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How to silence the rotor on a BP nautilus

Nivka

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10/4/15
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I love my BP v1 5711. The only negatives for me were the green tinge to the dial and the noisy rotor on the miyota movement. I saw a thread where someone oiled the rotor on their AP 15400 royal oak, which also uses a miyota movement and this inspired me to try the same.

Here's what I did with mine that made it as quiet as my eta and 21j based movements.

1. Order some oil online. I am not an expert by any means, but I've read that if you get the wrong oil or use too much of the right oil it can screw your watch. I used "moebius d5" that I got off ebay (see below). 1ml is more than enough. It is not technically the correct oil to use, but some experts chimed in that it was a little thicker so it would be less likely to spill elsewhere in the movement. Sounded perfect for a hack like me. Also, the thickness of the oil provides a little more friction so the rotor won't spin for 10 seconds after you move your wrist like mine did.

560109dcff1ccfd4e4d27eec364b700a.png


2. Remove a pin from the bracelet so you can get unobstructed access to the back of the watch.

3. Hack the movement then open the caseback. I used a sticky ball and it was easy to get off

4. Remove the three little screws in the very centre that hold the rotor in place. I used the red screwdriver.
7af21cdfc82eac859b3914c260b7aff2.jpg


5. Remove the rotor with a toothpick or rodicco, put it to the side and put the caseback back on (you don't need to fully tighten it, but you want to keep the dust out)

71b52a5c8eb17a2993c3dc734551b752.jpg


6. Flip the rotor over so you can see the underside (ie the side without the patek Philippe logo). You will see a gap with tiny little ball bearings (blue arrow) in it. That's where we want to lubricate to reduce the sound (red arrows)
f39c312d66fd25c6c2f43fb94032acaa.jpg


7. Now we use the oil. You only need a teeny, tiny, incy, wincy bit. A drop would be way too much. Dip the tip of a toothpick in and scrape it over the edges of the bottle to remove most. Now dab the tip of the toothpick at 5 or so spots around that space over the ball bearings then spin the rotor for 30 secs using another toothpick (that doesn't have oil on it). Repeat that a few times. You can also oil the other side (green arrows) to try to get some oil in from both above and below.
b485835dda7aaf191f28000273e89d45.jpg


8. After a few cycles of oiling and spinning, put the rotor back on, screw the screws back in (can be pretty fiddly), put the caseback on and see how it sounds. If it's still making too much noise, repeat steps 3-7 until you're happy.

9. Enjoy your quiet new nautilus.

f9b0b48630efcd7c28eac9fa9a615b30.jpg
 

edubbel

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Great DIY tip, thank you.


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Spatiumtemporis

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Great informative thread ! And great watch.

Just as a sidenote.

Bp uses decorated miyota movements on their 5 digit subs. The rotor screws are found under the center rotor round piece which is glued and can be lifted using a needle.

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Natas78

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Hi, don't wanna rain on your parade, but no watchmaker would ever do that. And if you must, use sticky grease like silicon or true ball bearing grease instead of D5, it's way to liquid for that cause.
These ball bearings are made as is by the world's leading ball bearing producers like SKF.
Spinning rotors make the oil (even when used sparingly) more liquid and it will eventually spread through the movement and contaminate the other parts.


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Nivka

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Hi, don't wanna rain on your parade, but no watchmaker would ever do that. And if you must, use sticky grease like silicon or true ball bearing grease instead of D5, it's way to liquid for that cause.
These ball bearings are made as is by the world's leading ball bearing producers like SKF.
Spinning rotors make the oil (even when used sparingly) more liquid and it will eventually spread through the movement and contaminate the other parts.


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Thanks for the info natas. I appreciate your expertise.

I got the idea from this thread where this issue was briefly discussed.
https://forum.replica-watch.info/threads/silencing-the-miyota-rotor-on-ap-jf-15400.329209/

The right oil would be 9010, that's right, but a tiny drop of D5 is also very good to silent up the rotor. D5 is thicker than 9010 and that's make the rotor slower.
But just a tiny tiny drop.

So you think there's risk of it spilling out over time and contaminating the movement even with a tiny amount? I was about to do the same with my 15400.

The 9010 is 4x the cost in ebay. Is there a better place to buy it in small quantities?

Thanks again
 

Natas78

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Don't buy the 9010 either its even thinner and won't do anything but briefly silence it. This is the oil used on small wheel jewels in movements and the balance
Bearing grease is the only thing you should consider and then only in a microscopic amount.


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Nivka

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Don't buy the 9010 either its even thinner and won't do anything but briefly silence it. This is the oil used on small wheel jewels in movements and the balance
Bearing grease is the only thing you should consider and then only in a microscopic amount.


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Are these ok? Or should it be specifically for watches?
e243b4920ce68d90e62d8b3a965700c1.png
dabc2c9e3b88b112c48753317c3a9e0c.png
 

Natas78

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Are these ok? Or should it be specifically for watches?
e243b4920ce68d90e62d8b3a965700c1.png
dabc2c9e3b88b112c48753317c3a9e0c.png

I would carefully consider those yes - if you are going to do it anyway this would be the safer bet for the sake of your movement.
 

vcappp

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I love my BP v1 5711. The only negatives for me were the green tinge to the dial and the noisy rotor on the miyota movement. I saw a thread where someone oiled the rotor on their AP 15400 royal oak, which also uses a miyota movement and this inspired me to try the same.

Here's what I did with mine that made it as quiet as my eta and 21j based movements.

1. Order some oil online. I am not an expert by any means, but I've read that if you get the wrong oil or use too much of the right oil it can screw your watch. I used "moebius d5" that I got off ebay (see below). 1ml is more than enough. It is not technically the correct oil to use, but some experts chimed in that it was a little thicker so it would be less likely to spill elsewhere in the movement. Sounded perfect for a hack like me. Also, the thickness of the oil provides a little more friction so the rotor won't spin for 10 seconds after you move your wrist like mine did.

560109dcff1ccfd4e4d27eec364b700a.png


2. Remove a pin from the bracelet so you can get unobstructed access to the back of the watch.

3. Hack the movement then open the caseback. I used a sticky ball and it was easy to get off

4. Remove the three little screws in the very centre that hold the rotor in place. I used the red screwdriver.
7af21cdfc82eac859b3914c260b7aff2.jpg


5. Remove the rotor with a toothpick or rodicco, put it to the side and put the caseback back on (you don't need to fully tighten it, but you want to keep the dust out)

71b52a5c8eb17a2993c3dc734551b752.jpg


6. Flip the rotor over so you can see the underside (ie the side without the patek Philippe logo). You will see a gap with tiny little ball bearings (blue arrow) in it. That's where we want to lubricate to reduce the sound (red arrows)
f39c312d66fd25c6c2f43fb94032acaa.jpg


7. Now we use the oil. You only need a teeny, tiny, incy, wincy bit. A drop would be way too much. Dip the tip of a toothpick in and scrape it over the edges of the bottle to remove most. Now dab the tip of the toothpick at 5 or so spots around that space over the ball bearings then spin the rotor for 30 secs using another toothpick (that doesn't have oil on it). Repeat that a few times. You can also oil the other side (green arrows) to try to get some oil in from both above and below.
b485835dda7aaf191f28000273e89d45.jpg


8. After a few cycles of oiling and spinning, put the rotor back on, screw the screws back in (can be pretty fiddly), put the caseback on and see how it sounds. If it's still making too much noise, repeat steps 3-7 until you're happy.

9. Enjoy your quiet new nautilus.

f9b0b48630efcd7c28eac9fa9a615b30.jpg

Thanks for this great DIY tip!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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CLS

Watchsmith
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Hi, don't wanna rain on your parade, but no watchmaker would ever do that. And if you must, use sticky grease like silicon or true ball bearing grease instead of D5, it's way to liquid for that cause.
These ball bearings are made as is by the world's leading ball bearing producers like SKF.
Spinning rotors make the oil (even when used sparingly) more liquid and it will eventually spread through the movement and contaminate the other parts.


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ETA recommends 9010 for most rotor bearings.... so... no.
 
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michel7752

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I used D5 oil for my PP 5296, ARF Daytonas and other watches. I applied a really tiny bit of oil directly from the top, without unscrewing the rotor. It worked in all cases and eliminated 90% of the noise.
 
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CLS

Watchsmith
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I used D5 oil for my PP 5296, ARF Daytonas and other watches. I applied a really tiny bit of oil directly from the top, without unscrewing the rotor. It worked in all cases and eliminated 90% of the noise.

Yes, it's a better idea than grease. 9010 is generally recommended (except in special cases like ceramic bearings.) If you want to quiet the rotor more, D5 is a reasonable step up, but because it's more viscous will also increase resistance which makes the rotor less efficient. No harm in trying as long as you use a small amount. You can always dip it in one dip and start over.
 
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gabro

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I used D5 oil for my PP 5296, ARF Daytonas and other watches. I applied a really tiny bit of oil directly from the top, without unscrewing the rotor. It worked in all cases and eliminated 90% of the noise.

I did use D5 as pictures (screwing rotor) but still noisy.nothing like my moder results which is 100% quite rotor. Maybe i should try from the top.
 

thumbsarehandy

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Don't buy the 9010 either its even thinner and won't do anything but briefly silence it. This is the oil used on small wheel jewels in movements and the balance
Bearing grease is the only thing you should consider and then only in a microscopic amount.


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How about using Moebius 9504 (synt-a-lube)? Thank you!
 

WC800729

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Any idea how to achieve that please?

I used D-5 on my bearings by removing the rotor and lubricating from both sides. Alternating between spinning the rotor and applying the D-5, it completely silenced the rotor.
Using D-5 you will find the rotor still spins but no where near the speed as it would with 9010 or not lubricated at all.
I cannot imagine that the rotor would spin at the speed shown in your video if you used D-5. Possibly you applied an insufficient amount?