# Crown Came Out Of My Watch (What Should I Do)



## kc104 (May 1, 2009)

So I thought I would wear the Aplha Explorer 2 today. Pulled out crown, and wound up about 20 turns. Then pulled out to what I thought would be position 2 (for red) then position 3 for the actual time. It is quite tough to get it to position 3.

But instead of it going to pos 3, then entire crown came out.

I could see that it would screw back in, so gently placed it back in and screwed it back all the way. Thought, ill try it again and see if the crown comes out. It did not ( Somewhere among all that i screwed up a bit - reverse to winding it). It seems fine now.

Is this something to worry about, is it damaged, why did it happen. Pls help.


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## DaveS (Dec 7, 2009)

kc104 said:


> So I thought I would wear the Aplha Explorer 2 today. Pulled out crown, and wound up about 20 turns. Then pulled out to what I thought would be position 2 (for red) then position 3 for the actual time. It is quite tough to get it to position 3.
> 
> But instead of it going to pos 3, then entire crown came out.
> 
> ...


I assume you mean that the crown had unscrewed from the stem? In which case, you need to put a little thread lock onto the threads. I use Loctite Lock'n'Seal.  You only ned a tiny amount.

Hope this helps

Dave


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## kc104 (May 1, 2009)

Ooh, no - I mean, the crown and stem (the long rod) came out -- or is that what you meant


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Hrm. (crosses Alpha off my shopping list)


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

I was looking at the Alpha catalogue, I didn't knew this watches. Are they any good or is KC104's problem somthing you should expect?


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## DaveS (Dec 7, 2009)

kc104 said:


> Ooh, no - I mean, the crown and stem (the long rod) came out -- or is that what you meant


Ah! A bit more complicated then. Here is an article about the "keyless works" which should help to explain what happened http://www.timezone.com/library/horologium/horologium0038

Unless a lot of force is exerted on the crown/stem it really shouldn't come out of the movement unless the stem release button is pressed in. The fact that yours did suggests that some wear (or perhaps poor manufacture) in the stem or the pin which sits in the stem groove. Unless you want to have it repaired/replaced/serviced you may just need to be very careful when pulling out the stem.

Regards

Dave


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## kc104 (May 1, 2009)

Ok, so I thought I would try again - being as gentle as possible - this is what I found

Screw back - to winding position - this is ok.

Pull out to position 2 - where you can turn the red hand - this is ok

Try and pull out to final position 3 - It just would not go there, so i applied more pressure (pulling out) upping it as gently as possible, until, instead of going and stopping to pos 3 it just came out. I put it back in gently, and rested it in the position it sat on, which was actually pos 3, where i could do the time.

Here is a pic of it out.










What should I do. I was thinking of saying to alpha - Look, you are not going to fix it, so if i buy another (the explorer 1, would they give me 2 in return. I say this becasue, it is going to cost me to even send back the thing to china isnt it). What should I do


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Is it new or still under warranty? If it is ... you should be protected by the warranty. If not, how about a local watchmaker?


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## kc104 (May 1, 2009)

Yeah, had this about 4 - 6 weeks - this is about the 4th time I have wound it up


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## DaveS (Dec 7, 2009)

kc104 said:


> What should I do. I was thinking of saying to alpha - Look, you are not going to fix it, so if i buy another (the explorer 1, would they give me 2 in return. I say this becasue, it is going to cost me to even send back the thing to china isnt it). What should I do


Why would you think they are not going to fix it? It may be a cheap movement but that doesn't mean you have to accept a faulty watch. I would send them an email politely explaining the problem and asking what do do, under warranty. Ask them if they will reimburse you the return postage costs (use one of the Royal Mail insured services which are not too expensive).

Incidentally, I bought one of these movements from a Spanish Ebay seller (no prizes for guessing who) to use in a mod project. When I received it the movement wouldn't hack. I also found the stem positioning sloppy and difficult to engage in the 3 positions. I sent it back and they gave me a full refund including all postage costs. Personally I would only buy one of these if I had a better grade movement to put in it.

Just my 2d.

Regards

Dave


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## kc104 (May 1, 2009)

I'm not saying that they would not fix it. From what I can tell, if I send it back, they will not actually fix mine and send it back out, they will just send me a new one.

I just emailed them, with an offer, I said I wanted to buy 2 more watches, and if I do so will they chuck in another of these explorers for free. I suspect they will say no, or more likely, they will not be able to understand what I am asking for as it requires quite good english. Which ever, I guess I will end up getting a new one. As I will end up sending it back.


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## DaveS (Dec 7, 2009)

kc104 said:


> I'm not saying that they would not fix it. From what I can tell, if I send it back, they will not actually fix mine and send it back out, they will just send me a new one.
> 
> I just emailed them, with an offer, I said I wanted to buy 2 more watches, and if I do so will they chuck in another of these explorers for free. I suspect they will say no, or more likely, they will not be able to understand what I am asking for as it requires quite good english. Which ever, I guess I will end up getting a new one. As I will end up sending it back.


OK, I get it now. Your original post was asking why it happened and seemed to imply that you wanted to know how to fix it. What you really wanted to know was can you blag another watch out of Alpha without sending this one back, if you offer to buy another two :dntknw: .

So, you've sent them an offer they won't understand? And you suspect they will say no.

I suspect they will understand exactly what you are asking for, but I agree they will probably say "No". Worth a try though. I wish you luck. ........ and if you do get a replacement freebie, you want to know how to fix the one you've got. Right?

Dave


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## kc104 (May 1, 2009)

No, no no dave. This happened a few hours ago, and when it happened my first thought was, Oh, it has come out, and I did not know how serious a problem that was. I did not know if it was like when a bracelet pin comes out, and you can just pop it back in, or if it is much more serious and should be fixed.

Once i gathered that it is not a simple thing, I started thinking, dam - that means i will have to send it back and i don't really want to do that. Also combined with being a bit upset that it had happened. I also remembered someone on here saying that they had a problem with one and got a new one, because who is going to fix a movement like this (not alpha). So thought, hmm, maybe they will be open to an offer, because if they were I would not have to send it back, and I was just adding that to the post to tell you guys what I was thinking and trying to do.


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## kc104 (May 1, 2009)

Although having said all that lol, If they did agree, then yeah, if you guys were willing to take the time to tell me how to fix this problem, then I would probably give it a try, if it was not to complex. But probably won't happen


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## Fray Bentos (Mar 2, 2008)

Similar issue yesterday with my Amphibia 1967.

Had removed it correctly by pressing small stem release button, to get movt out, cleaned case and put movement back in, tried putting stem back in with just locating the stem and screwing it it home, but came out again.

So, caseback off again, tried to relocate with pressing release button, which is the correct way to resite a stem, but because of the external thread the stem didnt seem to go into the movt enough, so I removed the movt spacer to give more room for the movt to move and pressed the release button and at same time pued in stem, du to more space in it went. Spacer back in caseback on and roberts your mothers brother.

Some have a push button release others a lever both near to the stem entry point into the movt, unsyre whats on the Alpha.

Maybe woth a go. Similar happened to me on another Vostok Zakaz Mo of mine which happens now and again, put this down to wear, work fine most of time.

HTH, Rich


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