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Hello, Watch Repairer Newbie Here


KeesHaninger

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Yes Hi,

 

I've become fascinated with watches lately, particularly older mechnical ones. Why? I don't know, however I find ithe whole thing very exciting and thoroughly engrossing. I have a background in mechanical engineering as well as motor vehicle repair and am really looking forward to doing some tinkering on a micro scale.

 

I've been searching for sometime but finally I bought a project at the market this morning for peanuts: an Amida Castell which the salesman said was automatic. He gave it a shake and it ran briefly but kept stopping. On the way home I took off the back and thought the movement looked very clean, and didn;t appear to be an automatic, popped it back on, gave it a wind and it started running and kept running for some time. I timed it and it was losing a second each minute, however that seems to have sorted itself out and keeping time much better now. 

 

The watch looks alot more attractive in real life than in the pictures, particularly the dial.

Plans are to buy some tools: screwdrivers, and oilers, a loume?, maybe a small ultra sonic cleaner and strip it out, clean, lube and reassemble- if this doesn't destroy the watch I will firstly be very happy and secondly replace the crystal, and then find a band. 

I'll get stuck into reading some of the info on this site, thanks to everyone who's set it up. No doubt I'll have problems but I'll do my best to learn and do a good job.

Inside the backing case there are inscriptions for at least two seperate dates which I guess might be a service record of some sort. the last one appears to have an 88 or 85 at the end

 

 

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Welcome to the forum Kees, and thank you for the informative introduction. This is a friendly forum with lots of good members who are always willing to help, I'm sure you'll like it here. Like you, I'm another that has a background in mechanical engineering.

The watch you are about to work on has the potential to be a really nice piece, I like the look of it both inside and out. Having had a look at the movement, I really wouldn't recommend it as a watch for a first attempt at servicing. The train bridge has five jewels in it and I think it will be a really awkward one to replace. It would be better if you could start on a movement that has more bridges in it and less jewels per bridge. It's tricky aligning pivots with jewels when starting off on this journey, and you need to develop a very delicate touch to do this without breaking things.

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Hi Kees,

 

That's a nice watch you have and it should be a good one to work on.

One thing to note if you're not aware of it is the crown wheel screw (with the 3 slots) has a left hand thread. These often get sheared off if you don't know.

 

Have fun

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Welcome to the forum Kees, and thank you for the informative introduction. This is a friendly forum with lots of good members who are always willing to help, I'm sure you'll like it here. Like you, I'm another that has a background in mechanical engineering.

The watch you are about to work on has the potential to be a really nice piece, I like the look of it both inside and out. Having had a look at the movement, I really wouldn't recommend it as a watch for a first attempt at servicing. The train bridge has five jewels in it and I think it will be a really awkward one to replace. It would be better if you could start on a movement that has more bridges in it and less jewels per bridge. It's tricky aligning pivots with jewels when starting off on this journey, and you need to develop a very delicate touch to do this without breaking things.

 

That's a good point about the train bridge Geo, I hadn't spotted that.

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Hey thanks for welcome and advice everyone, "yes" I think it will come out very nicely too should I succeed. Left hand thread-thanks! The watch still seems a bit slow, however I stopped the watch from running in light of the fact that it's probably running dry. 

Okay well for now, given the 5 jewel bridge might be a bit much I'll might look for something simpler and post it up. I do have a couple of inexpensive Enicar's coming and a broken "Trabant" which I'm having second thoughts about working on because it might be poisonous.
 

0908yg-11_zpsb6ctapcl.jpg_57_1.jpg

0124yg-11_zpskqy32it3.jpg
 

Would any of these be more suitable for a first service attempt?

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 It would be better if you could start on a movement that has more bridges in it and less jewels per bridge. It's tricky aligning pivots with jewels when starting off on this journey, and you need to develop a very delicate touch to do this without breaking things.

 

Welcome!

 

I agree, I'm working on an FHF (font) 76, and that has four jewels on the bridge. I had the devil of a time getting everything lined up, especially the fourth wheel, as it is completely hidden under the bridge, with no way to grab it and joggle it into place.

 

Cheers!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Kees! (There's some scope there for horological puns I think!)

I look forward to your reports on your progress with the watches, especially the EB8800. Don't forget - lots of photos, for you and for us!

John

Nice to meet you John. Kees; yes- do your worst there with the horological puns, I love it :)

 

Lot's of pictures works for me.

 

I've had a little play wth the Castell "Premier" as I saw it is called (I was able to see that when I removed the crystal). The crown was loose on the stem so I put a tiny amount of blue Loctite on and retightened it whch has fixed the problem; I can now wind the hands forward. So I was able to set the correct date.

 

I realise that adjusting the regulator might just be covering what really needs to done however I had a go at that and succeeded in only losing about a second an hour which was a bit of fun but the problem is the watch only runs for about 6 hours and when I wind it the first few winds are nice but then it starts to spring back and unwind, but if I do a large enough wind it won't spring back but then occasianally it will all of a sudden unwind with the accompanying buzzing sound. So it's not really winding properly and I'm not really sure why at this stage.

 

The other thing is that unlike my other wind up watches it stops running when I pull out the stem to set the time, and I have to wind it for it run again, hmmmm- I wonder what that could be- a broken main spring?

 

As far as equipment goes I've got some new screwdrivers. They have 'FRANCE' engraved on one side of them and "MOD DEP" on the other, which I suppose is the brand name. They seem to work really well. I also have an el cheapo eBay kit with some rather awful quality but functional, perhaps only just, tools inside it. And I have some other tools coming- a crystal press and some loupes.

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When you say it unwinds do you mean the barrel unwinds or is it the spring inside the barrel that unwinds. If it is the spring inside it probably need replacing if the barrel is unwinding then the barrel click or click spring is at fault. The stopping when you pull out the stem is probably correct as some movements have a hack fitted.

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When you say it unwinds do you mean the barrel unwinds or is it the spring inside the barrel that unwinds. If it is the spring inside it probably need replacing if the barrel is unwinding then the barrel click or click spring is at fault. The stopping when you pull out the stem is probably correct as some movements have a hack fitted.

It is the spring inside the barrel that is unwinding :) Thanks for the insight.

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Glad you like puns Kees, I know more about punning than I do about watch repair! :-)

Are you very tall? We could call you 'Long Case'!

I like these unusual makers' products and Amida seems to have been an interesting one with literally dozens of brand names in its portfolio. Dr. Ranfft doesn't show your movement, at least under the Amida name, but the pin-lever movement he does show has the same layout and the same five-hole bridge. How many jewels does yours have? The pin-levers only have one but I'm sure that yours has the word 'jewels' stamped or engraved on it. Is there any identifying mark under the balance?

Keep posting!

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Glad you like puns Kees, I know more about punning than I do about watch repair! :-)

Are you very tall? We could call you 'Long Case'!

I like these unusual makers' products and Amida seems to have been an interesting one with literally dozens of brand names in its portfolio. Dr. Ranfft doesn't show your movement, at least under the Amida name, but the pin-lever movement he does show has the same layout and the same five-hole bridge. How many jewels does yours have? The pin-levers only have one but I'm sure that yours has the word 'jewels' stamped or engraved on it. Is there any identifying mark under the balance?

Keep posting!

Hahaha! I am just average height, hehe- Just please no 'keys hanger'!  

 

Okay; thankyou for the Amida watch information. This one has 21 jewels. It is also marked "Permaspring". I will have a close look under the balance wheel soon and get back to you, I am just at the moment measuring it's reserve power and it is just about to hit 24 hours. Everytime I look at this watch the better it gets! I'll try and get some good photos of under the balance wheel and pop them up here after it stops.

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I'm sorry in being late in welcoming you to this forum. I hope you enjoy yourself here. There's lots of great people on here that will be able to help you. I'm into clocks so if you need any help I'm your man

Pleased to meet you OH. Thanks for the welcome and introduction.

I think I've underestimated the Castell. It is still going after 32 hours now and keeping good time. Perhaps there is nothing wrong with it at all. Because I found it on the bottom of a pile of junk at the trash and treasure market I may have convinced myself it was no good prior to proper investigation. I'm impressed by its robustness. I'm hoping it will make it over 40 hours.

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Glad you like puns Kees, I know more about punning than I do about watch repair! :-)

Are you very tall? We could call you 'Long Case'!

I like these unusual makers' products and Amida seems to have been an interesting one with literally dozens of brand names in its portfolio. Dr. Ranfft doesn't show your movement, at least under the Amida name, but the pin-lever movement he does show has the same layout and the same five-hole bridge. How many jewels does yours have? The pin-levers only have one but I'm sure that yours has the word 'jewels' stamped or engraved on it. Is there any identifying mark under the balance?

Keep posting!

Yes, well the watch made 32 1/2 hours before it stopped, not too bad I guess, eventually as my know how evolves I'll attempt a clean and lube. But yes, no I can't see any numbers under the balance but I've taken some more pics. There is a mark a little like a pointed figure eight though.

 

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Yes Hi,

I've become fascinated with watches lately, particularly older mechnical ones. Why? I don't know, however I find ithe whole thing very exciting and thoroughly engrossing. I have a background in mechanical engineering as well as motor vehicle repair and am really looking forward to doing some tinkering on a micro scale.

I've been searching for sometime but finally I bought a project at the market this morning for peanuts: an Amida Castell which the salesman said was automatic. He gave it a shake and it ran briefly but kept stopping. On the way home I took off the back and thought the movement looked very clean, and didn;t appear to be an automatic, popped it back on, gave it a wind and it started running and kept running for some time. I timed it and it was losing a second each minute, however that seems to have sorted itself out and keeping time much better now.

The watch looks alot more attractive in real life than in the pictures, particularly the dial.

Plans are to buy some tools: screwdrivers, and oilers, a loume?, maybe a small ultra sonic cleaner and strip it out, clean, lube and reassemble- if this doesn't destroy the watch I will firstly be very happy and secondly replace the crystal, and then find a band.

I'll get stuck into reading some of the info on this site, thanks to everyone who's set it up. No doubt I'll have problems but I'll do my best to learn and do a good job.

Inside the backing case there are inscriptions for at least two seperate dates which I guess might be a service record of some sort. the last one appears to have an 88 or 85 at the end

Welcome to the forum.

I am almost like you. You are in a best place of unlimited knowledge that comes from hobby watch makes till highly experienced professionals. Looking forward to see more updates from you.[emoji4]

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

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