Bunn Special 16s sn 5305879 ‘23 Sixty’


Watch runs a few minutes then if I nudge the second wheel it runs again for a few minutes. Brisk and high healthy amplitude. I had the train bridge off, cleaned the pivots and jewels. Had the balance off, gave it a dip in hairspring cleaner. Cleaned and oiled balance stuff, demagnatized the reassembled watch.

Keeps up with running a few minutes and stops. Loosen the barrel bridge in case someone overtightened the screws. No Joy.

So I tried ‘adding power’to the mainspring with this rubber band holding the ratchet wheel on the verge of it’s next click. No Joy.

Next comes off the mainSpring and see if it is set. I think if it will expand 2 1/2 times the barrel dia. I can put it back in.

We shall see.......

I don't know what the problem is, but I can tell you that a watch with strong amplitude that stops intermittently is not having a mainspring issue. As mentioned previously ISOLATION will help narrow down where the problem is. Guessing is not the answer.

I found the pillar plate escapewheel pivot has a cap jewel which it’s hole jewel was dry. During the train bridge step COA. Thought it had to have contributed. But still not the first problem or last problem if You like! I’m reasonably sure it can be located beyond the pallet fork.

My sense says that isolating with COA the groupings, first the balance, then the train bridge; can give me some experience in ‘trouble shooting’.

Though I am guilty I still might find polishing pivots a solution and I wondering how ONE gets the ability to check them and determine the dirty dog?

I have an old style Jacot that doesn’t have a driving dog collar. How does one inspect the pivots, determine the need to polish and what is the preferred (least expensive alternative way ) to do a cleaning of these pivots?

I used pithwood for the points and pegwood for the holes.

Microscope is better to inspect the jewels and pivots,I will check all the train gears perhaps one is not in the shape it should be or some dirt is still stuck between the teeth
Get yourself usb microscop from ebay/amazon around $20-40 works for me

If you remove the balance and the pallet, then give it a wind, how does it do?

Well I had to open the barrel and see!
This is NOT a blue steel old spring, that I can see. So this watch has already been fitted with what probably is a modern spring.

My question though is I can be reasonably sure the mainspring is NOT the cause of low less than 30 degrees of amplitude and a very fast running watch.

But I would like to know if this is recognizable as a ‘white alloy’ MS? ThankYou for the help!

So I'm just throwing this out there at the risk of being humiliated....but is there any chance the spring is dry and un-lubricated? (since it appears to have been replaced and other questionable things were discovered) Many a time I have hear my clocks "clunk" or even stop when a dirty or dry spring is involved, so it might be worth investigating.
Good luck!

Mike if my sources are correct this looks like a white alloy mainspring and I was told you do not lubricate a while alloy mainspring. Maybe we will get some feedback on this.

Harry

James I am not sure what the second wheel is but if it is running and stopping check to see if it is stopping in the same place every time. Could be a bent tooth on one of the wheels and that includes the hour and minute wheel. Just guessing like everyone else.

Good luck,
Harry

ThankYou’s I had kind of figured by the color of the spring, NOT white but unbuffed chrome looking that of the available materials it could likely be alloy.

Sellers have said put them in as they come but if it is handled such as hand installing gloves are revommended. I read they have a silicon coating.

If I am to check the gears and it was one or the other it would need to be the minute wheel because it runs very well for more than 60 seconds. But to do this I would think it should be marked with a felt pen.

Are there any other gears other than the second wheel that is fast moving?

Geeze I mixed up this thread! I posted the picture of the MS and barrel from a different watch. I apologize. That is an 18s BS not the 16s the thread should not have that included and I really messed up putting it in for this trouble shooting of the 16s. I think I should delete that! Or just disregard!!

So I EITHER WILL take off the balance, and remove the pallet fork, no train bridge to take off to get the fork off. OR check the mainspring to see if it set.

Here is what I am observing. The balance alone won’t start the watch when I rotate my wrist and set it n motion. The escape wheel will not advance until I nudge the seconds wheel. That gets the escapewheel moving and it may need a couple tries before it runs breifly again.

Which procedure should I try next? Isolate the train and give it a few winds OR go into the barrel?

I had already observed that manually shifting the fork I noticed the escape seemed to have no power and did not self advance. But when it runs the escape goes along for the 1-3 minutes then watch stops again.

Harry. My bad, I am calling one of the gears seconds wheel because it has the post that the second hand is attached.

There is the center wheel is that called the 1st wheel? Then there is the second, third and fourth?
Is the escape wheel one of the numbered wheels. I know learning the proper terms is important here.

Thanks Harry!

Here is the ‘23 Sixty’ now straigtened and Happy to Run Run Run..

Harry You had the right thing and I indexed the second wheel, the one that runs the third wheel (the one That has the second hand).

The culprit wheel is best seen on the dial side and it moves pretty slow but it can be observed pretty easy. The watch stopped twice at the index line so I watched that wheel for trouble. Sure enough Harry there was one tooth with a hunk of black garbage between the teeth.

I cleared it with a dental pick. Let it go and three passes I put it together ,and it is ticking nicely.

I failed to inspect all the teeth when I removed the train bridge on that number 2 wheel. I focused on the pivots and jewels! One little valley stopped the second hand, twisting the wrist could not make it start up, the train was stuck from a tiny piece of gunk. Thanks for the tip Harry!

Peter K. ThankYou just like You said! Once I indexed and Observed it stopping in the EXACT SAME PLACE....... that I guess would have to be it or worse a bad tooth or deformed something.

The seller indicated it ran fine for a week before he listed it. When I informed him of the stoping and repeatedly stopping he compensated me for my time to figure out the problem. $50.00 or he wuld also take it back for refund. I think since he doesen’t have a watch repairman as an employee, he perfered me to take it as is anyways.

Anyone who wants to know the seller’s ebay name, perhaps he may want to send You some repairs. He told me this in a round about way You could say. It looks like he sells lots of watches.

James

You might enjoy looking at the "Helping Hands" tutorials on this site. The one on Pocket Watch Components explains the numbering of the wheels. There is a lot of great info in them.

Hi James I am glad I was able to help and I guessed correctly. I got confused because there is no second wheel and I did not catch the term seconds wheel, sorry. I don't know why there is no second wheel but I did not name the parts, lol... The seconds wheel is the fourth wheel.

I am glad you got her running. If I had a dime for everytime a seller told me it was running fine I would be rich, lol...

Take care,
Harry