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Minute hand problems....


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This is a project I started a couple of years ago and need to finish it once and for all. The second hand runs fine but the minute hand seems to stop after about 10 minutes. I thought maybe it had to do with the lever not sitting problem and have tried tightening it down but still can’t seem to resolve. I am continuously having to reset the watch after every ten minutes that it runs and then stops. Any suggestions?422e570a91075b90b612c7f05f9ea7d9.png

 

 

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This is a project I started a couple of years ago and need to finish it once and for all. The second hand runs fine but the minute hand seems to stop after about 10 minutes. I thought maybe it had to do with the lever not sitting problem and have tried tightening it down but still can’t seem to resolve. I am continuously having to reset the watch after every ten minutes that it runs and then stops. Any suggestions?422e570a91075b90b612c7f05f9ea7d9.png&key=9349ffada3d92c029c5b5e616b418dcdd154f8b147e17ec777462f585cd2f7ba
 
 
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Check for dirt in the gears. As well, make sure that the hands are free and not touching each other or the face


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Please give us more information. What exactly have you done so far? Tell us about the watch? Does the second hand stop when the minute hand does, or does it keep ticking? We need more to go on>

I'm sure when we put our collected heads together, with the help of everyone on the forum, we will get your problem solved.

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Please give us more information. What exactly have you done so far? Tell us about the watch? Does the second hand stop when the minute hand does, or does it keep ticking? We need more to go on>
I'm sure when we put our collected heads together, with the help of everyone on the forum, we will get your problem solved.



I had completely tore into it about a year and a half ago, cleaned everything and reassembled. Prior to that, it hadn’t run in over 50 years. After reassembling that time, I thought I had everything operating properly. Put the project aside while I waited for a new crystal to arrive. After a month or so, i sat down to place the crystal and found that one to shallow to clear the pinion. So I ordered a second crystal. Went to install it when it arrived and broke it....lol. Ordered a 3rd crystal a few months ago and before attempting to install it, I noticed that while the second hand was moving, the minute hands was not. So I disassembled it a second time, cleaned everything, and reassembled. Still the second hand would run but not the minute hand. At the time, I had noticed that the lever on the side that you pull to set the time, felt a little loose. I opened it back up and noticed that when I would pull the lever, the screw holding it would back up ever so slightly with each pull. I tightened the screw back down and reassembled. Again set the watch, pushed the lever back in, and now the minute hand runs for a bout 10 minutes and then stops, while the second hand continues without issue. It is a family heirloom that I need to finish so that I can finally get it returned.


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Check for dirt in the gears. As well, make sure that the hands are free and not touching each other or the face


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Hands are definitely clear. I suppose could try another full tear down and clean....hmmm


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Hands are definitely clear. I suppose could try another full tear down and clean....hmmm


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Gear Dirt? Is the balance amplitude good right up to when in stops? As well, is there a bent tooth on the mainspring barrel


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Gear Dirt? Is the balance amplitude good right up to when in stops? As well, is there a bent tooth on the mainspring barrel


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The balance appears fine....incredibly smooth and never stops or slows


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Ok I just noticed something I hadn’t before. When it would stop, I would pull the lever and reset the hands. Just a few minutes ago it had stopped again and I watched it for awhile to see if it might start on its own which it didn’t. So this time I pulled the lever and then pushed it right back in without setting it. As soon as I pushed the lever in the minute hand began to move again. So that lever is definitely part of the issue but I’m not sure why exactly.


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Looking at your vids it is nothing to do with the going train all looks fine. The fault will be on the keyless side, loose canon pinion or a intermediate wheel installed upside down or a pinion that is not tight with it's wheel. 

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 As clock boy has said its the keyless side. Remove the cannon pinion and just run it and see if it stopes. Add parts one by one to test until complete. Add hands without the dial. Run a complete test out of the case. When you are satisfied case up the movement less the dial and test. Working this way you should be able to find what is stopping the watch. The cannon pinion needs to be just so, to lose hands won’t carry, to tight will cause the movement to stop.  

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Safe to assume the hour hand is not running either given that it is ultimately driven by the canon pinion->minute Wheel->hour wheel. In addition to the keyless work, this could be a basic issue with the motion work. Could be a broken tooth on the canon pinion, minute wheel or hour wheel. Could simply be a loose canon pinion. When setting the hands, do they move extremely freely -- i.e. too loose, or can you feel some resistance caused by the friction fit of the canon pinion to the center wheel post??? What lubrication did you use on the post prior to installing the canon pinion? Are you 100% certain that the canon pinion is set fully onto the post?

Removing the dial is critical. Perhaps your keyless work is not installed correctly (e.g. yoke or yoke spring) and the sliding pinion (clutch) is engaging the intermediate wheel when it should not be - this would stop the minute and hour hands, but not the second hand.

 

Good luck!

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Ok so here is another video I just shot so that I could confirm that the drive train is operating properly and the there was transfer through all components which there is. Correct me if I’m wrong but this would as Oldhippy suggested, point me towards the canon pinion. I’m going to flip the movement over and shoot another video to see if I can confirm whether or not I have any slippage there.....




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Correct - your issue is certainly in the motion works given that the second hand continues to operate. So your first stop should be the canon pinion. See my previous post for other considerations. You're getting close!!!

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Wait a minute, Center arbor drives canon pinion, canon pinion drives minute wheel, minute wheel drives hour wheel, therefore canon pinion should rotate one revolution per minute.....


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Your connections are correct, but math is not :).  Center wheel and canon pinion rotate together. Canon pinion drives minute wheel which drives hour wheel. But the minute hand is attached to the canon pinion. The minute hand (and hence the canon pinion) make 1 rotation per hour!  The fourth wheel (with the seconds hand attached) will rotate once per minute

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Ok....I knew I was off somewhere....ugggh....well during all that I removed the canon pinion, shot it across the room, crawled around, swept the floor with both broom and magnet, found canon pinion, demagnetized canon pinion, screwed my head back on straight, and now ready to proceed forward ....lol


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I went ahead and tightened the canon pinion slightly to ensure a good snug fit over the arbor. I’ll let it run for awhile now and see what that gets me. If that doesn’t slip, the only other possibility would be hand slippage I think.


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