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3861 chrono minutes hand moves on it's own

timmyk86
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Hi all,

I have a 3861 Speedmaster Pro, which I love. There seems to be something wrong with it though.

I like to leave the chrono seconds hand at 37 seconds to keep the metal logo and subdials on show.

After about 6 hours, the minute subdial will have at some point moved to around 7 minutes on it's own. It doesn't seem to be a gradual thing, one minute it's at 0, then next time I look it's sat 7 minutes, not moving.

Any thoughts about why this is happening?

Thanks
T
 
Archer
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When you start and then stop the chronograph, without resetting it, there is only a small spring holding the jumper that control the minute recorder hand flip. Here is a gif showing the jumper during the flip of the minute recorder hand:



The tension on this spring has to adjusted just right, so the tension is enough to hold the minute recording hand in position when you are timing something, but not strong enough that it causes the watch to stop due to the excess load it creates. The seconds recording hand is actually held in place by the blocking lever (commonly called the brake on forums) but the only thing holding the minute recorder is that small finger and the spring behind it. A small bump will cause it to move.

Yours is not the first complaint of this that I have seen, and this is a rather unorthodox use of the watch. So I know of one other person who took the watch back to Omega for this, and they told him it's normal. One could certainly have the tension on the spring increased, but that may cause the watch to stop prematurely when using the chronograph.

The watch really wasn't designed to be used this way. Having said that, the hand moving around won't harm anything, so there's nothing to really worry about - it just won't stay in the reset position.

Cheers, Al
 
Dan S
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At least you're not trying to use the minute recorder to track the date. 😉
 
Evitzee
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I'm old fashioned, I keep the chronograph set at 'zero' so if I need to time something I can just push the start button. I don't want to have to push the reset button and then start the chrono when a timing event arises. Wasted motion and undo delay in starting to time something.
 
timmyk86
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Archer Archer
When you start and then stop the chronograph, without resetting it, there is only a small spring holding the jumper that control the minute recorder hand flip. Here is a gif showing the jumper during the flip of the minute recorder hand:



The tension on this spring has to adjusted just right, so the tension is enough to hold the minute recording hand in position when you are timing something, but not strong enough that it causes the watch to stop due to the excess load it creates. The seconds recording hand is actually held in place by the blocking lever (commonly called the brake on forums) but the only thing holding the minute recorder is that small finger and the spring behind it. A small bump will cause it to move.

Yours is not the first complaint of this that I have seen, and this is a rather unorthodox use of the watch. So I know of one other person who took the watch back to Omega for this, and they told him it's normal. One could certainly have the tension on the spring increased, but that may cause the watch to stop prematurely when using the chronograph.

The watch really wasn't designed to be used this way. Having said that, the hand moving around won't harm anything, so there's nothing to really worry about - it just won't stay in the reset position.

Cheers, Al
That is a really useful and clear answer. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain and help me understand this. Really appreciate it.

Needless to say, I'm no longer worried there's an issue with my watch!

Thanks again for your time and effort here.
T
 
GrouchoM
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Hmm. To me, a stopwatch is to be used to time and then stop to, eventually, read a measurement. A strictly flyback chronograph (like the Seiko Speedtimer) is used to find and then instantly get reset. So, I see the op's usage not unusual. More specifically , I see the extended non-zero stoppage not unusual. Also, wouldn't this make the running chrono potentially have its minute hand slip forward?
 
DirtyDozen12
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GrouchoM GrouchoM
Also, wouldn't this make the running chrono potentially have its minute hand slip forward?
I think that it would, which doesn't seem good.
 
D
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Archer Archer
When you start and then stop the chronograph, without resetting it, there is only a small spring holding the jumper that control the minute recorder hand flip. Here is a gif showing the jumper during the flip of the minute recorder hand:

** snip **

The tension on this spring has to adjusted just right, so the tension is enough to hold the minute recording hand in position when you are timing something, but not strong enough that it causes the watch to stop due to the excess load it creates. The seconds recording hand is actually held in place by the blocking lever (commonly called the brake on forums) but the only thing holding the minute recorder is that small finger and the spring behind it. A small bump will cause it to move.

Yours is not the first complaint of this that I have seen, and this is a rather unorthodox use of the watch. So I know of one other person who took the watch back to Omega for this, and they told him it's normal. One could certainly have the tension on the spring increased, but that may cause the watch to stop prematurely when using the chronograph.

The watch really wasn't designed to be used this way. Having said that, the hand moving around won't harm anything, so there's nothing to really worry about - it just won't stay in the reset position.

Cheers, Al

I can replicate this “issue” when I “punch” my hand through the air. Both when running the chronograph and when it is stopped, but not when it is reset to the default position. So that means if I for example want to measure my jogging session the minute hand may move? Does this also apply to the 1861 movement or is this only an 3861 thing?

I must add though, I had the stop watch stopped at 5 seconds the other day to see if I the minute hand moves with my regular use, and it did not. So I believe it will not be an issue for me personally.
 
Daru
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Wish I had known this before buying my 3861. I drive and instruct at racetracks quite regularly, and expect to use the chronograph in that capacity. Having the risk of the minute hand move in a chronograph whose early roots are in auto racing is incredibly disappointing. Add that on top of my disappointment of having a defective case with incomplete finishing on my initial watch (separate forum post about this) and the ongoing fear that I will have the bushing issue.
…and I can’t imagine that this watch would be nasa certified for space flight today with this chronograph challenge with motion. Kind of flies in the face of the sensationalized tale about using the speedy chronograph to save the Apollo mission.
 
PandaSPUR
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Daru Daru
Wish I had known this before buying my 3861. I drive and instruct at racetracks quite regularly, and expect to use the chronograph in that capacity. Having the risk of the minute hand move in a chronograph whose early roots are in auto racing is incredibly disappointing. Add that on top of my disappointment of having a defective case with incomplete finishing on my initial watch (separate forum post about this) and the ongoing fear that I will have the bushing issue.
…and I can’t imagine that this watch would be nasa certified for space flight today with this chronograph challenge with motion. Kind of flies in the face of the sensationalized tale about using the speedy chronograph to save the Apollo mission.

A punch exerts more Gs than you'd experience in a race car or a rocket launch.

Unless of course you're punching your car interior out of rage lol.
 
timmyk86
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PandaSPUR PandaSPUR
Phew this concluded much better than the other incident.

Do you mean my previous issue or the general 3861 bushing issue?
 
Evitzee
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I've had many Speedmasters over the last 48 years, and even wore them on a BMW twin motorcycle back in the 70's and 80's, and I never had any sort of hand jumping. The tension on the spring can be adjusted, if you are having issues with it jumping it should be looked at, it should not be an issue in normal use.
 
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