Wittnauer 11 KAS/Longines 503 Cannon Pinion ?

[MrRoundel]

Greetings. I have been working on my nephew's Wittnauer caliber 11KAS. It is the first automatic that I have worked on, but I'm taking my time. The watch is in a well-sealed one-piece case so it is in good shape with no apparent damage. The problem was that it hadn't been serviced in many years and it was very hard to wind. I figured it might be lubrication.

Well, now that I have reassembled to the point of putting the motion works together, I found that the cannon pinion does not drop down on the center tube. Videos I watch (The Watch Repair Channel's) show cannon pinions on center seconds watches dropping right on. The one on this Wittnauer is quite tight, and won't go on without what would be a real shove with a punch. Since the watch is mostly assembled it's impossible to give good support to the center-wheel jewel, etc., so I don't want to use too much force. Should the cannon pinion drop on with little effort? Maybe the tight cannon pinion is the cause of the difficult winding? I don't want to break that lower jewel. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Chopin]

Well. When you extracted it didn't you use a bit of force ? You'll have to use a bit of force to install it back on the movement. It's a bit of a press fit.

[MrRoundel]

Thanks for your fast response, Chopin. 

I used a cannon pinion remover to take it off. I think I tried lifting it off with brass tweezers first but it didn't seem like it would work. The puller had no problem with it. Do you have any suggestions on supporting the lower end while pressing on the cannon pinion? As I said, it's really not accessible at this point. That said, I can't imagine that someone servicing this model would have to assemble the motion works before replacing the automatic winding parts. At least it would seem odd to me. Granted, I come from working on mostly old pocket watches. Thanks again.

 

[MrRoundel]

Oh, and is clock oil a usable viscosity for the outside of the center tube? Thanks.

[MrRoundel]

Got it. It just needed a bit more coaxing. Thanks again.