All, Curious if anyone knows if P1285 based movements (like my white face/blue hands AT pictured below which is a cal 3301 Omega) have overwind protection... Getting closer to sending this thing in. I love the watch but this morning after winding it wouldn't run for more than five minutes before it would stop...each time I would have to pick it up, gently knock it and it would run again. Eventually after wearing it for about 15 minutes it has run normally for the last 18 hours... Curious if I overwound it in the past?
how long did you wind it for? I'm thinking not enough as I have learned here this type of movement has a clutch and cannot be overwound. I'm sure others can provide a detailed explanation as to why.
You can't overwind an automatic watch. Other than a very few early automatics, all of these watches use a slipping mainspring in the mainspring barrel. People call this a "clutch" which implies it is some complex mechanism, but it isn't. Your watch is not "overwound" which is really not a proper technical term. It is just due for service. I just finished a 3301 this week. Make sure whoever does the service understand the subtleties of this watch, and has access to the parts that will need to be upgraded inside. With it being a 2006 watch, it will need at least a couple of the upgrades done. Cheers, Al PS - the term "overwound" is like fingernails on a blackboard to watchmakers. This term seems to come from people believing that if you wind a watch too much, it will cause it to stop. The only way winding a watch too much will cause it to stop is if it's a manual wind watch and you wind it so hard you break the mainspring. The usual condition of a watch that someone sends to me that is "overwound" is a manual wind watch that is old, dirty, and has not been serviced in decades. Someone has typically found it in a drawer, and they have wound it seeing if it will run, and when it didn't start they put it back in the drawer. Sometimes later someone else finds the watch, it's fully wound and not running, so they think it has been "overwound" when all it really needs is a service.
I was explaining overwound to my Dad just the other night. His says 1950ish 30mm Omega, which he's had from new, no longer runs because it is overwound. I explained that it doesn't run because its just plain grungy inside and could use a good cleaning and some lubrication. My fear now is that he'll attack it with the WD40. Al: Tell me you haven't seen it done! (I've also heard of vegetable oil being used.... that'll clog you're cleaner!) My Grandad used to use lamp oil in his 1905 Longines pocket watch. When i would stop he'd open it up, dribble some in, shake out the excess and leave it open in the sun for a bit to "dry". (outside, on the porch of a Sask.farm house....... Mmmmmm, dusty!) The poor thing somehow survived this abuse and now, after a proper service, still keeps decent time.
Unfortunately I have seen WD40 used in a watch not that long ago... Bad idea! http://archerwatches.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/bringing-a-pam-091-back-to-life/ Cheers, Al
EEK! what are people thinking when they take a water dispersant (WD40 = water dispersant, 40th formula) and hose their $10,000 watch out??? I once read it was originally developed for the military for preserving machinery in crappy environments! People, Stop using it as oil! This week I took a walk around the production floor at work and confiscated all of the vise grips I could find after some yobbo tried to repair a machine with one and ended up buggering it up..... I'm lucky his cheap ass cordless drill ran out of juice before he finished drilling out the fasteners he screwed up or I would have been down for weeks awaiting replacement parts. As it was we lost two days and spent a tidy sum repairing his repair. (I'm sure this is why I'm not allowed a firearm on the production floor) Some things need to be kept locked up: vise grips, WD40, people who use screwdrivers as chisels, anything made by Timex.......