I just got a 18s Elgin today. The serial number is 9370297. The odd thing about this one is the hole in the top plate near the balance cock. It's placed right on the edge of the balance cock between the balance cock screw and the case screw. There is also a hole in the piller plate right below it. I'd guess that the hole is about the size of a jewel setting hole. Any ideas what it is for?

I'm going to try and post a picture on the movement here. I hope you all can see the hole I'm wondering about.

I assume this is a pendant set watch. If so the screw or hole you see is a screw hole for a cam assembly to swith the movement from the setting to winding position when it is out of the case.

Thanks for the reply,Aaron. I'll have to see if I can order those parts when I clean the movement.

Aaron,

Do you think this is a model 5? I'm happy that Larry posted this because I was unaware that Elgin had such a feature on the 18s.

Thanks to both of you!

John, yes it is a model 5. I have one it is a 15j nickle movement sn- 11194309.
These are kind of a pain to put together on account of that screw.

I now have the model 5 together with a new setting spring cam installed. I had to replace the dial and had trouble with the winding/setting mechanisim when I put the new(different) dial on. What I found was that one dial foot had to be shortened so it didn't interfere with the setting lever.Which is on the opposite side of the piller plate from it. Then when I put the movement in the case it acts like the winding stem is too short.I can set the hands all right,but the only way I can wind it is to hold the crown down while winding. I tried setting the cam either way,but that doesn't seem to make any differance. I know it worked fine before I worked on it. The only difference being the setting spring cam. I'm beginning to think this was left out,by the last repairman,for a reason. Now I have to figure out the reason. Anybody have any ideas?

Larry, Does the stem have a sleeve or is the stem/crown held in by a screw? If there is a sleeve, you need to adjust the sleeve down about 1/2 turn.

Tom

Tom,
I thought of that too,but the sleeve is one that you push into the case tube and is held in with a brass nut. No way to adjust it.

Larry,

Swing-out cases are nice but they can be a pain in the rear to fit a pendant-set movement. Having a plug sleeve makes it even harder. IMHO, swing-out cases should only have been used for lever-set watches.

If you install a longer stem you may run into problems getting the swing ring to clear the longer stem.

Drop me an email if you run out of ideas. I might have a longer stem.

John,
I found what the trouble was. I had one part out of place. If you don't have a 18s model 5 Elgin in your collection I know where you can get one. I'm getting kind of tired of fooling with this one. Send me an e-mail and I'll give you more detales.

Larry,

Glad to hear you found the problem. Do you have any pictures you can share of what you found? This will help others out if they run into the same thing.

Sorry,but I don't have a digital camera to take pictures of my watch with. Maybe some day.
I probably wouldn't have made this mistake if I had assembled the winding/setting parts in the right sequence. That,and being more observent wouldn't have hurt either.