Jump to content

Hello from Southern California


ramos3120

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone,

I'm Mark from Southern California I have been collecting vintage Timex at local flea markets, garage sales, online and wherever I can get my hands on them for about a year or so. I have cracked a few open out of curiosity but plan to learn how to do simple repairs and servicing. I have enjoyed and appreciated the info that others have shared on this forum, so that's why I joined. Happy to be here! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. 

Mike I am Chino Hills about 25 miles east of Los Angeles so my hunting ground has been the Rose Bowl and Long Beach Antique Market. We have friends and family out in the San Diego area and visit Oceanside often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you JerseyMo! I I have been enjoying and appreciating all the great information you have shared on all things Timex. So far I have been able to take these watches apart. Putting them back together? Not so much.  I picked up a few watches today at the local flea market so I will be starting on these soon. 

Seems I am having trouble posting pictures.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome Ramos, unfortunately Timex are not really repairable in the sense that they can be dismantled, cleaned and put back together.

They are however, tough as old boots and if not damaged by water they can usually be brought back to life by removing the hands, dial and giving them a dunking in naptha (Zippo fluid) and then oiling the pivots.

If you do this it would be great to see some pics!

Anilv

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, anilv said:

Welcome Ramos, unfortunately Timex are not really repairable in the sense that they can be dismantled, cleaned and put back together.

 

Not true!

Someday soon I'll have to put together a walk through  to demonstrate how this is done, both the factory recommended way,  and taking a movement to pieces. It is not easy, as they are full plate movements, but so are a lot of other watches of historical interest.

Cheers!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a whole pile of Timex documents that I'm sharing here-

Timex Documents

A lot of it is from the old Timex forum, some of it I collected myself and some JerseyMo  sent on to me. There are service  instructions for many of the old Timex movements. 

Edited by dadistic
update
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the input everyone. I would love to see a step by step walk through as Dadistic mentioned. I've been searching for a video to learn how to do a simple cleaning and lubrication. I thought it was simple enough. In fact I was able to clean and get one to start running as Anilv described, but I couldn't seem to reassemble the day and date wheels. So much to learn. I can however polish the heck out of a crystal! I guess thats a start. Lol

p.s. Thanks for the timex docs I found them right away and have referenced them

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Start with the #24 solid movements first ( those without a second hand).

I know I have a walk thru somewhere and will have a look around for it.

But here are the base steps taught to me by the old guard Timexicans of Network 54.

break down the watch to just the movement and soak in ammonia for 15 minutes.

tap the container very few minutes to loosen particulars.

Rinse under water - air dry or use blower 

soak in lighter fluid for 15 minutes and tap every few minutes.

air dry or use blower.

dab pivots with oil. dab mainspring with oil oil the balance cups

David S I recall adds a step of rinsing with alcohol after the light fluid.

Of course you should first inspect the movement to look for any obvious damage such as pulled hairspring, bent pallet fork etc.

These are repairable but will take some time to develop the technique.  But, it is a good way to get to throw some tools around, shout out some rude words and such!  Not that I would know anything about that :)

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 6:10 PM, anilv said:

Welcome Ramos, unfortunately Timex are not really repairable in the sense that they can be dismantled, cleaned and put back together.

They are however, tough as old boots and if not damaged by water they can usually be brought back to life by removing the hands, dial and giving them a dunking in naptha (Zippo fluid) and then oiling the pivots.

If you do this it would be great to see some pics!

Anilv

      the early Timexs had plates that were screwed together rather than riveted.  AND the stem could be removed with a screw.  I find the later ones quite complicated.  vin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Similar Content

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • An incabloc spring? About 10p at the current price 🤣
    • Have you ever seen grease spread?  I use Molykote DX on the keyless, cannon pinion, etc and cannot imagine it spreading. Similarly, HP1300 should not be a problem, as long as you don't splash too much about.  9010 does like to travel though. I've recently re-serviced a couple of my watches I first serviced about 5 years ago. I was a bit too liberal with the oil and grease back then, but it hasn't spread everywhere. I only epilame on balance cap stones, escape wheel and pallet stones (and auto wheels if they need it).   If you use it all over, the oil might bead-up and travel even further - think of using RainX on your car windows.
    • Polish it where the old part cracked as well. Get rid of the stress-raisers.
    • Sounds great! And yes, I would use grease for the keyless as well although treating the parts with epilame would make the grease less likely to spread in the long run. Not critical but won’t hurt. My current strategy is to epilame treat all parts getting in contact with oil or grease.
    • Hello everyone, for what it's worth, here is my approach: 1. Escape wheel submerged in Epilame, then dried quickly with a hairdryer. Then the final tip of the pivots are cleaned by poking into pithwood. The logic being that the Epilame is removed at the intended contact point (to avoid any residue that may mix with the oil), but remains in the areas where oil is not supposed to spread to (further down the pivot towards the wheel). The escape wheel teeth also benefit from having Epilame to keep the 9415 in place.  2. I use a syringe to treat only the pallet stones. I suspend the pallet fork with some Rodico so that the stones hang downwards. I notably use a rather thick needle where a drop WON'T form, but rather where the Epilame liquid stays in the needle tip, which I then dip into the pallet stones. It requires some practice to get the right amount of Epilame into the needle tip, but it works for me now. This way, no drop will "jump" onto the pallet fork and potentially go all the way to the pivots.  3. I let the movement run for a few minutes without lubricating the pallet stones... to scrape off the Epilame in the intended contact "channel". Then I remove the balance again and lubricate the exit pallet stone with 3-4 successive drops. See the "channel" that forms on the pallet stone in the picture -- not so easy to see, but it's visible.       I am conflicted about the use of Epliame in balance jewel settings. My impression is that the two jewels sufficiently suspend the oil (even 9010). Apparently Rolex recommends NOT to use Epliame there (heard from a former Rolex service center watchmaker), as it could cause additional wear. Apart from that, I follow specific instructions where I can find them. E.g. the infamous Rolex reverser wheels or sometimes (parts of) the seconds wheel. Exception: I'm currently servicing an Eta 2824 and will probably ignore the service sheet that recommends treating the whole keyless works with Epilame and then using HP1300... I'll skip the Epilame and use 9504 grease.        
×
×
  • Create New...