Citizen plastic plunger clip

[mmitchelmoss]

Hi gang,

So, I am new to all of this, and I want to learn about mechanical movements. While I am waiting on my test watches to arrive, I figured I would take a look at one of my personal quartz watches that is messed up. It is a Citizen watch which had water damage and needed a new movement and seals. I took the watch apart and ran into a problem. The plungers, rather than being held in by a metal e or c clip, are held in by little plastic sleeve / clips. Unfortunately these clips are all broken and need to be replaced. I have scoured the Internet and have not been able to find replacements. 

I can't take a picture of something this small, so I drew the attached picture. Basically, the waist portion of the plunger where the clip goes is 1mm long by .6mm shaft diameter. I had considered using metal e or c clips instead, but I think I would need to stack several of them to achieve the 1mm width. 

Does anyone know where I can purchase these plastic clips or if not do you have any thoughts on using stacked metal ones instead? Given that the shaft diameter is .6mm, do you know what size e-clip would fit that? They seem to be sized by outside diameter, which doesn't really help me.

Thanks so much

[clockboy]

That is a new one for me. The quartz movements I have worked with are secured with one of these :

You can purchase a selection from material houses such as Cousins. 

[Neileg]

Don't feel guilty about fixing quartz watches - I do it all the time!

The problem you face is that parts for more everyday watches are rarely available because most owners replace the watch rather than have it repaired.

I had a similar problem recently with a quartz Seiko chrono that was missing a pusher. I managed to find a scrap identical watch on eBay that was missing several things but had two good pushers. The finished repair had the best parts from both watches (the donor had a perfect crystal).

If you can't find an identical match, you may find that similar Citizens of the same era will have useable parts. It's worth considering a joblot of scrap watches as a source of hard to find parts.

Good luck

Neil

[jdm]

10 hours ago, mmitchelmoss said:

Basically, the waist portion of the plunger where the clip goes is 1mm long by .6mm shaft diameter. I had considered using metal e or c clips instead, but I think I would need to stack several of them to achieve the 1mm width. 

Does anyone know where I can purchase these plastic clips or if not do you have any thoughts on using stacked metal ones instead? Given that the shaft diameter is .6mm, do you know what size e-clip would fit that? They seem to be sized by outside diameter, which doesn't really help me.

You can try getting the smallest of these:

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/0100-to-0180mm-tubes-pins

Get a pin vice and very fine saw blades. Cut the tube to length and then longitudinally.

[rogart63]

Have this but see now that they could be a little bit to large? The diameter is 0,9 instead of 0,6. I recently worked on a Citizen 8950 lcd watch that had those small c-clips. 

The other is a Pulsar watch that have some kind if clips? 

[mmitchelmoss]

Hey thanks everyone. I guess it would be like trying to find replacement parts for a modern toaster. Their probably aren't any because you just throw the thing away.

The clips on my watch look very similar to the ones in Rogart's second picture. I think JDM's idea of fabricating one out of a tube would be a pretty cool idea, though possibly above my current skill level. I may play around with that though in my spare time. I think that to get it in service for now I will just try to put some metal e-clips on there and see what happens.

Thanks

[jdm]

19 minutes ago, mmitchelmoss said:

I think JDM's idea of fabricating one out of a tube would be a pretty cool idea, though possibly above my current skill level.

It's actually quite easy. If you can remove a C-clip without loosing it and placing it back, you can adapt a generic tube to become a pusher "sleeve".

[mmitchelmoss]

@jdm Maybe I'll give it a go then. What type of saw would you recommend for making the cuts, in particular the lengthwise cut, as it seems that the kerf if the blade would need to be about .4mm (just guessing)? Although I guess that if it were too big I might just be able to crimp the sleeve down a little bit. Also, would you say that it is easier to cut to length and then cut the slit or vice verse?

Thanks a bunch.

[mmitchelmoss]

I'm, sorry. You actually already answered some of my questions. In your original post you said cut to length and then longitudinally. Also, you mentioned a very fine saw blade. Is there some type of saw that watchmakers or jewelers use for this type of thing? I come from a wood working background, so I ten to think of fret saws or something similar, but I wasn't sure what type of tool you would really use for this.

Thanks.

[rogart63]

6 hours ago, mmitchelmoss said:

Hey thanks everyone. I guess it would be like trying to find replacement parts for a modern toaster. Their probably aren't any because you just throw the thing away.

The clips on my watch look very similar to the ones in Rogart's second picture. I think JDM's idea of fabricating one out of a tube would be a pretty cool idea, though possibly above my current skill level. I may play around with that though in my spare time. I think that to get it in service for now I will just try to put some metal e-clips on there and see what happens.

Thanks

Just thinking here? Maybe not working? But could one use the  plastic tube? Like the one on WD40 cans? You now the red one? And cutting small pieces of that and putting over the pushers? But maybe the hole is to large? 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by rogart63

[jdm]

4 hours ago, mmitchelmoss said:

Also, you mentioned a very fine saw blade. Is there some type of saw that watchmakers or jewelers use for this type of thing? 

Yes, piercing saw blades. These are very economical and always useful for many kinds of repair. Cut to length and then slit. I do the same to replace the collars which are easily lost when resizing bracelets.

Edited March 11, 2017 by jdm

[Geo]

Have a look at this page, the 23rd one down.

http://www.rnhorological.co.uk/watch_material_assorted.htm

[jdm]

Have a look at this page, the 23rd one down.
http://www.rnhorological.co.uk/watch_material_assorted.htm

I think these are regular C-clips which you can also find e.g. from Cousins. But the OP needs them to be 1mm tall.

[mmitchelmoss]

@jdm I purchased the tube, saw, and blades to try and make the sleeves like you talked about. Cutting them to length is easy enough. Cutting the slot along the length has been a bit more challenging. I've tried holding the tube with electronics needle nose pliers, which didn't work at all. I tried pushing it onto a sharpened piece of of peg wood and and cutting it. This actually worked (sometimes) but I also tend to lose the tube when it falls off. I have been most successful by feeding the tube onto the saw blade and cutting it from the inside out. 

In the end, I think my lengthwise cut needs to be wider, as I have had trouble getting the sleeve snapped onto the pusher shaft.

I really appreciate the idea, I just need to get better with my execution. 

[jdm]

You are exactly right, cutting a tube in length is not that easy.

I place it on a vice and pray that it helds. Cutting from inside seem a great idea. Let us know how you do.

 

 

[rogart63]

Found this . 0,6 mm would work?  If this are that small? http://www.krickshop.de/Products/Spare-Parts/Spare-Parts-for-RC-Cars/Spare-Parts-for-Himoto-RC-Cars/E-Clips-4-x-0-6.htm?shop=krick_e&SessionId=&a=article&ProdNr=653088&p=313