A2824 movement stopped - second hand wont move

[excal]

Hey guys,

Long time reader, new poster.

I bought a A2824 ARF submariner about 3-4 months ago, and today I noticed my watch wasn't running. I took it off and tried manually winding it and regardless of the amount I wind it, the second hand just doesn't start running. I'm able to change the time/date easy with no problem. When I do wind it, its a bit tougher then usual, and I can hear a sound of something moving inside (rotor?).

Do you guys have any suggestions on what to do? I've been reading around and some people spoke about tapping the watch on the back, getting a replacement or service and where I live in Australia, I believe i'm going to need to mail the watch out.

Would a Seagull ST2130 Clone ETA 2824-2 be a good alternative movement to have put in? (cost $61 vs that of ~200 for a swiss eta) but what is the reliability?

thank you for your time

 

[freediver]

Seagull is fine, but i would service your own or at least ask a watchsmith to take a look

Might be something simple

 

[xartan]

Hey guys,

Long time reader, new poster.

I bought a A2824 ARF submariner about 3-4 months ago, and today I noticed my watch wasn't running. I took it off and tried manually winding it and regardless of the amount I wind it, the second hand just doesn't start running. I'm able to change the time/date easy with no problem. When I do wind it, its a bit tougher then usual, and I can hear a sound of something moving inside (rotor?).

Do you guys have any suggestions on what to do? I've been reading around and some people spoke about tapping the watch on the back, getting a replacement or service and where I live in Australia, I believe i'm going to need to mail the watch out.

Would a Seagull ST2130 Clone ETA 2824-2 be a good alternative movement to have put in? (cost $61 vs that of ~200 for a swiss eta) but what is the reliability?

thank you for your time

Send it to a watch maker for service. It might or might not be simple to fix. Unless you have the right tools and know what you're doing you won't be able to switch the movement yourself without breaking things.

 

[KJ2020]

Seagull movements are excellent for the money. A nice step up from budget clone movements.

Check to see if the second hand is catching on another hand, a marker, or the crystal.

 

[Rx4Time]

Sometimes a good strong tap or two can get it moving again. It can't hurt because your next step after that is to send out to a watchsmith. Personally I would suggest just swapping in an ETA 2824 if you have to send it out.

 

[Oascom]

ETA 2824 is a workhorse. Little expensive but can't beat how the movement feels vs the clones

 

[bc1221]

You may want to check to see if the hacking yoke isn’t stuck on the balance wheel. That’s happened to before and that is pretty much the last thing I checked. Lol.

It’s pretty easy to check and pretty hard to mess up.
You just open the case back, remove the 3 screws that hold the winding bridge in place and remove the ratchet wheel and pull that entire bridge off. Then you should be able to see the underside of the keyless works and there is a very thin bronze yoke that touches the balance wheel in the hacking position. If that’s stuck, that’s the problem. Be careful tho. That thing can fly off if you’re not very gentle when removing the bridge.

You also need to wait until the power is all gone if you don’t know how to release the main spring slowly by holding the click spring back.

Hopefully, that’s the issue. Otherwise, I have no idea if you’ve already checked the hands not touching and nothing is holding the balance wheel that you can see. If that was the issue, I would recommend buying a ETA mainspring and installing it since you already have everything removed to be able to replace it. You get much more reserve power with a brand new ETA mainspring if the clone wasn’t giving you too much power reserve.

Good luck.


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[excal]

Hey I just thought I should update you guys and thank you for all your help. Where I was living (rural area), I struggled to find a watchsmith who would look at it, ended up dropping it off twice and picking it up with them saying "sorry we don't know whats wrong" etc.
Finally returned back to the city I managed to find a watch smith who managed to fix it in 10 minutes (apparently there was a loose screw that was stopping the watch from running. He replaced it and it cost me 30$.

However I have noticed that when shaken it makes a loud noise now. I have been reading and believe that it is the rotor. I've compared this to my gen DJ and it doesn't have such a noise. So i'm thinking he may not have tightened the rotor enough? Any input gentleman?

 

[KJ2020]

Rep rotors can be quite loud. It is unlikely it is not tight enough. It might benefit from being lubricated though.

 

[Specter1000]

I've had the same issue several times, not uncommon. I also am in a rural area...so I just started working on movements myself and it's been a very rewarding hobby, maybe something to consider?

 

[excal]

Rep rotors can be quite loud. It is unlikely it is not tight enough. It might benefit from being lubricated though.

Hey Kj, I ended up returning to the watchsmith who initially changed the "loose" screw for me. Initially he denied something wrong, but after pointing out that I can now feel the movement when I wind it he opened it up and said that the reversing wheels need to be replaced. (he wanted 110$ canadian for it) which he began removing to replace almost instantly. I stopped him and asked if it was possible for him to just lubricate the current one's to which he replied "theyre lubricated, and look fine but are just poor quality so it won't make a difference". When I declined the replacement he quickly put the watch back together and passed it to me.

After him opening it a second time, i feel like it got much worse - more resistance with manually winding, as well as hearing/feeling the rotor move.

I think i'm better off looking for a different watchsmith to have a look, and ultimately just replace the movement either with a Seagull ST2130 Clone ETA or a swiss ETA.

I wonder if I could get away with wearing it currently until it breaks, and then just replace the movement fully

 

[KJ2020]

Hey Kj, I ended up returning to the watchsmith who initially changed the "loose" screw for me. Initially he denied something wrong, but after pointing out that I can now feel the movement when I wind it he opened it up and said that the reversing wheels need to be replaced. (he wanted 110$ canadian for it) which he began removing to replace almost instantly. I stopped him and asked if it was possible for him to just lubricate the current one's to which he replied "theyre lubricated, and look fine but are just poor quality so it won't make a difference". When I declined the replacement he quickly put the watch back together and passed it to me.

After him opening it a second time, i feel like it got much worse - more resistance with manually winding, as well as hearing/feeling the rotor move.

I think i'm better off looking for a different watchsmith to have a look, and ultimately just replace the movement either with a Seagull ST2130 Clone ETA or a swiss ETA.

I wonder if I could get away with wearing it currently until it breaks, and then just replace the movement fully

You can, although moving the rotor when you wind is not the best arrangement. You can strip gears and pieces can fall into the movement and accelerate its demise. You can also just take the rotor off and wind it manually when it runs down. It will work normally and should wind smoothly and there will be no rotor noise. It would become a manual watch, not an automatic.

 

[Rx4Time]

odds are the reversing wheels were/are dirty and under lubricated. This is the only failure I've ever experienced in an A2824. The ETA 2824 is about $170 USD from startime supply (plus cost to install, figure average of $50). Personally, I would not leave it as is as daily unscrewing crown and winding it will 1. be annoying, 2. have the potential to have you cross thread the crown if you are hurried one day, and 3. just pushing off the inevitable if it's a watch you like. Swapping the movement will add value should you decide to sell it down the road as well. I would swap it and be done with it vs throwing money into it and still possibly having a louder rotor then the ETA. Side note to keep in mind, the ETA 2824 , of which I have several including a genuine Pelagos, the rotor is still louder then either my gen 3135 and 3186 which are inaudible

 

[bc1221]

If you plan on swapping the movement out, make sure to keep the H4 pinions (second hand, min and hour hand posts). Unless it’s specified, they will come with lower hand posts which will cause problems or at the least, it will look like crap. You’ll have to switch out those parts so it would be better to have someone else do it for you bc the train bridge can mess up some things VERY easily. (Learned this the hard way).

If you’re going to replace it, I would just go with a gen ETA or sellita. No point in getting a clone serviced or replacing it with another clone if it’s gonna cost around the same amount.


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