Help ! my Tudor BB seconds hand is acing weird

[lowlet]

Hi guys,

Ok i initially thought my tudor's seconds was slowing down at certain points in the dial but it wasn't...the thing is the seconds hand seems to stop occasionally. There is a picture in the post below where it just suddenly stuttered and stopped at 45 seconds. I shook the watch a little and it moved abit (around 46s) but still didn't move.. I had to shake it again abit harder then it started to move like normal again. I've been trying to get it on video but it's proving quite difficult. It seems to work perfectly fine and at one time it went almost 12 hours without stopping at all..then right now it seems to be problematic. =(

 

[aflop]

I just spent 1.5 minutes of my life looking what seemed like a perfectly normal rep sweep.

 

[lowlet]

I forgot to add....if a give it a slight shake, the seconds starts moving again. The watch has been wound about 5 turns just prior to it last stopping. So I don't think its a power reserve issue.

 

[lowlet]

You're right. I should have compared it with my working watch and it does keep time as it should.. seconds match...HOWEVER..the watch just stopped on me again. I hacked both watches to the same seconds and then started the time together....i saw the seconds hand stutter just a slight bit then it came to a stop at the 45 seconds mark...any idea?

 

[d4m.test]

I feel like the balance wheel on all these rep seagull movements are wonky. People with z-factory seagulls are complaining about stutters, lost time, and stops. I've had a DOA bp-factory seagull (supposed to be Swiss) that needed a balance wheel transplant.

 

[KBH]

Have you actually wound it up completely or are you just giving it a few winds to get it started and them thinking it's going to keep going. Cause it's probably not....

 

[Deeje]

You need to wind that think alot more than just 5 times. I'd say somewhere around 30-40 then see what happens.

 

[gmg_3]

Have you actually wound it up completely or are you just giving it a few winds to get it started and them thinking it's going to keep going. Cause it's probably not....

^^^^ this...

wind your watch my friend. Great thread floating around about how shitty they run without being wound. I love the video!

 

[lowlet]

Thanks for the advise everybody! I will do just that and wind it up fully and monitor it some more. Appreciate the fast feedback. Will update on it again

 

[egroegart]

This is a problem with this watch. I know several people with the same exact issue. You're probably going to have to contact one of our watchsmiths. I have one friend that just sent his in to be repaired. Shouldn't be too bad of a fix. I forget the exact problem he said it is. but something needs replaced.

 

[d4m.test]

This is a problem with this watch. I know several people with the same exact issue. You're probably going to have to contact one of our watchsmiths. I have one friend that just sent his in to be repaired. Shouldn't be too bad of a fix. I forget the exact problem he said it is. but something needs replaced.

Balance wheel?

 

[Deeje]

But the OP stated he only wound it like 5 times. I know on my watch if its stopped running, sometimes 5 turns doesn't do anything to get it started. I don't think he may be giving it enough "juice" to get it going.

 

[SSTEEL]

I have had a few BB in for repair with the same issue, and most of them have been the seconds hand catching the underside of the crystal.

 

[d4m.test]

Hi, like SSteel said, from the description there is nothing wrong with the movement and the seconds hand is just catching either on the crystal or the dial.
Open caseback, loosen 2 screws, take out movement bend seconds hand a bit to where it should go (higher or lower depending where it´s catching) make sure it doesn´t hang on the minute or hour hand - put it all back together. It´s really a minor fix. Good luck.

 

[Raddave]

These Seagulls aint the greatest,

Im suspecting they come from the bottom of the barrel

 

[lowlet]

Ok, I have verified that there is indeed a issue.

I wound up the watch about 30 times and had the watch on my wrist the entire day. There was no issue keeping time or seconds stopping. I was almost convinced that there was no problem but when I took it out and placed it on my table after work, the seconds hand got stuck at the 5 second mark....it stopped after less than 10 minutes.

I shook it slightly...and it wouldn't move...i had to shake it quite hard to get it moving again..and then once it started moving...it has seemed to keep working till now ( > 2 hours ) without any further winding...

Looks like I will have to open this up after all . Daywatch makes it sound so simple! hwell:. I like doing this kind of DIY stuff (opening and fixing smartphones) but I am new to watches. I do have the basic (cheap) watch tools set so i think I could give it a shot!

But if say I do chicken out and for my own info.. how much does it cost to send a watch for fixing something like this with one of the forum's watchsmiths? I'm from Singapore...so I'm trying to understand my options for any potential issues with other watches in the future.

I have a side question: I read that alot of people choose not to send watches back to their TD's for fixing due to the time/risk. In this case, is there any advantage of having the TD's warranty? I understand that some TDs offer wholesale prices and after they do the QC and ship the watches to you, they won't help fix any issues you have subsequently. But I'm wondering, are there cases where the best option would be to send the watch back to the TD?

Thanks for all the helpful responses !

 

[lowlet]

I've opened up my BB...for the first time..:adoration:

Quite an experience! I thought opening up my iphone was tough...looking at the inside of the watch was scary. lol

I have a question. I pulled the stem out to the hacking time position before removing the stem. The moment I removed the stem, the watch started ticking! Isn't it supposed to stay still? I freaked out abit at that point. How was I supposed to adjust / bend the seconds hand if its moving



Anyway, I just followed what daywatch and ssteel mentioned and pressed the canon pinion lightly with the end of tweezers and pressed the seconds hand near the tip to try and bend it in alittle...not sure how effective that was though =x

I put it all back together and had some problem putting the stem back in...was so worried i broke something ( had i pressed down on the stem release a little too hard? ) but I did manage to stick in back into that small hole, so to speak. I just wished I had some silicon grease with me. the stem and the case back o ring seemed alittle dry. I'm not sure how much grease it should have but it didn't seem enough.

Fingers crossed for now!. Hope the seconds hands stay ticking....

 

[KBH]

I've never had a problem when I've sent a couple of defective watches back to China. Regular air mail from US is about $7. The biggest pain is waiting sometimes a couple of months for a return shipment. Lately, it seems like sending watches out for repairs to some of the forum modders can take almost as long and costs a lot more than the return to China.

 

[Raddave]

"I have a question. I pulled the stem out to the hacking time position before removing the stem. The moment I removed the stem, the watch started ticking! Isn't it supposed to stay still? I freaked out abit at that point. How was I supposed to adjust / bend the seconds hand if its moving"



First off do you understand how the hack lever physically works?

Its a "L" shaped arm with a pivot hole at the angle junction.

As the stem is pulled out into the hack position , through the mechanics of the movement, it causes the sliding pinion to move inwards to the time set position. There is a groove in the sliding pinion, for the small end of the hack lever, and it pivots the hack lever. The other end of the hack lever, the long end, comes in contact with the balance wheel and stops or "hacks" it.

With the stem removed, the sliding pinion is no longer held in position and can, and usually does, move a little bit such as it can not apply suffecient pressure to keep the movement hacked.

When working on a movement, you should reinsert the stem, so you can hack it or adjust the hands.
Then remove the stem again before fitting the movement back into the case.

 

[lowlet]

Thanks Raddave for that information. I honestly did not know that. It was my first time opening up any watch and when the hand started ticking as i removed the stem, it kind of freaked me out (embarassed).

I'm learning along the way! Thanks again for helping me understand what makes the time hack inside the movement. =D