Misaligned and bunched hairspring on 6497?

[scholzie]

I am working on a Chinese 6497 clone that I bought so I could follow along with Mark's videos (and also enrolled in the TZ Watch School). Disassembly went fine, but on reassembly I noticed that the hairspring was bunched up on one side. I adjusted the index pin, but the bunching was much more severe than it could compensate for. So, clearly I've bungled something up along the way.

 

The spring itself does not appear to be damaged. When I invert the balance cock on the table the spring is concentric, but the wheel isn't centered. Thus, when the wheel is centered, it deforms the spring.

 

I thought I might need to follow Mark's video regarding hairspring alignment, but not much of it applies here (I think?). However, it did highlight the fact that I have no idea how to remove the spring from the cock, because it is attached much differently from his video.

 

I've attached the best pictures I could get.

 

So, a few questions:

 

How do I remove the spring from the cock? Can I simply slide the pins out? How do I disengage the spring from the regulator pin?

 

Do I even NEED to remove it, or is this something I can fix with parts in situ?

 

What are the best resources for learning how to realign and center the balance wheel collet?

 

Why might this have happened? I was pretty careful with disassembly, so it would be nice to know what I did wrong so I don't do it again next time.

 

 

 

 

Any help is much appreciated.

 

 

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[StuartBaker104]

See here for how to remove this.

 

[WatchMaker]

Whilst it is possible to remove the hairspring I wouldn't do this until you've exhausted other more obvious possibilities. From your third picture things look fine.

So ... I can see from your good pictures that the pivot of the balance staff is located correctly at the top. Is it definitely at the bottom? 

You haven't screwed down the balance cock yet. It's not a case of it being angled slightly because it's not firmly located yet that's causing an apparent bunching is it?

Just go gently and ensure correct top and bottom pivot locationing before screwing down firmly and ensure the balance can swing freely. Does the hairspring still appear bunched?

[szbalogh]

On 2017. 04. 27. at 3:19 PM, scholzie said:

 

Why might this have happened? I was pretty careful with disassembly, so it would be nice to know what I did wrong so I don't do it again next time.

 

 

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Your spring is bent at least at the points marked on the picture. But one should start the alignment at the and curve and stud mount point. An only if the aligment pins are following the spring should the other parts of the spring repaired. 

You cant reshape properly the spring with the balance mounted. 

Edited April 29, 2017 by szbalogh

[szbalogh]

See the red circle! The end curve should follow it =see the difference marked with blue circle). So the regulator pins are not in the correct place or the end curve is also bent. The middle of the regulator pins should have the same distance to the balance than the stud mount point. 

From this picture it seems that a bending is also at the green arrow,

[dadistic]

szbalogh, that is a neat technique for identifying the location of a bend in the hairspring. Easier to see what is going on when there is a reference!

Cheers!

[scholzie]

That picture is really helpful. I did get the spring removed and I believe I got the right curve (or close to it), but when I tried to reattach it to the cock, the spring came loose from the index pin. How can I re-seat the spring into the pin? It appears to sit in the slot and it's secured by some soft adhesive. Will I need to clean it and reglue it, or can I reuse the pin as is?

I had a really hard time getting the pin to clip back in. Took me about for hours of fiddling with it before it finally came loose and I put it away for a day or two...


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[scholzie]

For more context, here is a picture of the hairspring removed from the balance wheel, and a couple of its stud. I'd prefer not to buy a new assembly, as it costs almost as much as a new movement! [emoji23]

 

I can see an obvious kink in the end which should be pretty easy to remove. I just have no clue how to reattach the bugger.

 

 

 

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