Jump to content

Losing my mind!


Recommended Posts

Ok, customer brings in a pair of identical ladies citizen watches. Neither of them are working and she states they have been in a safe for extended period of time. I check batteries and they are dead. No sign of oxidation or corrosion in either. I replace batteries in one and it begins to run. She says to hold on the other and leaves. The following day she returns and the watch with the new batt has stopped. I check batt and it’s fine. Reinstall it after cleaning the terminals, set the time and off she goes. Following day she returns, same issue and decides to try the other identical watch this time. Amazingly, this watch does the same thing. Neither of them run for 24hrs. I make sure case and stem are demagnetized and free of debris. No change. 

New movement ordered, Miyota 5R21 as a direct replacement. Movement arrives and is installed. Amazingly it runs until it reaches 12:20 and then stops. I remove it from the case and remove the stem, still stops at 12:20.  I can’t wrap my head around this.

Anyone experience anything like this before. What am I missing? I am going to install hands on original two movements and see if they stop at a specific point as well. Any ideas would be helpful, thanks

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel for you :( Perhaps not the right thing to say or any contribution to your problem, but I find your story a bit amusing :)

Very curious if other people can help you out and what the problem(s) turns out to be ...... follow with interest !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Test movements runing outside the watch case, make sure the case dose not push the stems half way out .  may I remind you, the stems are your electric switch.

.Baffles us all at first and often turns out be have rediculous cause.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you tried running the watch without the hands? Set the watch to 12.10, take the hands off and if it's still ticking 20minutes later, then it must be the hands on the new movement binding somewhere. The new movement could be a dud. They are cheap as chips, so it's possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/25/2018 at 7:31 PM, Nucejoe said:

Test movements runing outside the watch case, make sure the case dose not push the stems half way out .  may I remind you, the stems are your electric switch.

.Baffles us all at first and often turns out be have rediculous cause.

First off: Thank you to everyone who took the time to chime in, I really appreciate it.

when I first cased it up it ran to 12:20. I then removed it from the case set it to 12:00 and let it run outside the case no stem. It again ran to 12:20.

no date function in this movement, so I check that off the list

so my thoughts are that either casing it up did something to alter the mvmt which is mind boggling unlikely, or this is a bum movement, which is more likely but still crazy of a coincidence since it’s factory new. Either way, I guess my only option at this point is to order one more movement to eliminate it as the issue. 

Ill tell you what though, if I order this 2nd movement and it acts the same way, I’m gonna take it as a sign to RETIRE!

Edited by Horologent
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/25/2018 at 7:33 PM, Jon said:

Have you tried running the watch without the hands? Set the watch to 12.10, take the hands off and if it's still ticking 20minutes later, then it must be the hands on the new movement binding somewhere. The new movement could be a dud. They are cheap as chips, so it's possible.

I thought this might me it as well so I removed the hour hand and left the minute hand so there was nothing to bind....no dice. Thanks for the idea though

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/26/2018 at 2:46 AM, clockboy said:

I think it is a power reserve function. See link option 4: You need to find a instruction manual for the movement. 

 

thanks for posting that, I’ll have a look, interesting it mentions a second hand though

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/26/2018 at 1:19 AM, Nucejoe said:

What movement did the manufacturer originally installed?

Perhaps MR21 just happen to fit the dial plate and the movements she brought, too, were wrong replacement by prevous repairman.

 

 

 

Original movement was a citizen 5421a. 5R21 was direct replacement. Good idea though

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could the dial and  miyota movement seem comaptable but actully not be. For instance the dial push on the gear underneath it, or the hour hand and dial center hole.etc

How about letting the movements run without dial and hands for a day or two and check the 12:20 syndrome.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EUREKA!!!!

ok gents, thank you again to everyone who tried to brain storm this thing with me. I was just about to throw the my my out the window and retire but the fact that the hands stopped in the same position every time was really bugging me. So before finding the bottom of my favorite spirit bottle I gave the new Minotaur mvmt one more look under the microscope with the dial removed. When I looked at the hand wheel it looked like a speck of something in the teeth so I magnified. Nope! Not a speck of anything but rather IT WAS MISSING AN ENTIRE TOOTH! 

Luckily I had the wheel from the previous mvmt which was perfect. I dropped it in yesterday afternoon and it’s been keeping perfect time ever since. I’m going to give it the rest of today for a full 24 hour run, but I’m pretty certain the missing tooth was the issue. 

Thank you all, you all are AWESOME!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Thank you so much, Hector and CJ. I appreciate the tech sheet and the video. Gasp, I think I will make the attempt. What's the worst that can happen? I think there may be a new balance complete in my future, though.  I'll update the post and let you know the result. R, Frank  
    • So here is the new base (v 2.1), I made it so that the base will fit over and swallow the stump of the hand pusher tool (or at least my clone of the tool), I also reduced the OD of the bottom skirt a little as it looked/felt a little large, here are a few pictures and the fake .pdf file which you need to convert to .zip once downloaded.   The cut-out seen on the below image on the bottom of the base should swallow the OD (40 mm, +0.1 mm tolerance) of the stump and the height of the stump 9.5mm (measured to 9.1mm, but rounded to 9.5mm) - let me know if this works for your tool.   Note, I think you may need to print supports for the new internal shelf created? Here is the fake .pdf for just the FreeCAD base file and 3mf files Modular Movement Holder.pdf Here is the fake pdf for complete set of the new base and ring FreeCAD/3mf files: Modular Movement Holder base and ring v 2.1.pdf However, I'm wondering how often you could use this feature, adding the dial usually increases the OD of the movement, so you would need a new (larger) adapter ring tuned to the OD of the dial and I wouldn't like to grip the dial in any kind of movement holder if It could be avoided for fear of damaging it. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you?
    • Hi Frank, you have dived headlong into the deep end. Hairspring work has to be the scariest thing a newbie has to tackle. Your hairspring appears to be bent and just putting it back into the regulator would not allow the balance to work properly. It might start oscillating but the performance would not be good. The proper thing to do is to unstud the hairspring, remove the hairspring from the balance, reinstall the hairspring on the stud carrier, reshape the endcurve and centre the collet to the balance jewel hole. This challenge would either make you or break you. Hope that you will be able to fix your watch. Welcome to the world of watchmaking.  Watch this video. It think it'll give you an idea of the task ahead. From your 1st photo, I think you have a etachron type stud. Let me see if I can find a video on how to remove it from the arm.
    • Have read of the Tech Sheet attached on the balance section page 12. It may be bent but until you reposition it back in the regulator pins you'll never know. Cheers CJ 4R35B_4R36A.pdf
    • Aloha All, My Seiko 4R35B movement stopped working today. Upon closer inspection, it looks like the balance spring came out of the regulator pin. This is my first time working on a balance. Any advice on how to get this spring repositioned (back to normal)? I'm pretty sure that while adjusting the beat error on this movement, I must have turned the stud (I didn't even know they turned), and the spring eventually fell out.  Will the spring go back to even spacing when it's back in the pin, or does it look bent? Thanks, Frank  
×
×
  • Create New...