Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

Hi guys, does anybody know how I let the main spring down on one of these movements!750a8b2b36adb99b1a6a50d157bacf18.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


299bcab8a05872ee5603e84bc451a242.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Posted

I have not found a effective way to service a Timex. Timex watches were produced to be used and then replaced.  This might help but how to actually remove the plate is not explained but on page 24.4 shows how to let the mainspring down.

 

Timex 24.pdf

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Posted

I think you let the spring down by removing the dial and the hands. I never bothered repairing these watches as clockboy says they were made to just be replaced. One other thing it is a myth you cannot over wind a watch, when the spring is fully wound and the watch doesn't go there is something wrong in the movement preventing it from working, dried oil, dirt and wear are the most common.

Posted

OH is quite correct in that you need to remove the dial in order to access the click and safely let down the main spring.

CB has also provided the service manual which if followed will result in an effectively serviced Timex.

Contrary to popular opinion Timex watches were manufactured with servicing in mind and Timex had in place the supply of all spare parts for exactly this purpose. The servicing procedures that Timex outline in the servicing manual were specifically developed to facilitate a simpler and cheaper approach to servicing a movement which was itself designed with this approach to servicing in mind.

I get the feeling that a lot of he more traditional watchmakers got frustrated with Timex movements because rather than adopting the Timex procedures they tried to fully disassemble the watch to clean it and subsequently struggled to reassemble it, resulting in a hatred and disrespect for the brand.

Looked after the way that Timex intended, they are perfectly capable time keepers (not Rolex precision granted, but perfectly adequate) and significantly more robust than the fully jewelled, 10x the price, Swiss alternatives. I've never come across a "V-Conic" balance with a broken pivot for instance.

 

  • Like 4
Posted

Marc your right there we sent them back to Dundee to Timex (I think that was the place) we also used to take our frustration out on them and smash them up with a hammer. :DI can sum up Timex in one word RUBBISH

  • Sad 1
Posted
3 hours ago, Marc said:

OH is quite correct in that you need to remove the dial in order to access the click and safely let down the main spring.

CB has also provided the service manual which if followed will result in an effectively serviced Timex.

Contrary to popular opinion Timex watches were manufactured with servicing in mind and Timex had in place the supply of all spare parts for exactly this purpose. The servicing procedures that Timex outline in the servicing manual were specifically developed to facilitate a simpler and cheaper approach to servicing a movement which was itself designed with this approach to servicing in mind.

I get the feeling that a lot of he more traditional watchmakers got frustrated with Timex movements because rather than adopting the Timex procedures they tried to fully disassemble the watch to clean it and subsequently struggled to reassemble it, resulting in a hatred and disrespect for the brand.

Looked after the way that Timex intended, they are perfectly capable time keepers (not Rolex precision granted, but perfectly adequate) and significantly more robust than the fully jewelled, 10x the price, Swiss alternatives. I've never come across a "V-Conic" balance with a broken pivot for instance.

 

I have read the servicing procedures recommended by Timex. However I personally do not believe a watch can be effectively serviced without it being stripped inspected and cleaned. Many watchmakers also agree and thats why they do not entertain a Timex. 

  • Haha 1
Posted
53 minutes ago, clockboy said:

I have read the servicing procedures recommended by Timex. However I personally do not believe a watch can be effectively serviced without it being stripped inspected and cleaned. Many watchmakers also agree and thats why they do not entertain a Timex. 

it's certainly true to say that there are a lot of watchmakers out there who consider Timex's own published service procedures to be inadequate, and the design philosophy and build quality of their watches to be contemptibly inferior. This is something that I have never understood; it's almost as though there is amongst watchmakers a culture of bias against the brand, dare I say it, an element of snobbery.

It's also quite correct that Timex's service procedures would be wholly inappropriate for a fully jewelled movement, in much the same way that the service requirements for a Ferrari differ from those of Ford, but if your garage tried to tell you that they need to service your Ford in accordance with the Ferrari service procedures (and that they should charge you accordingly), because the published Ford procedures are inadequate you would quite rightly question their rationale and take your custom else where.

I can only speak from my own experience and that includes quite a lot of Timex watches. There are definitely some aspects of Timex design that I dislike, just as there are design aspects of many other Swiss, American, Russian, and English watches that irritate me, however, I don't think that their durability can be questioned. What is more, from experience I can happily say that the vast majority of apparently dead, 50 years old and never been serviced and look like they've spent most of their life in a war zone Timex's that I have then given the Timex spa treatment, have straight away sprung back into life and gone on to perform as designed. If that isn't evidence of an effective service procedure then I'm not sure what is. And as I said before, I have never encountered a broken Timex balance staff.

Obviously other people have different experiences and accordingly (and quite rightly) will have arrived at their own opinions. What I find so difficult to accept, let alone understand, is the (so often repeated) assertion Timex watches were never intended to be repaired or serviced. The fact that Timex went to the trouble and expense of publishing service manuals and tech sheets, and providing a supply of spare parts is proof positive that they were meant to be serviced. And my own experience with them has demonstrated to me that the published service procedures are not only perfectly effective, but also incredibly simple to carry out.

  • Like 6
Posted

Many thanks for you're superb help again guys! I've had the hands & face removed, l've let the main spring down, cleaned the movement & re-oiled & she's now running like a good girl should be! Cheers guy's, merry Christmas to all you watch guys out there [emoji268][emoji268][emoji301]️????[emoji481][emoji898][emoji884][emoji1303][emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted

I have an appreciation for Timex's. They have a bad rep, but they are very good for what they were supposed to be, a cheap watch. I guess it is the same as saying that a Honda or Toyota is a good car, it is...but a Ferrari is much better. Likewise a Timex is a good watch, I see them all the time from the 50's and 60's still ticking away, but a fine watch is better. Some people would like to own a Ferrari, other would rather own 20 Hondas or Toyotas. 

If you get a chance try to get your hands on the Timex book. It is a real treat. Its called Timex a Company and its Community.

Posted
5 minutes ago, tomprobkins said:

IIf you get a chance try to get your hands on the Timex book. It is a real treat. Its called Timex a Company and its Community.

I'll second the recommendation of the book. It starts with the history of clock making in Connecticut, to set the stage for Waterbury Clock, which eventually became Timex. Led me to the Chauncey Jerome autobiography, which is  a great little piece of history itself. 

Posted
10 hours ago, clockboy said:

I have not found a effective way to service a Timex. Timex watches were produced to be used and then replaced.  This might help but how to actually remove the plate is not explained but on page 24.4 shows how to let the mainspring down.

Timex 24.pdf

Wow, that's interesting- thanks for the PDF @clockboy!  I have a few Disney Timex watches floating around that my daughter has been asking me to fix.  I've held off because the first one I did was such a pain.  Looks like the service procedure is a heck of a lot easier than I had originally envisioned.

Posted

Like Marc I get puzzled by some peoples dismissive attitude to Timex. They are not high precision jewelled watches and they don't need servicing like they are - procedures as outlined in the manuals are fine most of the time. Nearly every Timex I've had (and that is a lot) in a non working condition has been quickly returned to life. For those that aren't I have boxes of spares, and official Timex repair kits as supplied to watchmakers - or those that used them anyway.

Providing you know what you are doing it is not that difficult to take apart and put together the movements either, it's just obviously not as easy dealing with two plates rather than bridges - all those pivots need lining up at once ;). Again there seems to be a common belief that you can't do this as the movements are riveted. In my experience only a minority of very early movements are like this, the vast majority use screws.

I suppose I shouldn't complain though as people dismissing them out of hand means they are still very cheap to buy. I like the virtually endless different dial designs you can get, and some of the cases are pretty good as well. Each to their own.

Stephen

  • Like 1
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Yeah, I just rejuvenated an old Timex today.  After some trial and error with a couple of scrap watches I figured out that you really don't need to fully disassemble them.  You just take out the balance wheel and pop the rest into the cleaner.  It's a bit tricky to put the balance wheel back in though; because threading the hairspring back into the regulator and then the stud hole takes some care.  I eventually got it and as soon as the stud was in place, voila!, it ran!  Much to my surprise.  I'm sure there are some tricks I haven't learned.

I share the viewpoint of many respondents to this thread.  Timex watches are humble time servants.  They aren't glamorous but they do their job and it was kinda fun to see how they "ticked".  They are indeed surprisingly robust.  I got two working today one I cased and it's nice looking "vintage" watch.  The other is just a movement for which I don't have a case.

Any suggestions for how to work on Timex mechanicals would be welcomed!

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • One of the problems with trying to Photograph Phils things are that his enjoyment was building these things so they tended to E falls on what will see if I can find some earlier pictures or any pictures I wasn't even sure because I was looking for that specific picture for somebody else and even it got the last version and that would have been the last version. You will note that he put the indexing on something that he could unscrew it or whatever and it can slide back out of the way so the rest of the lathe can be used as a lathe. With the lathe cut are actually coming down from the top I was there once where he demonstrated how to cut a pivot with the setup it was really beautiful. Older set up if I remember it's not a worm gear assembly in the thing in between the stepping motor and the holding block I believe this particular one was like a 100 to 1 gear ratio. Earlier version with watchmaker's lathe. Even looks like he is the watchmakers bed and then switch to something he made. Then I do have other pictures and things of the rotary stage in use. In the raw so if you tube videos here is an example of one were somebody's mounting a three jaw chuck. At one time there were available on eBay they were not cheap but if you're patient like I was I found one cheap on eBay. After you watch the video it look at his other videos he is a whole bunch of other examples of the same rotary stage. That I do know there are other pictures examples and possibly videos you just have to track them down. One of the minor issues of finding this particular tech sheet for the unit is I believe it was a custom manufacturer and the company change their name but I remember the new name here's a link to the company https://www.ondrivesus.com/rino-mechanical-components                
    • Escapement adjusting always interesting and depending upon the reference always confusing. Okay maybe it's not always confusing but it does lead to confusion. I have a PDF below it's actually a whole bunch of separate stuff including a hand out that came from a lecture that's on you tube. Then from that we get this image Consequences of doing things especially if you do things out of order or you do things for the wrong reason. Oh and even if the watches working I made the mistake one so showing my boss how tweaking the banking pins on a full plate on the timing machine made the amplitude get better and now he thinks that's what they're for and I don't think a fully grasped exactly what horn clearance means. Consequence of doing things. Notice what it says about opening and closing the banking pins and total lock? So yes I've had that on a full plate where it won't unlock at all and that's the banking pins or a combination of things basically. So banking pins unfortunately get moved. One of the ways to tell if it's been moved is the look straight down at the end of the fork with the balance wheel removed. Power on the fork push at the one side look at it push it to the other side also look at it and compare anything with the center reference the balance jewel and see if both sides of the same. No guarantee after the same there in the right place but at least are the same typically when people play with things one side will be way off from the other because they had no idea what they were doing at all because of course it's a full plate and you really have to paying attention and even then there's still hard to do. Then the other thing that comes up like it shows below is people often adjust the banking pins to do all those other things as opposed to horn clearance which is all that it's therefore and maybe bonus Guard pin clearance although you're supposed to deal with the guard pin is a separate thing like single roller gets bent in Or out or sometimes physically gets moved in and out. Some full plates older escapement's typically pallet forks held together with screws and you can actually unscrew and move the entire assembly in Or out more complications to deal with.     Escapement handout wostep nscc.pdf
    • If he was much younger and some sort of sports player it wouldn't be a problem. They would be in there and doing surgery and he'd be back on the field in no time. Unfortunately when you get older little things are bad and big things can be really bad so not good at all.
    • Where I work everything incoming watches whatever detailed descriptions are taken entered into a computer program and photograph of each item. Then ideally although it depends on who's doing the paperwork detailed descriptions can be quite good other times there lacking. Like I really like it with pocket watches if they would record the serial number it avoids confusion later on. Then when watch repairs are completed that is also entered in. It's one of the amusements I learned when I was in school instructor had a shop and commented about the important aspect of keeping detailed records of repairs. Because oftentimes a customer who got a new crystal will come back later on when the watch doesn't work and expect you to fix the entire watch for free. Then you can remind them that they just got a crystal. Strangely enough that keeps coming up or occasionally comes up where I work now. One of the problems of using the service marks on the case is that in the case of pocket watches oftentimes that's not the original case. Then case marks? What I was doing warranty work for a company I used to describe a code number in the back of the case and it would tell me the next time I see the watch that basically what I did I made no attempt at keeping track of customers because we had literally thousands of them I think they sold 30,000 of these watches and they would come back by the hundreds because they had a lifetime warranty. Yes that's a story all of itself but I would put a code number that would reference what was done to the watch the last time and think I had a date in there somehow so it did tell a story if you knew the code. Another shop I once worked out the number would reference the page in the book. So other than knowing we had been in there you would have no idea what happened because you have to go look at the page in the book to see what happened. Then the problem of how you examine a watch you should examine the watch in detail every single time to avoid complications. Although on vintage watches and this is a of amusement I have at work when people ask something and I say of the watches done when it leaves. This is because on vintage oftentimes problems won't show up until the watches much farther into the repair like it's now running and you discover things that you can't discover before because it wasn't running to discover them that also become sometimes difficult to have exact rigid prices are estimates of repairs or in the case of a pocket watch you may not find out if a casing problem to later on when you case it up in the watches running. I was just thinking for all those people that would like to leave a mark maybe you should learn to do what some of the past watchmakers did? Leave a mark but leave it in such a way that no one will ever find it? Typically not done for repair purposes but done for other reasons like identifying it's legit. I have a friend with a Gruen watch and one of the Roman numbers the bottom line that just looks like a line under extreme magnification actually says Gruen watch company or something equivalent. So here's a link showing how to mark your watch without being seen although that's not the actual title. So if you can learn micro engraving you can engrave the watch someplace probably just about any place you just have to remember where you put it. https://cnaluxury.channelnewsasia.com/obsessions/how-to-prove-if-watches-are-authentic-secret-signatures-182516  
    • I have acquired a Citizen Leopard 36000 watch. My reason for purchasing it was my desire to own a timepiece with a 36,000 BPH movement, and the price was reasonable. Another motivating factor was gaining hands-on experience with the mechanism. The watch is in good condition, but I intend to fully disassemble it for maintenance. First and foremost, if anyone has prior experience with this particular model, I would greatly appreciate their insights. I do not have access to Citizen’s specialized lubricants and will need to use the ones available to me, such as 9010, 8000, and 8300 grease. Additionally, I do not possess the appropriate oil for the pallet jewels and will only be able to clean them.
×
×
  • Create New...