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Hi all very very new to this. I have a couple of watches that I guess are over wound .now these are play watches for me to take apart and rebuild . The crown will turn less than a quarter and then returns to its previous position under load. What would the possible causes be.what should I look for while stripping . Neither have any complications

 

 

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Hi there (from one newbie to another) It's very difficult to overwind a watch, you would have to put lots of pressure on the winder to rip the mainspring from the wall of the barrel. The usual reason is the watch has already been wound up but won't work because it generally needs cleaning and has given up the ghost.

There are lots of lovely videos to get you started on your own watch with a handful of tools to start. Good luck 

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At the rate I’m buying tools I could have purchased the watch I really want . The broken watch is a little smiths astral. Looked bigger in the picture . Likes Luke a nightmare to practice on. Hey ho . Here we go


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Hi all very very new to this. I have a couple of watches that I guess are over wound .now these are play watches for me to take apart and rebuild . The crown will turn less than a quarter and then returns to its previous position under load. What would the possible causes be.what should I look for while stripping . Neither have any complications
 
 
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Look for them to simply be watches that aren’t running, usually from lack of service but any other reason is possible. Technically there is no such thing as overwound. What happens is a watch quits running and everyone who picks it up tries to wind it, and eventually it is wound as tight as it can be. Then later someone picks it up and thinks , oh, it’s overwound and that wasn’t the case. Make sense?


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What movements do these watches have ? Most movements can have the mainspring release its power reserve. You have to do it gently and the way you do it depends for many movements.
This is the Ops movement. Can't identify it but looks a pretty standard affair. Release by lifting the click and letting fitted crown and stem revolve between finger and thumb slowly until mainspring is unwound or use a well fitting screwdriver on the mainspring wheel until unwound.
Really suggest the OP goes on YouTube first and find some videos of this being done before attempting themself. a18213b9e0f68c0ef7b6cd2ae8307f62.jpg

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It should be stressed this is often tricky (you can think you have a good grip on the crown or what have you and it starts turning and unwinding rapidly when you least expect it) and if too much power is let down too quickly it can cause damage to the movement. That being said it is 'simple' and a key thing you need to practice in watch repair, always make sure the mainspring is let down before starting any disassembly. Good luck.

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