound it a bit, but the balance wheel wouldn't move. I took the balance wheel off and touched the pallet fork and it snapped right away to the opposite position, meaning it has power. That's good.

I slowly put the balance wheel back on, twisted it and put it in place it moved a bit and stopped right away.

I took some closeup pictures for you to see if you can find some faulty piece.

Thanks a lot!

WIN_20231111_16_26_30_Pro.jpg

WIN_20231111_16_27_35_Pro.jpg

WIN_20231111_16_27_59_Pro.jpg

WIN_20231111_16_32_09_Pro.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

Posted
Posted

A lot of times with broken balance staffs which are very common on watches that do not have balance protection systems is you can gently push on the balance wheel and see if a flops around. Then at some point we also want to always check to make sure your hairspring is flat it's amazing how much problems hairsprings can cause if they're not exactly where there supposed to be

I had a watch this week that the roller jewel was loose so I fixed that it ran great in a dial up amplitude looks spectacular but dial down crashed and burned which normally would be a pivot issue but I traced it to the hairspring was flat must've been just touching the balance

Then there's another peculiar thing with this watch have you cleaned it yet or is this the way it came in?

image.png.bcb8763de3744c25a887d06cd95ef9a9.png

You'll notice in the image above swiped from up above I circled something well sort of on the right-hand side your pallet stone is out way too far normally you never see a gap that big behind the stone. So something isn't quite right there and the lock is a excessive and on the other side the lock would be well nonexistent because you don't even appear to have a pallet stone at all.

1 hour ago, BFernandes said:

Unitas like movement

That if you seeking help for parts you going to need a little more than that description. You should be a number under the balance wheel which I can't quite see or there's other ways to figure out what this is.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Terrinecold
      Learning Watch repair maintenance

      By Terrinecold · Posted

      Thank you everybody for the replies and advices
    • clockboy
      Chinese tools debate

      By clockboy · Posted

      Yesterday evening I was trolling the net ( as we all do)  when I stumbled on this vid. Last month there was a debate on are Chinese tools worth purchasing and I gave my thoughts that being the biggest differences is the materials used to make them and also they are not built to the Swiss fine tolerances. The tool he shows to compare with the Seitz jeweling tool I am sure is Chinese and shows the point I was tring to make.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIqQcVLgtB0
    • AlecMac
      Tight steady pins on balance cocks

      By AlecMac · Posted

      Good afternoon. More than once I've damaged balance staffs because  tight steady pins necessitating force to get the balance cock in place. I assume the steady pins get slightly deformed over the years by over enthusiastic balance cock removal. So now I take the lesser evil of using a smoothing broach on the steady pin holes so I get the feel and control back when fitting the cock. Is this the best option or am I missing a trick? Thanks all. 
    • levic900rr
      My first actual fix

      By levic900rr · Posted

      I dont have any personal friends who are watch nerds so I have to share my joy with y'all 🙂  If you saw my other thread I had bought a Elgin Sportsman to start learning on after getting fairly proficient with my practice movement. I ended up stripping out some threads in the main plate and abandoning that project. I was able to clean it and get it running again so I learned a ton.  Next up, a Gruen Precision that I got off ebay. This project took forever and after realizing the balance was no good and buying a donor movement I was able to get it back in working order. I dont have a time grapher yet but I've been wearing it for 2 days and its keeping pretty dang good time!  - Disassembled, cleaned and reassembled / lubed the entire movement.  - Pressed in a new crystal - Replaced the strap - Replaced the crown (the old crown was just destroyed) One thing that really killed me was that I scratched the dial with my hand levers. I was just rushing because I was frustrated (had to take the hands off a few extra times because they weren't flat) lesson learned.    Next up is a Seiko that I also got on ebay. This will be my first automatic, and my first date complication. Super excited and so glad I found this hobby!   
    • Terrinecold
      st36 vs ETA 6497

      By Terrinecold · Posted

      Well I actually looked more into it and I think the answer is the following: ST36/3600 is not a clone of ETA6497 it is a clone of OP XI which is a derivation of the ETA. And when you look at both they are actually complete clones (the beat, the bridge shapes even the decoration).  
×
×
  • Create New...