Hairspring Manipulation

[ftwizard]

I have a hairspring from an Enicar 410 and it appears to be conical. I have it off the balance and mounted on a stake. What's the best way to get it nice and flat?

The watch doesn't run at all well the way it is at the moment.

[clockboy]

This a useful vid. It shows the various adjustments including getting it flat.

 

[StuartBaker104]

Practice makes perfect...and if it all goes horribly wrong, you can still get a replacement balance from Cousins or obsoletewatchandclockparts.com!

[jdm]

4 hours ago, ftwizard said:

I have a hairspring from an Enicar 410 and it appears to be conical. I have it off the balance and mounted on a stake. What's the best way to get it nice and flat?

I don't know how much conical it is, but the screw holding the end stud is there to correct the HS on the vertical plane. Worth a try before starting messing with the spring itself.

[praezis]

If the hairspring itself is distorted to a cone, repair is nearly impossible, all coils are deformed then. You can try to deform the other way (pull the collet) to get a flat plane again - success is uncertain.

What can be done with a deformed hairspring (only limited locations of bending):

Regards,

Frank

[ftwizard]

16 hours ago, jdm said:

I don't know how much conical it is, but the screw holding the end stud is there to correct the HS on the vertical plane. Worth a try before starting messing with the spring itself.

I think you may have the best approach. I think I was chasing something that wasn't there, and in doing so, created problems for myself. I think it may not have been the spring at all, but rather the rate adjustment lever. I may have distorted it slightly when reinstalling it on the balance cock, which pushed the pin and boot out of parallel.

I wouldn't say it's running great, but it is running.

With that in mind, what is considered the best and safest way of reinstalling the adjustment lever of the type shown in Frank's pictures above.

Edited August 9, 2016 by ftwizard

[Cad101]

Did it come off or did you take it off. If you did why you don't have to. They can be tricky as they can break easily. I remove balance and hairspring lay the balance cock flat on a piece of rodico flattened out it stops it from moving about as much then gently push the lever on from one side I use 2 pieces of pegwood one to hold one side the other to push the other side into place just be very gentle ( I mean very very very gentle.) and it should pop back on it should have a gap in as you can see in Franks pic that opens up and closes when it clicks into place its like a spring. Also if there is a visible gap in it lay it on top and hold it in place with a little downward pressure and put a small driver in the gap and twist to slightly open the gap further and it should slip over I've done both you just have to be very gentle. HMMMMM did I say gentle enough in this reply

[ftwizard]

Yes, I did it pretty much the same. The only issue is the pin and boot. If you are not extremely careful they can get damaged so easily. I just wondered if anyone has a foolproof method that avoids any chance of damage to the regulator pin and boot.

I removed it during service, to clean the balance jewel.

[Cad101]

If you are carful you shouldn't damage them just make sure the boot is closed first. Did your balance have a incabloc spring as shown in Franks Pic again you only need to unclip the spring and remove the jewels to clean them.

[ftwizard]

Nope, screw on type. Anyway, I've learnt another lesson, so that's a good outcome in my book.

Only problem now, is it keeps stopping and starts if I move the winding crown, either in winding mode or setting mode. Strange.