# Please help me understand the ESA 9154



## Kmot (May 8, 2017)

I have a few electric/electronic watches in a new collection I am starting. I believe all of them have the ESA 9154 except for the Timex brand.

One of my watches exhibited a strange behavior. It would not run, while on its back, or in other words, on the wrist. However, it would run and keep good time if placed face down, or on its side. Any of its four sides. Not being educated about how watches work, but being a retired mechanic, I thought maybe it was doing this because of a lack of lubrication on the shaft that the balance wheel is attached to, on the one side when it is facing down.

So, I attempted to fix the problem by adding a tiny bit of synthetic oil to the shaft with a toothpick. Now, it does not run at all. 

It was obviously the wrong thing to do. Is watch oil something special? Perhaps the balance wheel is so delicate that even a very light oil was too thick causing too much friction and drag?

In another ESA 9154 movement I have, or two, changing a battery in the movement does not get it to start. Tapping it, or flicking the balance wheel does not help. In these cases, I presume the electronics are defective. Is there a method to troubleshoot these movements? I know how to use a VOM. What is the most common failure of these movements?

Thank you for any advice!


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

The ESA Dynatron movement are usually very reliable but they do need to be scrupulously clean.

Your initial strange behaviour could have been caused by iron debris on the balance magnets --- the clearance between the moving magnets and the stationary coil is not great and any debris here can cause the movement to stop. The end clearance on the balance pivots is enough to allow it to run in some positions but not others.

The only way to effectively clean and lubricate the balance pivots is to remove the balance...and to do that, you first have to remove the circuit board and coil. You may have damaged the coil with the toothpick.

The most common failure is the coil...usually due to physical damaged caused by a slipped screwdriver, debris on the balance magnets, maybe even a toothpick :tongue: etc, but also sometimes caused by corrosion due to leaking batteries. You can test the continuity of the two windings by putting an Ohm meter across the 3 brass studs on the top of the coil unit --- you'll need to scrap the clear varnish of these first. Make sure there are no open circuits between any of the 3 studs.


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## bridgeman (Dec 9, 2008)

And our new member @Kmot was expecting an easy fix? :laugh:


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## Kmot (May 8, 2017)

Thank you Paul, appreciate it greatly!

Well, I am going to disassemble the movement and see what I can see!

Note: Posted this a couple of days ago but it did not get onto the board?


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## Kmot (May 8, 2017)

Further, I got an allegedly NOS Helbros recently. It had a mercury battery in it that no longer had any voltage in it. It had leaked ever so slightly, but there was no corrosion spilled. Perhaps there was some corrosive gases released? The crown allegedly had never been pushed in.

I just installed a fresh 344 battery and it does not run. I rapped the watch firmly on a padded table and the second hand moved a couple or three seconds and then stopped again. I did this three or four times.and it will not continue to run. What do you think is the reason for this one? Thank you again for your advice!


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