With thanks in advance to @josh_a @Larry S @Evitzee @ICONO @rcs914 for their help and guidance...

I am on vacation in rural southwestern Ontario and plugged “antique stores near me” into google to plot a route for a country drive. Not much to be had, it seems many antique store owners have retired. Approaching a small town that promised an antique store, I decided to park at the start of the commercial strip and stretch my legs with a walk through the 10 stores on my way to the antique shop on the other end of town. I locked the car and looked up to see this curious sight






I know right?! Does it get any more interesting than happening upon a store like this? Inside was Paul the barber, his cat, and lots and lots of clocks, lots of pocket watches (not my thing) and also a whack of quartz watches. “No mechanical watches?” “Well, a few, let me go see”. Not much caught my eye until I saw this sitting in a corner of a shelf



It isn’t operating, but fingers crossed that a fresh battery or an inexpensive visit to the watchmaker will set it straight. For a very fair price, I had to take the chance! N3 (1973) Accutron Spaceview, serial 2-439xxx. I have to have my watchmaker take the back off to check the case ID, it might be a factory Spaceview or a conversion, I’ll find out when I get back home. The case is in amazing condition, a small crack in the crystal that might get repaired or replaced, then get it on a new strap - the JB Champion bracelet is surprisingly comfortable, but I am voting it off the island. Me and the barber, below

 

Cool, this is what's referred to as a "chapter ring" space-view, these are 99% of the time original and not conversions.

 

Ohh that’s good news! I invite suggestions for a strap for this - please and thank you

 

There may be more than one reason why the Accutron isn’t running, but I spotted one cause right off the bat. I have posted an edited image of your watch showing a red arrow. This watch is equipped with a “hack” which causes the tuning fork to stop when the set piece on the case back is pulled to the setting position. On your watch, the hack is a small protuberance on the side of the tip of the setting pinion rebound spring. If you look closely, that protuberance is butting against the right tine of the tuning fork! So the tuning fork can’t vibrate! The hand setting button is inward, in the “run” position, while the hack is in the hand setting position, preventing the tuning fork from vibrating.

There can be several causes for this anomaly.

- The case back retainer ring may not be screwed down tight.
- If there is a gasket under the case back, it could be an incorrect thickness.
- The watch may have been converted to a Spaceview, and the stem could be the wrong length. These stems were
made in several different lengths to accommodate the requirements of many Accutron 214 movement and case
combinations. Your stem could be incorrect.

There are numerous other reasons why an Accutron won’t run, but the business of the hack needs to be dealt with, first. Before you start looking deeper for trouble.

 

Frickin’ amazing. Thank you. The second hand jumped a bit when I took the hour hand on a few tours around the dial. I will pursue these great ideas. Again, thank you

 

For starters, press the hand setting knob down, hard. And see if the hack (see the arrow) moves away from the tuning fork. (Second picture). If it does, it still won’t likely cause the watch to run, but it is a start. You’ll need a permanent fix for that problem.

 

Excellent story. Did you get a haicut too?

 

You might as well unscrew the battery cover, do you even know if there is a battery in there? You can't whack a normal battery in there because the old mercury batteries are no longer made and new batteries run at a different voltage so it won't run right unless it has been converted previously. Anyway for the price you got a good deal, let's hope some minor tweaking and a fresh battery will get it back in operation.

 

Good advice. But as it stands, with the hack preventing the tuning fork from vibrating, putting in a battery with do nothing. Oh! And while we are discussing batteries, the Accutron cell is POSITIVE ground, not negative ground. Thereby, it is installed sdrawkcab to a typical battery powered watch. The Accutron is positive side DOWN, negative side UP.

 

If only I needed a haircut! It would of been fun to get the whole package

 

Update. My watchmaker says that a donor movement is needed, but that I should come out with a stellar watch for under $400 Canadian. On the hunt for one now. Thanks again.

 

Is he hoping you’ll find a running donor because he doesn’t know how to service an Accutron? Or is the watch really beyond repair?

 

Agree, sounds like the watch guy isn't familiar with Accutrons, it's too easy to declare it a basket case. I'd recommend the OP look for a guy who knows Accutrons for a second opinion.

 

Your Accutron is a later model which is equipped with a hack for stopping the tuning for when setting the watch to time. The image of the movement shows two callout arrows denoting the spring that provides rebound for the setting pinion, but also has the hack which I pointed out in an earlier post to your thread.



Have whoever is advising you to replace the movement, obtain two Accutron parts. They are parts number 120 and 192 as shown. REMOVE the spring as detailed above by removing two retaining screws. Replace that spring with the two parts I have shown here, and put in a new cell, with positive ground, and try it again. That will eliminate the hack as perhaps the reason the watch doesn’t run. If the movement runs, there will be other things that must be attended to, but at least you should be better prepared to accept his diagnosis that more parts (or perhaps a movement) will be required.. This CAN be done! It is NOT rocket science! If he is unwilling to go to bat for you, find someone who KNOWS Accutrons, and who WILL go to bat for you.

 

Maybe you should send it too Canuck...

 

There is another easier way to eliminate the hack as being the problem. That would be to remove the spring denoted by the two arrows, and snip off the part above the top arrow. It is not the right way to do it, but it might serve a purpose. The right solution would be to ask around about shops that understand Accutrons.

 

Thank you all. I will have another talk with him before spending any other money. Again, thank you

 

Go on line. There are people who specialize in Accutron. My watchmaker wont touch them. For some watchmakers its a passion project. Don’t give it up for dead just yet. Your odds of finding the parts you need are better with these folks.

 

Lots of helpful information in this thread.
Nice Accutron, I hope you get it working.

I have 2 Accutrons and 1 Omega F300 that need looking at.

 

Accutrons are fun to own. There are 36 shown here.