Hi,

I am about to start cleaning some movements (Bulova 2182s) to see if I can get a good one to fill an ex display (case only) Accutron:


before I start to play with some Omega f300 (9162/9164) movements, but I do not know where to start with a cleaning fluid to clean and rinse the plates, gears and other parts.

My father kept his old wristwatch (a second hand one from his father) going for 30 years by giving it a quick rinse in kerosene every couple of years when it started to lose time, but I think that watch cleaning technology has moved on since then (the 1970s - and his watch still works when he swaps it when his 1969 Seamaster is getting a service).

I can get hold of an ultrasonic bath, but knowing what can be successfully cleaned in one is also a mystery ...

Any advice on how to clean watch movements would be appreciated.


Thanks,
Tony

 

Understood - but it never saw a watchmaker and is now over 60 years old and still runs .... I don't have that much background in watch longevity, but 60 years seems like not a bad innings ...

 

Oil - are you supposed to oil them? I guess I will have to find out about that as well.

 

….. until you see the how damaged the parts are. A watch may run, but there are surely grooves cut into the parts, worn down teeth, etc. Misinformed owners take centuries off the life of their watch.

http://omegaforums.net/threads/manual-wind-running-for-how-long.12307/#post-153351

 

Nice photos - and very interesting. I am not sure if it is me or my elder brother who will inherit the watch - maybe I should get hold of it and try to have a look at it and see how it is wearing.

Once I get some practice with the movements I have for the Accutron (I got 5 ex factory movements from previous repairs to play with) I will see if I can arrange to get the watch to look at.

If it is as bad as those photos show, and I do not remember the brand so I guess is is a more obscure one, I would guess that it will be hard to repair ...

Thanks.

 

It's very hard to put some people off, isn't it?

 

Lots of little parts that should be attended to by a qualified watchmaker.

 

My father (now 84) spent his early working years at small country mining towns where he (and my mum) were the only teachers, so they had to be on time. He reasoned that kero left a slightly oily residue, so would provide some lubrication. petrol dried completely, so was not suitable, as were most of the other solvents.
I guess he was lucky that he did not try anything that dissolved the seals or glass or stripped the face clean ...

Does he qualify as an old timer I wonder ??

 

They do come in this way, but they don't leave this way...

 

Rather than leaving an oily film on "everything" as kerosene does, we watchmakers (most of us anyway) prefer to have zero oily film on most of the watch movement, and apply the correct type and amount of lubricant only where it's needed.

Cheers, Al

 

Depends on your definition of work - is 'hairy watches' the next big thing, or just a shortlived fad?

 

Probably has good supplies of L&R "Solo Lube" which as the name states, is the only lube you need! In particular if your name is Duncan Swish....

Cheers, Al

 

All very interesting, but looking a bit further, I have found only a few oils listed .. one is listed as watch oil, one as quartz watch oil, one as clock oil, and one as synthetic oil.

Is this generally the choice available?

If so, what would you recommend for the electric tuning fork watches? My wild guess would be to use the quartz oil as the watch is a mix of mechanical and electrical, similar to the quartz watches ..

Thanks,
Tony