Maybe this belongs in watch repair questions section. Is it necessary to let down the mainspring on a self winding watch, before attempting service,if so, what is a general procedure. How do you determine that the mainspring is toast. Also, I posted a question regarding a watch I have in the repair section, an L1 Bulova 17 jewel auto wind, the watch can be forced to run when the stem is in set position and very slight counter clockwise pressure is applied to the crown. Will stop after a couple seconds after crown is released. I assume this watch needs a servicing, but I don't know how to deal with the mainspring issue. I know that you can force a conventional wind watch to run by holding pressure on the crown, but you can feel the watch is fully wound, with an automatic how can you tell.

Gary

I found this PDF file if anyone is interested.

http://www.mybulova.com/sites/...ulovaSelfWinding.pdf

Happy New Year wishes to all.

Gary