Open up mainspringbarrel

[MekaniskaUr]

Hello!

New to this forum and this is first post

I am doing a service of an AS 2063 movement and hit a little snag regarding the mainspring barrel. I have never been able to open these types of barrels gracefully, always leaving marks which annoys me, so i thought to ask people with more experience than me

So what is the secret to open these? I want to open it to replace the spring and clean it, seem like the previous owner thought it could be repaired with WD40 , literally the whole watch is soaked in it!

[sstakoff]

I had a similar issue on an AS5008. I was discussing with a Rolex watchmaker at a recent lecture and he had a great suggestion.

Take a regular razor blade and grind the edge to a taper. So you are forming the edge into a fine taper. Turn the barrel on edge and place on your bench - like a wheel on a car. Insert the narrow edge of the blade and push the barrel along like a wheel - thus driving the wedge into the barrel and separating it. I have yet to try this but it sounds great!

Please let us know if you do try and how it works out.

[MekaniskaUr]

Thank you @sstakoff!

That worked beautifully!

Just rolled the barrel on the edge on some rodrico with the blade on top, and with just a little bit of twisting motion with the blade combined with rolling, it popped out!

[sstakoff]

Great! Glad it worked out.

[rogart63]

It's the same as with some Seiko barrels. Use a breakable knife to open them. Some little mark there always will be? But it works very nice? 

WD40 in watches is a killer? 

Welcome to the forum BTW 

[MekaniskaUr]

12 minutes ago, rogart63 said:

It's the same as with some Seiko barrels. Use a breakable knife to open them. Some little mark there always will be? But it works very nice? 

WD40 in watches is a killer? 

Welcome to the forum BTW 

The Seiko barrel is just annoying i think they want you to buy a new complete barrel and not service the old.

WD40 is indeed a killer, the date disc on this watch have been in oil for probably quite some time and all the numbers are loose so i have to get a new one

[anilv]

Just a note..these type of barrels have the lid holding on to the barrel ( as opposed to the barrel holding the lid) . You need to ensure the lid comes off level, if you distort the edge it may not go back tightly enough.

HTH

Anil

 

[rogart63]

Working just now on a Seiko 7625 . Same type. Used a breakable knife . Not to clean inside there? Clean it i Naptha before i remove the spring. Doesn't get so dirty fingers then? 

Look at this mess.  

[jdm]

7 minutes ago, rogart63 said:

Working just now on a Seiko 7625 . Same type. Used a breakable knife . Not to clean inside there? Clean it i Naptha before i remove the spring. Doesn't get so dirty fingers then? 

Look at this mess. 

Seiko uses graphite loaded lubricant (and you should also) there. That's the residue, perfectly normal.

[rogart63]

1 hour ago, jdm said:

Seiko uses graphite loaded lubricant (and you should also) there. That's the residue, perfectly normal.

I clean it out and use normal 8200 and 8217 grease. Has worked fine? It doesn't dry out like Seiko graphite. D5 for the where barrell arbor goes out . 

[jdm]

Just now, rogart63 said:

I clean it out and use normal 8200 and 8217 grease. Has worked fine? It doesn't dry out like Seiko graphite. D5 for the where barrell arbor goes out . 

I recommend 8301 with graphite, which is the most similar to Seiko S4. On the spot anything works well, to see the real results we should check it again ins 30 yrs. Barrel harbor should use HP1300. I understand that D5 is natural oil with a shorter life.

[rogart63]

9 minutes ago, jdm said:

I recommend 8301 with graphite, which is the most similar to Seiko S4. On the spot anything works well, to see the real results we should check it again ins 30 yrs. Barrel harbor should use HP1300. I understand that D5 is natural oil with a shorter life.

Not bad choice . I will order a bottle next time. HP1300 maybe i have some t? But has so  much D5 left that i will use a little more before its to old: 

[MekaniskaUr]

10 hours ago, jdm said:

I recommend 8301 with graphite, which is the most similar to Seiko S4. On the spot anything works well, to see the real results we should check it again ins 30 yrs. Barrel harbor should use HP1300. I understand that D5 is natural oil with a shorter life.

I have a bottle of moebius 8201 for the barrel wall, but should i get an 8301 instead?

There are so many suggestions on lubrication on the barrel wall that ill go mad what to use?

[clockboy]

It is a controversial subject within the horology community. Recently I changed from using D5 to HP1300 & I am impressed as it seems to stay where put & being red the amount applied is very visible. I have used 8201 for a while now with no issues so will continue to use.

I note that 8301 is for "This is a solid grease particularly for winding mechanisms and springs & slip springs. This grease has a wide range of applications. Same as 8300 but with graphite."

No mention of barrels so I will stick with the tried & tested 8201