I'm hoping for a little help with an Elgin #17,000,000-ish 16s 7j hunting case 3/4 plate movement that is not running. I don't have the serial number in front of me at this moment.
After an ego-bolstering success with my first two watch repair projects (cleaning, replacing a mainspring, nothing grand), my mother approached me about seeing if I could repair a pocket watch that was left to her. It was my great-great-grandfather's watch (the serial number doesn't seem like it would be that far back in my family line, I know, but I'm only 32 years old). Besides being horribly dirty, the hairsping was somewhat mangled. It looked as though the spring had stuck in the regulator pins (probably due to dirt) and someone had rotated the balance wheel a few times causing the outer two coils of the hairspring to be bent outward and twisted back on themselves. I've spent about five hours' worth very gently bending the hairspring back into shape with pliers sharp enough to poke holes in my fingers, and it now resembles a nicely coiled hairspring once again. I disassembled the entire movement and thuroughly cleaned it -- twice -- oiled, and reasembled it. There are no bent or broken pinions. The only other damage was a sheered-off screw head attaching the ratchet wheel to the mainsrping barrel, but a little fiddling with the tweezers worked it out and I fortunately had an extra screw.
The problem now is that it won't run more than a few ticks before stopping. After doing a little research I think that the hairspring might be out of beat (could be wrong, but it seems that is at least a primary problem... I'm sure there are others). Since the hairpsring was so twisted to begin with, I'm not sure where the stud was supposed to sit in relation to the balance cock and the roller jewel below. The outer coil may need a slight adjustment to bring in inward or outward. So where should the stud be when the balance wheel is at rest/not set in the balance cock? If anyone has a photo it would be greatly appreciated, or even just a descriptive reference (lined up with this and that, etc.) I do realize I could replace the hairspring, but I wouldn't know how to set the new one without knowing where the stud sits.
Sorry if this is a newb question...
Thanks,
-Maegan
After an ego-bolstering success with my first two watch repair projects (cleaning, replacing a mainspring, nothing grand), my mother approached me about seeing if I could repair a pocket watch that was left to her. It was my great-great-grandfather's watch (the serial number doesn't seem like it would be that far back in my family line, I know, but I'm only 32 years old). Besides being horribly dirty, the hairsping was somewhat mangled. It looked as though the spring had stuck in the regulator pins (probably due to dirt) and someone had rotated the balance wheel a few times causing the outer two coils of the hairspring to be bent outward and twisted back on themselves. I've spent about five hours' worth very gently bending the hairspring back into shape with pliers sharp enough to poke holes in my fingers, and it now resembles a nicely coiled hairspring once again. I disassembled the entire movement and thuroughly cleaned it -- twice -- oiled, and reasembled it. There are no bent or broken pinions. The only other damage was a sheered-off screw head attaching the ratchet wheel to the mainsrping barrel, but a little fiddling with the tweezers worked it out and I fortunately had an extra screw.
The problem now is that it won't run more than a few ticks before stopping. After doing a little research I think that the hairspring might be out of beat (could be wrong, but it seems that is at least a primary problem... I'm sure there are others). Since the hairpsring was so twisted to begin with, I'm not sure where the stud was supposed to sit in relation to the balance cock and the roller jewel below. The outer coil may need a slight adjustment to bring in inward or outward. So where should the stud be when the balance wheel is at rest/not set in the balance cock? If anyone has a photo it would be greatly appreciated, or even just a descriptive reference (lined up with this and that, etc.) I do realize I could replace the hairspring, but I wouldn't know how to set the new one without knowing where the stud sits.
Sorry if this is a newb question...
Thanks,
-Maegan