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The What Was The Problem Thread.

jdm

By jdm
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

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jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted (edited)

This can be funny and challenging. Present a problem without immediate evident cause, of which the cause has been found and fixed, give some elements, and let other guess. The cause must be a very definite fact please, not just "it was dirty inside" :)

I'll begin with what happened to me today. Seiko movement is disassembled for servicing. It is put back together the bare minimum to have it run, at first it runs but because of poor amplitude and large positional variance the balance cock is removed to examine and manipulate the hairsping, this two or three times but all of a sudden it starts making snow on timegrapher which doesn't reveal amplitude (sorry no pic). Removing the balance again doesn't reveal anything visually.

Anybody?

Edited by jdm
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jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

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Posted (edited)

Was the end of the hairspring slack in the stud or collar?

 

You got it right! I had an hint when, in despair I poked the stud arm a little and it started behaving, just to go crazy again after few moments. I was puzzled. Then with the balance removed again I found the hairspring was moving freely in the end stud. Pressed it and it's good so far.

Edited by jdm
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joelcarvajal Watch Enthusiast

joelcarvajal

Posted
Posted

I'll give it a shot.  But since I am such an amateur watch repair hobbyist, this case might be a no-brainer for many of you who are already experts.

 

Early last year, I received a non-working 1969 Omega Constellation featuring the venerable Omega 751 movement.

 

After replacing many parts, I was able to restore the watch.  

 

The problem was, the watch will run for several hours and keep good time but once it stops, with the second hand between the 35 to 40 second mark, it will stop intermittently after that.  The second hand will stop at the same spot everytime - around the 35 to 40 second mark.  

 

Shaking the watch, moving the stem, adjusting the time will restart the watch.  

 

There was no problem with the way the hands were installed.

 

At first, i thought it was due to a fiber (we have a yorkie running freely inside the house) on the escape wheel, but, even after striping and cleaning the movement, the watch will still stop the same way].  

 

When it runs, the second hand moves smoothly.  When the second hand stops, everything in the watch stops.

 

Here's a picture of the movement *before* I found out (or rather, I fixed by trial-and-error) the problem.  Note that the auto-wind mechanism was removed in this picture.

 

post-603-0-70354900-1454219553_thumb.jpg

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joelcarvajal Watch Enthusiast

joelcarvajal

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Posted

I knew it was too easy for you guys.   :bow:

 

In my case, I first suspected the slightly bent sweep second hand pinion.  But I figured it could not have caused it to stop at the same spot.

 

I also suspected a tooth of one of the gears in the train was damaged but after inspection, everything was in order.

 

I ignored the friction spring thinking that as long as it presses on the second hand pinion, it won't matter that it was not centered.  As it turned out, its edge/corner blocked a particular pinion leaf from turning.

 

Adjustment of the friction spring to proper shape solved the problem - and my hair pulling.   :thumbsu:

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JimInOz WRT Addict

JimInOz

Posted
Posted

Looks like the détente has broken off the set bridge/cover plate for the keyless works.

 

thumbsup.png

 

Wow, didn't take long at all, I'll have to find a harder one next time ;-)

 

Part on order, just have to wait for it to travel from the other side of the planet.

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oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

Posted
Posted

Looks like the détente has broken off the set bridge/cover plate for the keyless works.

Agree. It should have a little arm that has broken off. In some movements with this fault when you go to wind it changes into setting the hands because the piece that prevents this happening has broken it can also jam the winding and won't wind.

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matabog Super WRT Addict

matabog

Posted
Posted (edited)

If the keyless-works were in place, they might have been dirty. Or the intermediate minute wheel had a problem.

 

Maybe dirt or other things might have got in between it and the mainplate. Or maybe it was bent and touching the mainplate creating excessive friction.

Edited by matabog
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