Accutron 218 battery replacement reservations

[Wesley881]

Hi gang, it's been way too long since my last post. Been a busy Summer! I have mt grandfathers Accutron and it looks like the original or maybe second battery is as long as he wore it (circa 1970). The movement looks very clean and free. I'm a little hesitant to just plop a battery in without cleaning as Im reading that any abnormal resistance in the gear train could damage the ratchet wheel or even knock the tiny pawl and pusher jewel into oblivion when the fork starts. I have not serviced one of these but I did watch some factory videos. Interesting movements, but that ratchet mechanism makes me nervous, yikes!

 

Chad

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

 

[RyMoeller]

The original Accutron batteries were 1.35v mercury cells which have long been off the market. With a 218 movement you can usually substitute a standard 1.5v battery without issues but I believe the 214 models struggle with this. Interestingly, it looks like some suppliers have come up with a workaround for this.

I've done two Accutron repairs and in both cases I just plopped in a new battery without thinking about it beforehand. You can adjust the Index finger and pawl so that they are not contacting the index wheel before dropping in the battery but if you do that you'll have have to move them back to get the watch to keep time and getting them just right is the hardest part of the service.

Testing the movement of the gear train is a bit difficult too since the wheels are well hidden under the bridge and manipulating the index wheel (driving wheel) is not a good idea.

It's an interesting conundrum for sure; hopefully someone more knowledgeable will pipe in with some good advice.

There is a woman names Samantha on the NAWCC forum who is quite knowledgeable about Accutron service procedures. I perused all the related threads there and also downloaded the service manual before getting my hands dirty. In the unlikely event we all draw blanks here, I would suggest posting the question over there to see what they may know.

[vinn3]

the watch forum has a master accutron servise  master.    " silver hawk " ( Paul ).   vin

[Wesley881]

I thank you both for the information, I'll hop on the NAWCC forum.  Still amazed by this mechanism...very clever.

[StuartBaker104]

If you pull the crown out, that disconnects the pawl jewels from the index wheel but leaves the electrical circuit connected. Like this you can fit a battery without worrying about the train. If it doesn't hum with a fresh battery, tap gently on the side of the case at 3 or 9 to start it.

If all of this is good then you can blow the index wheel with a blower to make sure it turns freely before pushing the crown back in