Things What Go "ping!"

[JimInOz]

Don't you hate it when you know you're removing a springy thing from a watch, but you don't want to bag it (too much trouble) so you just go ahead and push it off the pusher.

"PING"......and the circlip smaller than a pin head just vanishes.

You freeze like a rabbit in the headlights hoping to see or hear the landing but no luck.

A scour of the bench top reveals nothing so you resign yourself to the loss, get a ziplock bag and remove the last three clips which although they spring like fleas on steroids, are captured inside the baggy.

But imagine the relief as you go to scratch an itch on your left temple and notice a blemish on your underarm, not a blemish in fact, but the missing circlip.

 

"YaFKNhoo" is a mild expression used by many watch tinkerers on finding that part no longer destined for the never never.

 

 

I can't recommend too highly the use of the clear plastic sandwich bag when attempting to remove those high powered little parts that just want freedom and obscurity (usually in the carpet).

 

 

[Mark]

Lol. Happens to the best of us.

Those pusher circlips are best removed after you have stuffed some rodico (or blutack) under. And then push the clip down into the rodico. They won't ping off then :)

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[JimInOz]

Good tip Mark, thanks for a bit more education ;-)

 

I'll file that one in the memory bank for removal procedures, but I will stick to the baggy for putting the little boggers back on!

 

(Unless you have a tip for that?)

 

Cheers

 

Jim

[jdrichard]

So I was removing the bezel from a Seiko 7548-700F and I turned it upside down to drop the bezel on my hand. Guess what, the click ball decided to take a walk. So there I was on my hands and knees wearing a pair of magnifying glasses when my wife comes in. "What are you doing", she says. "I'm looking for the world's smallest part on the world's biggest floor", She thought I was nuts but needed to get a picture so my kids (no longer at home) could see how nuts dad is getting. I never found the part but am super paranoid and cautious with small parts now. Need to get a bio hazard tent to work in.

From Canada

[bobm12]

Hi JD,

 

you can make do with the ball or a ball pen! I have and it works fine, just clean it well of the ink. A point .7 or a .5 would work.

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[canthus]

All part of the fun and you can claim your are housekeeping !!   Just found an incabloc spring and minutely sized screw I lost last October !!!  This was despite having vaccumed the room many times since losing them.  Maybe I need a better vac or eyes !!   :cool:

[JimInOz]

Well all's well that ends well. I finished the recovery mission on a Rip Curl Oceantide Tide Watch.

 

Found it in a box of watch junk I got a couple of years ago.
Completely dead, choked with mud and corrosion, no strap, movement/battery corroded and dead as a dodo. 

It's probably only worth about $5 but I just had to rescue it, so out with the movement for a case clean. Pushers were removed and de-crudded, re-lubed and re-installed. Putting on the tiny C clips was very intense (but I didn't lose any this time). 

The movement was stripped, cleaned, all contacts scrubbed and a brand new battery went in and now it's a goer.

The digital calendar only goes up to 2010 so have to cheat on the year to get the right day/date combo and now I have to figure out how to sync the tide readings to local time (any surfers ever use one of these?).

Now on a NATO for occasional wear at the beach.

 

[Geo]

A very tidy job as usual Jim, I've not seen the tides displayed like that before.

How about cleaning out the remaining black on the writing and refilling. I have found smooth black Hammerite paint is excellent for doing this. Please don't take this as a criticism, it's only a suggestion.

.

[Mark]

A very tidy job as usual Jim, I've not seen the tides displayed like that before.

How about cleaning out the remaining black on the writing and refilling. I have found smooth black Hammerite paint is excellent for doing this. Please don't take this as a criticism, it's only a suggestion.

.

I've mixed black paint into clear epoxy on a few occasions and had some good results refilling the lettering.

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[bobm12]

I just use acrylic paint with a brush and sand over flat...it comes out perfect.

[JimInOz]

Thanks for the tips, next time I'm in town I'll drop in to the hobby shop for a decent size tin of paint. Most of the stores around here have paint in "X litres".

 

Has anybody tried black nail polish at all?

[Spandrel]

My recent "thing that went ping" was a barrel click spring from a lovely vintage Sekonda ladies watch. I try to avoid working with these tiny movements as my old eyes are past their best but as I say it was for a friend. I didn't realise that such springs would ping so efficiently! I never ffound it but I had a spare scrap Sekonda movement which was cannibalised.