AS/ST 1686 (Vulcain) Service

[AlexanderB]

Hi,

I got a vintage Vulcain watch from ebay for little money. The seller stated that the movement doesn't run properly. She stops from time to time.

I already asked a few questions here about the watch:

 

In this thread I will show servicing the watch. Stay tuned!

[AlexanderB]

Here we go. First of all I removed the coverstone from the balance cock and removed the balance assembly.

Then I removed the anchor bridge and anchor. 

 

[AlexanderB]

Next the bridge for the fourth wheel that carries the second hand in the center. In this design the fourth wheel is directly driven my the escape wheel.

 

[AlexanderB]

Barrel Bridge, ratchet wheel, crown wheel and click. Not too much to see here.

 

[AlexanderB]

Here a last picture of the bridge side:

Now to the dial side. Pretty straight forward.

 

[AlexanderB]

I noticed that the balance worked less well after the movement was fully wound. When I looked at the mainspring barrel I first noticed considerable dirt. After a closer look I also noticed that the cover was not fully pressed in the barrel. I am not sure if this is by design but I doubt that.

I decided to disassemble the barrel for cleaning and inspection:

It is pretty evident, that cleaning and lubricating is mandatory.

 

[Watchtime]

amazing how dirts travels into a watch///

[AlexanderB]

Everything disassembled waiting for cleaning.

 

[AlexanderB]

I first installed the cover stones. Actually, this was not a good idea. I found it better to do this after the wheel train has been assembled. So I removed them later for proper lubrication.

The first thing I usually to is reinstalling the setting lever with the setting lever screw. I place the setting lever on the plate and fix both parts with Rodico. Inserting the screw is pretty easy. 

[AlexanderB]

Next: Keyless work. Pretty straight forward. Nothing special. Besides the fact that I misplaced the yoke first. It has to fit in the groove in the plate.

This was the wrong way:

Had to take it apart again and redo it. The next pictures show the final result.

[AlexanderB]

The rest went pretty fast and well. I didn't take a picture of each assembly step, since I documented the disassembly well.

 

The result was a success! When I got the watch, the movement stopped from time to time. At one point prior to service she did not run at all. This was what the seller described.

After cleaning and proper lubrication (I use Moebius D5, 9010, 941 (pallets), 8212 (mainspring), and 9501) the movement behaves quite well for it's age between 40 and 50 years, maybe even older.

This is what I saw on the timegrapher after minimal regulation. Note: the beat error cannot be corrected easily since the stud is fixed on this movement. I did not dare to fiddle around with the balance.

Here are the results (° = amplitude, s = accuracy, ms = bear error):

• Dial up: +1s, 285°, 1.5ms
• Dial down: +20s, 306°, 1.1ms
• Crown down:+1s, 243°, 1.4ms
• Crown right (6 up): -5s, 250°, 1.7ms

I am especially pleased by the amplitude of the fully wound movement. This tells me the lubrication went well. 

Next steps will be cleaning the watch as good as possible. I will clean the dial only very carefully, using no solvents whatsoever. I will just remove the dirt carefully with a pegwood.

Any ideas highly welcome.

Cheers Alexander

Edited December 4, 2016 by AlexanderB

[AlexanderB]

I now cleaned the dial very carefully. I became soon evident, that I would not be able to do too much. I carefully used a pegwood to remove the worst dirt.

Before:

After:

 

[jdm]

If the laquer on the dial allows, you can try some demineraluzed water on a q-tip. Cousins also sell finer sticks. Unless it's corrosion from under the paint, in which case I don't think anything can be done.

Also, hands can be polished, there is some video on YouTube.

[jdm]

I should have added that this is a very clear guide with excellent pics.

[AlexanderB]

Thank you @jdm.

I will try demineralized water, however it seems to me that corrosion comes from under the paint. I won't mess around with it too much, since I will keep it. It she already looks much better, compared to the state I got it.

I'll look for the cousins Q-Tips.

[Geo]

A great write up Alexander, we could do with more of this quality!

[Tmuir]

Thank you, I enjoyed reading through this thread.

My oils arrived yesterday, now I'm just waiting on my wire baskets so I can clean the movements and I will be all ready to start practising cleaning and servicing on my practice movements. I find posts like these very useful.

[Watchtime]

Great walkthrough,....thanks for sharing.

[AlexanderB]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I really appreciate your feedback 

I now cased the watch, polished it a bit with Cape Cod and finished the entire job.

First I am happy to see that the power reserve is roughly 45h. I fully wound her on December, 8th at 8pm and she stopped December 10th 5pm. I consider this an excellent value for such an old watch that also shows me that I did lubricate the mainspring correctly. 

Here are a few pictures of the back side before and after and the movement after casing.

Before:

After polishing:

The result is much more visible on the real thing than it is on the pictures. 

 

[AlexanderB]

I then attached a new leather strap. She looks quite well now from a distance. Macro pictures reveal every tiny dent. 

All in all I am absolutely happy with the result. This is less than one year after I dared disassembling a movement for the first time. The first movement was a Chinese Unitas 6497 movement. I bought this new for learning because I had a lot of material available for this one.

Cheers Alexander

[Endeavor]

Well done Alexander! Your photography turned out just as good as your watch-skills ......