Watch of Today

[ro63rto]

Had this Aeromaster on today

 

 

 

[AndyHull]

Regarding the previous questions...

Correct, in some degree, however heat, in and of itself is not the main cause of solar cell degradation, as I understand it at least not the heat from the generally low level of IR and other wavelengths that don't have enough energy to excite the electrons in the silicon.

According to the article I linked above, the problem is as follows...
 

Quote

Crystalline silicon modules located in extreme climates showed high degradation rates. For very cold climates, panels subjected to heavy wind and snow loads suffered the most. On the other hand, panels in similar climates that were installed in a facade, eliminating the snow load, had very low rates of degradation. At the other extreme, panels in desert climates exhibited large decreases in production over time - close to 1% per year - mainly due to high levels of UV exposure. Panels in more moderate climates such as the northern United States had degradation rates as low as 0.2% per year. Those panels could retain 96% of their production capabilities after 20 years.

So the issue is multivariable, but the principle issues that contribute to the degradation of PV panels are the mechanical and heat/cold cycle stress induced structural effects (which leads presumably to increased electrical resistance and poorer light transmission within the active layer of the silicon), and the effects of high energy photons ((UV and above),  as opposed to IR light effects, which cause similar damage, but via slightly different mechanisms.

My understanding is that very high energy particles and UV cause the coating materials to become damaged too, and this hampers their ability to transmit light to the active element (the poly-christalline silicon). So we have heat/cold/mechanical and UV stresses which damage both the structure of the silicon, and probably equally importantly, the clear protective coating, causing both to be less efficient.

A wristwatch however is much better protected from the elements, so I suspect these effects cause at least an order of magnitude less stress on the panel. Unless you are something like, say a professional camel racer, or some other profession where you and your watch spend most of your time subjected to high levels of sunlight, in which case you should be  taking better care of yourself and your watch anyway.

In answer to photon energy question.

Quote

The energy of a photon can be modeled by the equation E=hf, where h is a constant and f is the frequency.

Since all light travels at the same speed, roughly 3x10^8 m/s, and v=(lambda)f, where lambda is the wavelength, we can derive that f=v/(lambda) so E=hv/(lambda), by substituting for f in the first equation.

By plugging in for our known constants we can see that wavelength is the only variable in determining the energy of the photon, and because it is inversely proportional, a larger wavelength will result is less energy, while a smaller wavelength will result in a higher energy photon.

This makes sense because high energy light such as ultraviolet light has a much smaller wavelength <400nm compared to visible 400nm-->750nm and infrared >750nm light.

We are however getting pretty far off topic for this thread I suspect.

Edited April 4, 2019 by AndyHull

[AndyHull]

15 minutes ago, ro63rto said:

Had this Aeromaster on today

 

 

 

Very nice, it looks immaculate, and so does the old one pound.

Are we going to have to re-introduce the £1 note again, as post Brexit currency because of Boris's Brexit bonanza,   or will we perhaps need a few more zeros on the bank notes instead?

When they first withdrew the Bank of England one pound notes, Scottish ones were still legal tender as I recall, with the result that if you presented one south of the border, you would tend to get change of a fiver.

[ricardopalamino]

Hi Johnnie ,  are you going to do the crystal change yourself ?  If so do you have the tools and skills for this procedure which may include measuring the old crystal and case among other things to purchase the correct size you will need to order and install your new crystal .

 

I would look at a few good youtube tutorials to help . Good Luck .

[Johnnie]

Hi Recardo, I am planning to do it myself, that's an excellent idea about YouTube! Have no idea where to get a new crystal from as yet though. eBay perhaps? Thank you for the YouTube idea. 

[ricardopalamino]

4 hours ago, Johnnie said:

Today's offering is my Orient watch, runs perfectly,,,, but needs a new crystal as this one is cracked and burnt ! Done before my ownership. Any suggestions where I can got one would be appreciated.

Hi again Johnnie , ...Do Look at the youtube videos first....

 

I can't tell if your watch has a removable bezel as that would be a small clue . Some crystals are held in by the bezel . Some are pressed into a rubber or nylon crystal gasket . Some are held in by a tension ring [armored crystal ] , that is either silver or gold colored ,...Etc . 

Having said that and trying not to confuse things , you don't have to get a crystal that is a branded original . The tension ring type is an example . Measure your old crystal and case seat with a micrometer and order the size and ring color you need . 

  In the United States I use Esslinger.com , or Jules Borel . In Europe , Cousins is the go to place but there are many more resources so you have to do good searches .

[TexasDon]

A new crystal isn't something that you would likely need to purchase from Orient. Remove the old crystal and measure it. On your side of the pond, Cousins UK will undoubtedly carry exactly what you need and likely at a substantial discount over the same item from the manufacturer.

[Johnnie]

Hi again Recardo& TexasDon, looking at the watch it doesn't look like the bezel comes off so I think the movement needs to be removed before the crystal can be removed. The crystal seems to have been burnt as well as cracked, also the dial itself seems craved and crinkled. The colour is there but looking at it there seems to be a clear coat that's lifting, possibly through heat. It works well and is keeping time very well so that's good. With a change of crystal and possibly a replacement dial it would be a nice old watch and I would like to save it. I will try and post better photos if I can. Many thanks for your help. 

[Johnnie]

Hopefully these photos will help ?

[Johnnie]

Ops, sorry about that ! Hopefully they will ALL appear this time! 

[Nucejoe]

13 hours ago, Johnnie said:

Today's offering is my Orient watch, runs perfectly,,,, but needs a new crystal as this one is cracked and burnt ! Done before my ownership. Any suggestions where I can got one would be appreciated.

 

These Orients came in two sises, give OD. Genuine Orient crystals are rare, mass produced generic ones are slightly of inferior quality and do get passed on as genuine on ebay. You would know the difference if you examine two new ones side by side.

 

 

[Nucejoe]

I am not paricularely fond on seiko5, about forty of them found their way into my collection. Here is one I like and even wear.

Got it used, didn,t run good, the seller a friend chewed on my nerve that I should buy it, since I can fix it and he has had no luck dispite paying repairmans couple of times.

It came with a 611*  movement. No fault was noticable just took a nap at midnight when I was sleep. 

I ended up replacing the gear train bridge with one out of 6139, interchangable.

Runs happy even when I am sleep, better than 33 hrs, winds fully in about an hr on wrist.

 

[Johnnie]

1 hour ago, Nucejoe said:

These Orients came in two sises, give OD. Genuine Orient crystals are rare, mass produced generic ones are slightly of inferior quality and do get passed on as genuine on ebay. You would know the difference if you examine two new ones side by side.

 

 

Hi NuceJoe, 44mm X 42 X 14.5 crystal measures 38.5

Edited April 5, 2019 by Johnnie
Added crystal measurement

[Nucejoe]

47 minutes ago, Johnnie said:

Hi NuceJoe, 44mm X 42 X 14.5 crystal measures 38.5

The crystal on your watch dose not magnify day/ date. Shouldn,t it?     I am not sure from the picture of your watch, if it has a tension ring. I bought and installed one, the envelope says 390 but measure 38.5 mm, fitted perfectly, got magnifiers and tension ring.

No mention of all dimensions you gave, just says Orient 390-123 made by sternokruetz of Germany. The best I could find. 

Not to worry about the price.

 

[Doninvt]

21 hours ago, Nucejoe said:

Second question, Didn,t you make the same mistake as marconi ? Shorter wavelength carry more energy in EM field.

And if the photonic energy exceed the threshold enough to energize two or multiple electrons, would it? Since the extra energy no matter how little, goes to forming a new photon, photons pop into existance don,t they? 

Electron Physics, electronics, metallurgical....? Your decipline please.

Discipline is Electrical Engineering.  Mostly having to do with semiconductors but not professionally with solar cells in particular.  I was exposed to them in school though.

I was referring to wavelength relating to energy.  I do know that it's inverse.

 

[Nucejoe]

11 minutes ago, Doninvt said:

Discipline is Electrical Engineering.  Mostly having to do with semiconductors but not professionally with solar cells in particular.  I was exposed to them in school though.

I was referring to wavelength relating to energy.  I do know that it's inverse.

 

Right, thank you. 

Best wishes

 

 

[Johnnie]

1 hour ago, Nucejoe said:

The crystal on your watch dose not magnify day/ date. Shouldn,t it?     I am not sure from the picture of your watch, if it has a tension ring. I bought and installed one, the envelope says 390 but measure 38.5 mm, fitted perfectly, got magnifiers and tension ring.

No mention of all dimensions you gave, just says Orient 390-123 made by sternokruetz of Germany. The best I could find. 

Not to worry about the price.

 

Hi and thank you, no magnifier on my watch but not sure if it should have. Will Google it and see if it may have had one on leaving the Orient factory. Will look for the crystal you bought at Cousins. Thanks very much for your time and trouble. 

[AndyHull]

Today I'm road testing the Gold Citizen Crystron that needed a bit of surgery a few weeks back.

It was running a little slow, presumably because someone had been tweaking the trimmer capacitor on the pcb in the forlorn hope that it would somehow bring it back to life. 

I used  tg in "Calibrate" mode to get a feel for how it was running as I adjusted the cap.  tg doesn't appear to be able to graph quartz watches directly.  Now it seems to be running much more like a quartz watch should.

[yankeedog]

I have an older citizen quartz watch. I am impressed by the construction of the movement, it starts and stops.. I am working up the nerve to work on it. Previous attempts at working on quartz movements have not been very successful. Large hands and brittle plastic are not generally compatible.

[AndyHull]

3 minutes ago, yankeedog said:

I have an older citizen quartz watch. I am impressed by the construction of the movement, it starts and stops.. I am working up the nerve to work on it. Previous attempts at working on quartz movements have not been very successful. Large hands and brittle plastic are not generally compatible.

A light cleaning with a few drops of lighter fluid, and a very light oiling might be a safer bet, if it looks delicate, rather than a full strip down.

[nichod]

AndyHull wrote:

...presumably because someone had been tweaking the trimmer capacitor on the pcb

 

Neat watch.  Lowly Casio digital used to have trimmers, but I haven't seen a watch with one in years.  Does anybody make an adjustable quartz now?

[TexasDon]

I haven't see one with a trimmer in years either. I think they've been done away with. Pattern cutting is available on some models although that is rapidly disappearing too. As electronics circuit components and design have improved, the need for a periodic adjustment hasn't totally vanished yet but it's on the way out. 

[AndyHull]

The need to trim the crystal with an external capacitor has largely been eliminated over the years.

If you look at the construction of the Crystron, made in 1977  and a similar quality modern quartz watch, you will see that pretty much everything is smaller, and (arguably) better engineered.
 

Modern watch crystals are much more accurately laser cut to tune them to a more precise frequency. They are also, generally more stable over their working temperature, and drift less over their working life.

Modern watch crystal, relatively speaking are not particularly accurate, when compared for example with ovenized crystal oscillators, but they are an improvement on their forty two year old cousins.

[Nucejoe]

West end watch started production like eighty years ago, in calcutta India and mainly targets Asia, where it is a well known and liked brand,last I heard it had sold fifteen million or more pieces. Uses ETA and AS movements. West end watch was the first to adapt incabloc shock protection system. Then again about three hundered pieces found their way to my collection so I learned to like them.  Here is piece to start with , don,t run away please.

[Marc]

4 hours ago, Nucejoe said:

Here is piece to start with , don,t run away please.

I wouldn't dream of running away, West End have made some very good watches, and they've actually been going for 133 years this year.

Look out for early Secundus models; some of them had unbranded Longines movements in them.