Cartier 690 Quartz Keyless Issue.

[number98]

Hi mark, i have this cartier tank quartz which for several unknow reason, the minute and hour hand doesnt move. As in, the time doesnt change. But it will move by turning the crown. So i place the watch on a quartz equipment which it produce sound to test whether the movement is working a not somewhat like the timegrapher used for mechanical movement just that this is for quartz. And it does produce the tick sound. So normally i would pass it to the watchshop i frequently patronize for repair but he charge quite expensive so i ask him what he does to my several watch (raymond weil, vacheron constatin) which has the same issue and he say all he does is just clean and lube. Since I have a bit knowledge on mechanical movement and has the tools like bergeon screwdriver, moebius oil and etc. I decided to take it apart. I first disassemble all and clean it using aeroplane parrafin after that oil the 8 jewel with moebius 9014. But im stuck at the keyless part. Unlike from the mechanical which has a setting lever when you pull out the crown and it engage to the setting time mode, this doesnt have. And when i try to pull it, all it does is the stem just come off. Sorry for my bad english. Am i missing something important or i assemble wrongly? Thanks 

[Mark]

It has been a very long time since I worked on one of these so I am not entirely sure but I think the setting lever is only truly secure when the setting lever spring, circuit and cover plate is re-assembled.

 

I do not think 9014 is suitable for this either, whilst it is thinner than 9010, you will possibly find that 9030 or Moebius Synthetic Quartz Watch Oil is more suitable and you should only put trace amounts on the wheel pivots, I don't recommend oiling directly in the jewels as you run the risk of too much oil.

 

Too much oil on any quartz watch is bad - it will cause drag and not allow the wheels to turn efficiently (especially when you consider how little power pushes those wheels round).

[number98]

Oh.. Hi thanks for your reply. I value your reply. And will try to slowly figure it out.. As for me currently is 1.06am saturday, if im not able to solve it then i guess i would pass it to the watch shop at 1pm! As they open half day on saturday. But hopefully i will able to solve it. After solving it, i will buy the correct watch oil and clean the whole movement and oil the correct oil as you mention. :) Thanks.

[Mark]

Good luck :)

 

One further tip I will give you. If you have a mobile phone or good digital camera then take a picture of the movement with the part next to the movement for each and every part you remove. Then when you re-assemble the watch you can go through the pictures in reverse and you will save a lot of time.

 

I hope this helps.

[number98]

Yeap. I do take picture using my iphone. But when i remove the mainboard, one of its setting lever drop on the floor! But i didnt aware of it. So the pics of me taking the movement was without the setting lever! I only discovered when i assemble back and ask myself where is the lever/button to press to release the stem? Lol. 

[number98]

UPDATE: Regarding about this cartier, i pass it to the watch shop i frequently patronize and he say this movement was beyond repair. The fault doesnt lies with the keyless issue nor the gear train. Its the circuit board. So he suggest to replace it with an ETA movement since this cartier movement is very hard to source. So i reckon what he basically done is file the cartier hands size to the appropriate ETA size and the dial feet either he cut it and use some dial tape or solder a dial feet. And i pass it to him to do the mod. :)