Loose Cannon Pinion Or Loose Hands?

[fuse63]

So im working on an omega watch and before i serviced it that hands would move for a bit and then stop, i would say maybe move 15 minutes before it stopped(im guessing at this as i didn't pay too much attention to this before the service). After i serviced it, i hooked it up to my watch machine and it is running accurately. However, after the service the minute hand would not move, so I tightened the cannon pinion and it moved for about 5 min before stopping. I bought a new cannon pinion and the hands dont move at all, the cannon pinion seems like it might be a little bit loose on the new one. However it is new so it shouldn't have that problem of having to tighten it correct? Also could it be that the minute hand could be a little bit loose? I bought a new pair just to test it, but if its not the hands im stumped at this point. Any suggestions would be great, maybe i need to tighten the cannon pinion more but i dont want to over tighten it.

[Vich]

Hello Fuse,

Is the balance and train moving when the hands / pinion are not ? Is that your reason for looking at those in particular. Which model Omega is it and is it still out of the case so you are able to see the movement in its entirety. I have made the mistake of targeting a particular area as a source of the problem only to find it was something else. You may have to go backwards through the workings to sort it.

The Omega lads will kick in shortly and I am sure that once they know the animal they are dealing with you will get some help.

Cheers,

Vic

[fuse63]

Yes, everything is moving with no problems with the hands off and it is out of the case. It is a seamaster caliber 610

[joelcarvajal]

This happened to me once, it so happened that the crown was positioned to set time.  The pinion and the center wheel has enough friction but slips when in the set time mode.  My two cents...

[Vich]

Hello again fuse,

Hope Joel came up with the answer but just in case -

Everything below has happened to me at some time.

If the minute hand was loose it may not move but the hour hand would and vice versa. Was there any chance the hands were in contact, sometimes after a relume for instance there can be a slight thickening of the minute hand that causes them to touch if not perfectly parallel and it could be that they appear ok on other parts of the dial but only meet up once an hour.

Did you take the barrel apart and clean it, could the power reserve be affected by a slipping arbor or something else wrong within the barrel. The wrong barrel grease or mainspring oil can have an intermittent effect.

Have you looked at all the jewels for problems.

Could the problem lie with the lubrication -

It is not much fun but I have on occasion just given up and done a complete strip, clean and re- lube checking it all as I went the second time.

However, your original diagnosis may still be valid, have you been sent the correct part, I have twice been sent a wrong but very similar part by a major supplier, there was no problem about replacement in the end and they just told me to keep the wrong parts which they had accidentally and incorrectly marked in their vast stock.

Hope some of this could help, at least until someone can come up with more ideas.

Cheers,

Vic

[fuse63]

Thanks for the info. Hands arent touching, i removed the lume to see if that was the problem and it wasnt. I cleaned the barrel and oiled mainspring. No broken jewels but i will look over it again thanks

[fuse63]

So i installed a new mainspring and tightened the cannon pinion a little more and the hands move for 15 minutes and then they stop. When i pull the crown to the setting position and then push it back to winding position the hands start moving agsin. Let me note that the whole time the movement is running and never stopped. Any ideas as to what might be wrong?

[Vich]

Funny that this sort of resonates with what Joel was saying.  There must be a definitive link between the keyless work and the solution to resolving the problem as without that link it would not keep starting again when the crown is pushed back in. 

 

To state the obvious, some part that is engaged is disengaging either gradually or perhaps specifically at a particular point in  time but that part is affected by the keyless work in some way so that will be the area to look at.

 

I am going to try and find a pdf for the 610 to look at and I shall see if someone else can help.

 

Cheers,

 

Vic

[fuse63]

Thanks, i wonder if ithe cannon pinion is tight but just not tight enough? Ive been watching it since it started moving agsin and it has made it longer then 15 min. Im going to see if it stops at the 12, 15, and 30 min marker

[Vich]

I had to use a proper puller to remove mine from the Omega 28.10 Bumper I am currently working on as it was so tight - no way would it pull off with fingernails or tweezers etc. but I am not acquainted with the 610 so could not honestly say that it will be the same. However, if I do not sit on the fence, my feeling is that it is likely to need to be quite tight.

 

Cheers,

 

Vic

Edited January 17, 2016 by Vich

[Vich]

I notice that watchguy has done a service on two of these, it may be worth looking through them both to see if anything strikes a chord.

 

 

http://watchguy.co.uk/service-omega-seamaster-120-calibre-601/

 

Cheers,

 

Vic

[fuse63]

Thanks, its actually keeping accurate time now and the min hand has not stopped yet, it has been a couple hours now

[Vich]

Hope it works out. Another Horological mystery !

 

Cheers,

 

Vic

[fuse63]

Thanks, not feeling like im totally out of the woods but we will see. Thanks for your help