Illinois Bunn Special

[Frinton Frapple]

I just bought an Illinois Bunn Special. The front bezel screws on nice and easy. I had a little trouble getting the rear cover off towards the end of unscrewing it. It seems to be a little crossthreaded. I cleaned the threads with a very sharp knife and it screws on a little better. How many turns should it take to tighten the rear cover on from when it is loose?

[vandd]

nice watch i had onebut it was a 60 hour pocket watch, but i belive around 3 turns

[Frinton Frapple]

Mine only turns about 3/4 of a turn. It tightens down well. I paid $217 with shipping for the watch. It runs perfectly. I contacted the seller and they said they would take the watch back for a refund, or give me back $50. I am new to pocket watches so I am unsure how big of a problem the caseback is and whether or not I should return it. The back acts something like this:
http://www.nawcc-mb.com/bbv2/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=15;gtid=50201;gpid=50 205#gpid50205

[Kent]

It isn't how many turns it takes, it's whether or not the back snugs up against the center ring. If there is an engraved design on the back, it should look 'right' when the back is snuged up to the center ring and the watch is pendant up. Yours seems to get just past that point which is normal for a back that has been taken off and tightened back on a lot.

Did you check to see if the numbers on the edge of center ring are the last numbers of the serial number on the back?

[Frinton Frapple]

I didn't check the numbers, but I will tomorrow. The front bezel snugs up nicely, witha turn and a half. With the back, I turn it backwards until it clicks into place, and then I tighten it down. It gets snug, but it takes 3/4 of a turn from loose till snugged up. This is my first railroad watch, so Idon't know if it is busted or not. Can this be repaired in the future if it needs it? Or should I just return the watch?

[RON in PA]

You got a bargain, keep it. There is no set number of turns, it varies from case maker to case maker. Re-read Kent's reply.

[Frinton Frapple]

I could not find a number on the "center ring". I was offered a full refund because of the back only needing 3/4 of a turn from full loose to full tight. I know all cases are different, but is 3/4 enough? How do you repair this to make it 3 full turns? The front bezel is 1.5 turns. I was told that the back should be tightened down 2-3 full turns. Mine is (3) 1/4 turns to tighten. The engraving pretty much lines up though with the pendant. Send back, get a partial refund? Or is all good?

[Tom McIntyre]

You can count the threads to see how many turns the back had when new. It is likely that the outer two threads have worn enough that the back slips down to the third thread. So long as it tightens properly, this should be no problem.

If you enjoy screwing it off and on and do that a lot, you may have a problem down the road. If you take the back off every 4 or 5 months or less, it should last you another 100 years.

[Frinton Frapple]

Thanks for your responses. How does that work when counting threads? For every thread is what amount of turns?

I am just asking about this because I have the opportunity to return it if it is worthless and get another, maybe better one. Like I said, this is my first railroad watch, so I am a newbie. As long as you say it will last with 3/4 of a full turn from loose ti snug, I guess that is allright. Maybe I will just get a new case. and have a pro fit the movement in.

[Kent]

Frinton Frapple:

Quit screwing around with the case. If the back snugs up against the center ring, without a gap between the two, and if the engraving lines up correctly with the pendant, then it's good case and as RON in PA said above, "You got a bargain, ..." don't change it!

Enjoy your watch,

[Frinton Frapple]

HOw long should this watch run on a full wind?

[Kent]

I believe that by the time that your Bunn Special was built, railroad standard watches would run, within specified toleraence, for 42 hours. However, the movement should run for a longer period of time (perhaps 5x hours), but it will lose accuracy before stopping. Illinois published a graph of accuracy vs. hours of running in an ad once, I'll try to find it and post it.

[Kent]

Here's the Chart (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/walt845/1931_Jun_60_Hr_Chart_Excerp.jpg) I was thinking of. It actually shows the mainspring power vs hours since being wound. However, the accuracy will fall off as the mainspring power does.

[Frinton Frapple]

Thanks a bunch for that chart! It is pretty cool.