Reminder on meticulous inspection of parts

[Knebo]

Hello all, 

I'm writing this message after a couple of sleepless nights. 

I am servicing a Rolex cal 2135 and everything seemed fine until I put the balance in and put the movement on the timegrapher. Only 180° amplitude dial down and 220° dial up. 

As the gear train was spinning nice and freely and no issue visible on the pallet fork, my main focus of attention was on the balance itself. In fact, I observed an ever so slightly wobble. I was petrified because a NOS balance for this calibre costs around 400-500usd. 

I devised this assessment plan:

1. check shock protected escape wheel jewels with 

2. (Release power from mainspring) 
Remove Pallet fork, check pivots and check backspin in wheels

3. Balance jewels re-oil

4. Remove balance/hairspring
- inspect pivots visually and with truing tool
- inspect hairspring for flatn9and concentricity

As you can see, I put the risky business of hairspring work at the end. First wanted to exclude other possibilities. 

 

Now, fortunately, I only had to go to point 3 to solve the problem!

But why am I writing this post? 

..because I almost missed the issue. And I want to remind others, especially beginners, to be thorough in the inspection process. 

So, what happened?

I took out the balance jewels, rinsed them in Essence Renata (like One Dip), re-oiled and was about to put the hole jewel on the cap jewel. 

But then I spotted the TINYEST bit of grime on the edge of the hole jewel (where jewel and metal setting meet). I almost dismissed it and thought it was just a dark reflection of the brass setting. I couldn't remove it with my No5 tweezers. So small. Rodico finally did the trick. 

All back together and boom amplitude up to 250 in both dial up and dial down (still searching for more..). That's 70° more than previously in the dial down position. No more wobble in the balance (the dirt must have caused the cap jewel to sit uneven and consequently the balance pivot would go up and down the slope created by the cap jewel). 

I think I was over-reliant on my standard cleaning procedure (one L&R cleaning and two rinsing cycles in my ultrasonic cleaner) without double checking every part. 

So, remember to check every part! Tiny details matter! 

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

15 minutes ago, Knebo said:

Hello all, 

I'm writing this message after a couple of sleepless nights. 

I am servicing a Rolex cal 2135 and everything seemed fine until I put the balance in and put the movement on the timegrapher. Only 180° amplitude dial down and 220° dial up. 

As the gear train was spinning nice and freely and no issue visible on the pallet fork, my main focus of attention was on the balance itself. In fact, I observed an ever so slightly wobble. I was petrified because a NOS balance for this calibre costs around 400-500usd. 

I devised this assessment plan:

1. check shock protected escape wheel jewels with 

2. (Release power from mainspring) 
Remove Pallet fork, check pivots and check backspin in wheels

3. Balance jewels re-oil

4. Remove balance/hairspring
- inspect pivots visually and with truing tool
- inspect hairspring for flatn9and concentricity

As you can see, I put the risky business of hairspring work at the end. First wanted to exclude other possibilities. 

 

Now, fortunately, I only had to go to point 3 to solve the problem!

But why am I writing this post? 

..because I almost missed the issue. And I want to remind others, especially beginners, to be thorough in the inspection process. 

So, what happened?

I took out the balance jewels, rinsed them in Essence Renata (like One Dip), re-oiled and was about to put the hole jewel on the cap jewel. 

But then I spotted the TINYEST bit of grime on the edge of the hole jewel (where jewel and metal setting meet). I almost dismissed it and thought it was just a dark reflection of the brass setting. I couldn't remove it with my No5 tweezers. So small. Rodico finally did the trick. 

All back together and boom amplitude up to 250 in both dial up and dial down (still searching for more..). That's 70° more than previously in the dial down position. No more wobble in the balance (the dirt must have caused the cap jewel to sit uneven and consequently the balance pivot would go up and down the slope created by the cap jewel). 

I think I was over-reliant on my standard cleaning procedure (one L&R cleaning and two rinsing cycles in my ultrasonic cleaner) without double checking every part. 

So, remember to check every part! Tiny details matter! 

 

 

Hi knebo very well done for meticulously rechecking everything. I really only have one criticism and that is nothing is worth a sleepless night. Very easy statement to make i know and not easy to follow, but lack of sleep never solved anything. Starting afresh the next morning after a good night's sleep things always seem better and we think more logically, the brain needs to rest as well as the body. Ps pegging out the jewels before cleaning can make a big difference. 

[Knebo]

30 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Hi knebo very well done for meticulously rechecking everything. I really only have one criticism and that is nothing is worth a sleepless night. Very easy statement to make i know and not easy to follow, but lack of sleep never solved anything. Starting afresh the next morning after a good night's sleep things always seem better and we think more logically, the brain needs to rest as well as the body. Ps pegging out the jewels before cleaning can make a big difference. 

Thanks!

Yes, "easier said than done". I was just thinking and thinking about the possible causes and the strategy of fault-finding. And the potential costs of a bent balance pivot (which was my main fear). I did indeed only return to the "bench" after 5 days -- precisely because I was never rested enough before that (I usually tinker in the evenings, after work and after my 3-year-old sons goes to sleep -- not ideal).

On pegging jewels, I did that (it does indeed make a big difference!). But the pegwood doesn't usually go to that corner between jewel and metal setting. But it could & should.

 

 

 

Oh, PS: unfortunately, I didn't take picture of the speck of grime. BUT I just found an interesting picture of the assembled jewel setting (that I took before finding the dirt). If you look closely, you'll notice that the pivot isn't properly centered with respect to the oil circle. Can you see it? In retrospect, this could have been an indication that the cap jewel isn't laying straight. Might be useful for others when inspecting!!

Edited February 1 by Knebo

[JohnR725]

40 minutes ago, Knebo said:

balance pivot would go up and down the slope created by the cap jewel). 

Rolex has a interesting service procedure of checking things before you clean the watch so your problem comes up after cleaning after you were to check something. But as you're having an issue it might have been wise to go back and recheck things like this. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Knebo said:

Thanks!

Yes, "easier said than done". I was just thinking and thinking about the possible causes and the strategy of fault-finding. And the potential costs of a bent balance pivot (which was my main fear). I did indeed only return to the "bench" after 5 days -- precisely because I was never rested enough before that (I usually tinker in the evenings, after work and after my 3-year-old sons goes to sleep -- not ideal).

On pegging jewels, I did that (it does indeed make a big difference!). But the pegwood doesn't usually go to that corner between jewel and metal setting. But it could & should.

 

 

 

Oh, PS: unfortunately, I didn't take picture of the speck of grime. BUT I just found an interesting picture of the assembled jewel setting (that I took before finding the dirt). If you look closely, you'll notice that the pivot isn't properly centered with respect to the oil circle. Can you see it? In retrospect, this could have been an indication that the cap jewel isn't laying straight. Might be useful for others when inspecting!!

For sure your eyesight is better than mine, I'm pleased that you sorted it and a good reminder to check and double check everything. 

[VWatchie]

3 hours ago, Knebo said:

So, remember to check every part! Tiny details matter! 

Thanks for the reminder! Once we've been lucky once or twice there is always the risk of starting to suffer from hubris and laziness. My best example is an ETA movement where I missed some very minuscule oxidation on the pivots and the amplitude suffered tremendously.  Once taken care of the amplitude was as close to perfection as I've ever gotten.

 

4 hours ago, Knebo said:

I'm writing this message after a couple of sleepless nights. 

I know the feeling it's mercilessly painful!