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Damage from exposure to magnetic field ??

  1. Professor Feb 20, 2018

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    Hi.
    I have two watches that have great looking clean movements but both gain time at a ridiculous rate and don't respond to attempts to regulate.
    I had at first figured it to be oil or debris on the hair spring but the method I've used to deal with that in the past has rendered no result at all.

    Though one is a new watch and the other a very old one neither has any "Anti-magnetic" marking on dial or case back.
    Both were shipped by mail, one from the Ukraine the other from China, and I'm thinking they may have been passed through a metal detector or other device with a strong electromagnetic field or shipped alongside devices with powerful magnets like speakers.

    Anyway, has anyone here had to deal with a magnetized hairspring in the past?
    If left alone will the problem just go away with the passage of time?
     
  2. STANDY schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector Feb 20, 2018

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  3. Professor Feb 20, 2018

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    Thanks. I'd never have thought to check there, I figured all Omegas were anti magnetic protected. The watches I have the problem with are a low end Chinese automatic and an ancient Soviet wind up. All my other mechanical watches have Anti Magnetic on the dial or case back. I suppose even those could be affected by some of the electro magnets in use these days.

    I had a Timex electric many years ago that froze up never to run again when I took a train ride around "Iron mountain" at an old time western theme park. The magnetic field there was so strong you could feel it in your bones.

    I'll check around with local jewelers to see if any have the de-magnetizing machines.
     
  4. Wryfox Feb 20, 2018

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    There are threads regarding this too, but suffice to say that magnets today are exponentially stronger than they were when your older antimagnetic watches were made. And magnets are everywhere. The magnets on your iPad cover or wife's purse are strong enough to magnetize a watch if you touch them. Whole new world now with rare earth magnets. Good idea to buy a demagnetizer. Find them on Amazon, most are the same mfr, just under different brand names, usually about $10. Also get cheap liquid filled compass, I got 3 for $3 on ebay. good enough as you're only looking for big deflections (like >30degs from steady). Takes just a few seconds. I check my regular wearers once a month. Just did them over the past weekend and sure enough had to demag the Breitling. Who knows where it got magged.
     
    Looneytoons and gemini4 like this.
  5. STANDY schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector Feb 20, 2018

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    I would go for something better than a $10 demagnatiser myself. :whistling:
     
  6. Wryfox Feb 20, 2018

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    But it works.....::bleh::
     
  7. STANDY schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector Feb 20, 2018

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    So do $10 Casio Quartz watches image.gif
     
  8. Professor Feb 20, 2018

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    The Russian watch is fixed at least for now.
    I took one last stab at cleaning the hair spring and shoved the tip of the canned air tube as far under the bridge as I felt it safe to do and gave it several mid power blasts.
    that apparently dislodged some debris. The balance begain cycling much more slowly and now with the regulator set about the mid way point its losing a few seconds per hour instead of gaining a minute or more. I'll fine tune the timing once I'm sure its settled in.
     
  9. Canuck Feb 20, 2018

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    I don’t think I’d use that technique on too many watches!:eek:
     
    Stewart H and Archer like this.
  10. Professor Feb 20, 2018

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    Not something I'd recommend trying with a valuable watch. A act of lost patience. Watch didn't cost much and its value is far less than the cost of a proper servicing by a qualified watch repairman.
    The method has worked well on old Ingraham pin levers and a Diantus pin lever as well as mantel clocks.
    As smooth as the watch winds sets and runs I suspect it had been serviced in recent years, too much lube when last serviced is one possible culprit.

    I've heard of coils overlapping if a watch is dropped onto a hard surface and being shaken loose or teased back into position with a needle. The canned air may have done that.