Has any member comments for or against the Vibrograf B200 as a wristwatch timer ?

Dan.

Hi Dan:

Have used 2 Vibrograph B200 for 35 years. They are a great timer, especially if you work on Accutrons. The down side is that they are noisy, and you have to use rolls of tape. We have sent ours in for repair several times over the years, and servicing runs $400-600. They will time odd-beat movements, in fact, AWCI has a chart available to interpret some VERY odd rates, such as the Omega 213, 21,300 bph. You can also time clocks and other "timey things" by attaching a cord to the machine and clipping the attached aligator clip to the movement.

That being said, we have retired our B200's. We recently purchased an MTG-3000 digital timer. It will time all the modern movents (no Accutron), and show the rate per day, ampltude, and beat error. It is totally silent, but does have a small speaker if you want to listen to the watch. The down side is, the pickup leaves a LOT to be disired. It is made for the modern wristwatch. We do quite a lot of pocket watch repair, and the clamp on the MTG-3000 will not open far enough to allow you to place a cased 16s watch on it for a quick check while the customer is there. 16 and 18 size movements have to be de-cased (un-cased?) before they can be checked on the timer. The MTG 3000's pickup does not haver the full range of movement that the Vibrographs have - it will manually rotate 4 positions counter-clockwise, then you have to turn it back clock-wise. No big deal, except it causes you to shuffle the movement to different positions on the pickup to time in 6 positions. I'm happy with the new timer, just wish it had the Vibrograph's microphone. A optional thermal printer is available if you want a printout.

We bought the MTG 3000 soley because of the price. It was less expensive that the Witschi, and does all that is needed for modern watch repair. I know nothing about the Witschi, except they are a great company with with top-notch, state of the art equipment. I long for the days of the early 70's to mid 80's, when you had actual salesmen from material and equipment companies call on you, but that is a topic for another thread! We "Fixers of Watches" are few and very far between these days.

Hope this is clear as mud - glad to answer any other questions.

Beat Regards,
Steve Settle

Could you please add further comments on the problems requiring servicing.

Any operational peculiarities that I need to know about, or things not to do, or should do.


Dan

Hi Dan:
Nothing really to look out for, unless you are buying used. Naturally, you should check it with several watches of differing beats per hour, preferably ones you have checked or had checked on another timing machine, to make sure the rates agree. The Vibrograph generates some dust from the treated paper that gathers around the stylus (the part that makes the timing trace). There is an adjusting knob that makes the stylus strike the paper harder or softer. Make sure the paper advances smoothly through the rollers. I know of no other preventative maintenance (sp?) needed - it either works or not. Any repairs we have needed through the yeqars have been when it has quit altogether - usually a pc board that goes bad. All repairs have been done at the Vibrograph factory in New York.
Best Regards,
Steve Settle

A friend of mine serviced mine a few years ago-it wasn't working-and all he had to do was remove the circuit boards one by one and clean the contacts. It had been housed in an outside shop when I bought it, and moisture had corroded the contacts a bit, enough to stop power from going through the circuit boards. He told me that was the most common problem with them.

Mine uses an inky ribbon to put dot on paper -- can it be converted to use NCR (self-inking) paper tape instead ? I understand later models dispensed with the inky ribbon ? B200A ?

dan

I removed the inky ribbon and both reels, and replaced the regular paper tape with NCR tape, which works just fine.

dan