# Finally Did It...



## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Won this EternaSonic up from ebay last week and it arrived on Saturday. I liked the contrast of the metallic grey dial, white-on-black date wheel and red seconds hand and got it for under Â£60.00, delivered, as it was sold as 'humming not running'.

A quick check on Saturday afternoon proved that it wasn't just crossed or dislodged pawls from being dropped etc, and the seconds hand span with the minute and hour hands.

I figured that meant that the third wheel friction clutch had dried out and someone had probably wound it backwards and stripped the index wheel and as I have several parts watches I could scavenge an index wheel from, I decided I'd make it my first full strip down and service.

It took me about six hours and lots of head scratching to strip it, clean all the parts (some twice due to my over-oiling), replace the index wheel, oil it (properly) and reassemble it as I was following the manual, but it's back together and running...



















The crystal had a few scratches, but I've given that a polish and it's come up good as new. Interestingly, it's etched with the Eterna logo in the middle.

Need to check the timing over the next few days and I'm not convinced that the indexing is 100% right, as it won't run on less than 1.2V, but it seems happy enough that it's still humming (and that the hands now go round, and that the seconds hadn only goes round when it should), at the moment.

Had a few scary moments separating the coils from the resonator. They were well stuck to the plate and the RC coil got hung up on the switch, so I was worried I'd damaged the coils. As it turned out though, the only damage is that I chipped some of the paint lining the minute hand :taz: (it was perfect before), and I lost one of the date indicator guard retaining screws ('ping'), but luckily, I had spare screws from the afforementioned parts watches.

I need to de-case it again to clean the dust off the dial (forgot before I re-cased it), but all in all...

I'm well chuffed. :thumbup:


----------



## kevkojak (May 14, 2009)

Superb job... i'm proud of myself if I manage to remove a movement to re-secure a hand. 

Not a bad looking watch. Apart from my F300 I avoid these like the plague, they terrify me! 

Saying that, Paul did a tremendous job on the above f300 a few weeks ago when it needed some tlc and it didn't cost the earth (STS wanted close to Â£600!)


----------



## Thomasr (Oct 11, 2011)

kevkojak said:


> Superb job... i'm proud of myself if I manage to remove a movement to re-secure a hand.
> 
> Not a bad looking watch. Apart from my F300 I avoid these like the plague, they terrify me!
> 
> Saying that, Paul did a tremendous job on the above f300 a few weeks ago when it needed some tlc and it didn't cost the earth (STS wanted close to Â£600!)


one of my friends work for the omega boutique in Bham and it costs Â£2500 for Omega to service an F300!


----------



## no8yogi (Oct 1, 2012)

So it was you I was bidding against!! Nice one I was just going to send it to silverhawk if I got for under Â£50 you have done a great jib


----------



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Well done Andy! ....look after that white-text-on-black-background date wheel..... :fear:


----------



## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Thanks guys (sorry no8yogi  )

Paul, the date indicator teeth look OK, but winding it forward, the date didn't always change over.

The calendar mechanism was the hardest part of this learning curve. Wheels wouldn't drop in to place at first, so I had to keep comparing to parts watches and google images to check whether they should sit above or be on a plane with other wheels.

I'm not convinced that the date indicator driving wheel is working as it should. It seemed to 'stick' or flick backwards a few times while I was winding forward, but I didn't have hands on to check the time of day when that was hapening. The date seemed not to change more because of the date indicator driving wheel not kicking round consistently, rather than because it wasn't meshing with the teeth. Strange. Maybe I missed an oiling step? I can't see anything saying to physically oil the wheel itself though.

If it is the date wheel, I have a spare on a parts Eterna, which does flick over at midnight. I'd rather try to get this one sorted first though.


----------



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Who. Me? said:


> I'm not convinced that the date indicator driving wheel is working as it should. It seemed to 'stick' or flick backwards a few times while I was winding forward, but I didn't have hands on to check the time of day when that was hapening. The date seemed not to change more because of the date indicator driving wheel not kicking round consistently, rather than because it wasn't meshing with the teeth. Strange. Maybe I missed an oiling step? I can't see anything saying to physically oil the wheel itself though.
> 
> If it is the date wheel, I have a spare on a parts Eterna, which does flick over at midnight. I'd rather try to get this one sorted first though.


Sounds like classic damaged teeth on the calendar wheel to me. You need to inspect, with a loupe, every tooth on the wheel...from both sides of the wheel. It only takes the slightest damage for it to not click over at midnight. The quick set mechanism is less sensitive, so a wheel that appears to be alright when checking all 31 days with the quick set feature, might still not click over at midnight on certain days.


----------



## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Been doing a bit more Googling in my lunchtime. I was working from a scan of the Longines service guide Just looked at a scan of the Omega version and it gives more detail on the oiling. The Omega guide says to very slightly lubricate the date indicator driving wheel (figure 25.4). I don't think that the Longines manual said that and I certainly didn't oil where the Omega manual says to, which might explain why the jumper seemed to be acting up.

It's not just that it wouldn't contact the teeth, it physically wouldn't spring round on some days and on others it seemed to flick slighthly backwards, as if it was properly aligning the position of the date indicator teeth, so I think it's sticking. (The teeth may also be damaged, but something wasn't right with the driving wheel either.)

Think I'll leave it a few days to check the time keeping, then I'll de-case it to dust the dial and I'll lubricate that part and any others that the Omega guide says to, where the Longines guide wasn't clear.

I've got scans of three different service guides that are all slightly different, some have clear text and lousy images, some have great images, but the text that accompanies them seems to assume that you already know what you're doing.

The scan of the Longines guide that I have is in the latter camp - it has great images (although the exploded diagram is a few pages away from the relevant text, and doesn't label the parts which meant lots of flicking back and forth in the text and cross-referencing to the parts list), but wasn't as detailed about lubrication though.

Looking through the Omega guide, at lunchtime I can see that I've also oiled the friction/third wheel, where I should have greased it. I think I might leave that as-is though, unless it plays up.


----------



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Andy,

Which wheel are you talking about? Omega part no : 1250.9024? If so, this part *never* goes wrong although you do occasionally find bits of broken plastic stuck in the metal teeth of this wheel and also bit of plastic inside this double layered wheel. In both cases, the plastic has come from either the current date wheel or a past one...

And I would not oil any part of the calendar mechanism. I've seen watches where these parts have been oiled, and they are a mess. Dirt sticks to oil. It is much more important that everything is clean and everything moves / slides freely. Adding oil here really doesn't help. On Citizen Cosmotrons, some of the calendar parts are stamped "NO OIL".

Certainly don't get oil on the calendar wheel or date jumper (1250.9021)...


----------



## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Think it's the same part. ESA number part number is 2556 'Date indicator driving wheel'. It didn't flick round consistently after 24 hours' worth of crown rotations. Sometimes it would flick, sometimes it wouldn't. At the time I was more concerned about checking that it was still running and that I hadn't killed the coils though.

The wheel was cosmetically clean, but maybe there is plastic debris inside it. I'll have a closer look when I've run it for a few days to check the timekeeping (seems to be +15 seconds after 24 hours, but that's timing it against the clock on my laptop).

It's my first attempt, so I followed the instructions pretty slavishly, hence the lubrication. I definitely kept the date indicator itself clear of lubrication though.


----------



## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Well, good news and bad news.

Good news - it looks like there's nothing wrong with the date change mechanism or the date indicator. Having left it for a few days it was changing every night and I've worked out where the hands were set wrong, so I know how to re-set them when I de-case it again. Having worked that out, I wound it through a full month and the date change flicked over strongly and consistently, as does the quick-change, so I'm happy that the mechanical module is all OK.

Bad news - after the first day gaining 15 seconds, it's since been gaining around 3 minutes per day. Not sure whether that's due to the indexing, or whether the salvaged index wheel is at fault. I suspect the indexing, because it's gaining (if there were teeth missing from the wheel, I'm guessing it would slow slightly every revolution, due to the lack of 'impetus' from the pawl as the flat spot came round?).

If it is indexing, I think it's either the tension of the fixed pawl, because I struggled to adjust the tension screw to the watch to run below 1.35V, and it went screwy and started running extremely fast when I initially closed the case back. I tightened the screw a smidge (very unscientific) and that got it running at a reasonable speed again, but I didn't check the current draw as it was getting late and I don't have a timing machine to check the instantaneous rate.

If it's the fixed pawl, I'll be happy, but I suspect that it isn't just that. The resonator pawl was bent in to a curve when I got the watch, and I couldn't straighten it perfectly. It's got a slight s-curve now as the adjustment needed to be made half way down the pawl to straighten it, not at the stud end. The index jewel looks to be at the right angle to the wheel, but I've a feeling that the curved pawl is at least part of the problem. I'm going to try adjusting the tension on the fixed pawl, but if that doesn't fix it, I'll have to strip the oscillator and use a resonator from a scrap oscillator that has a better pawl.

Setting the jewels against the wheel was also bit of a joke. The service guide says leave 0.01mm gap between the jewel and the guide, but I can't see that resolution with my microscope (X20 binocular zoom), let alone measure it. Am on the lookout for stronger eyepieces now, with a graticule.

Anyhow, it's a work in progress. I'm still pleased that I didn't kill the coils when I stripped it down.


----------

