Have a problem getting columbus Amplitude past 180 degrees tried everything is this normal for these old movements thay say balance Amplitude should be 270 degrees but no matter what I do can't achieve this ideas or advise?
Posts: 68 | Location: New South Wales, Australia | Registered: June 21, 2015
I find that the lower the number of jewels, the lower the amplitude will be. For 18 size watches, I don't usually get as high amplitude as for 16 size watches. I get the highest amplitude for 16s railroad grade watches - such as 992B and Bunn Specials.
Also, the more worn the movement, the lower the amplitude. Sometimes there is only so much you can do.
Keep in mind I'm not an expert. Maybe an expert will weigh in with their experiences.
Posts: 379 | Location: Illinois in the USA | Registered: November 17, 2011
Hi Jeff , a few things that happen to me are the hairspring is not between the regulator pins ,dirty hairspring(coils sticking) wrong roller jewel , but most often is dirty jewels , pull it back apart and go through it again . This illinois was coated in hard green oil , it went through the washer twice and soaked , but still would not run right until I did it a third time and pegged the jewels again, let us know what happened .
Posts: 1574 | Location: Maryland in the USA | Registered: June 04, 2015
Thanks Kevin Cleaned and pegged all jewels again still same issue Changed Mainspring adjusted hairspring stud for hairspring clearance Cheked and lubricated pallet jewels Checked drive chain end shake balance wheel end shake Balance motion looks excellent by eye and watch is keeping time dial up and down Maybe I should leave well enough alone would have liked to see Amplitude improve and I wonder what I might be missing It seems easy at this point to question the timing machine even though a lot of other movements show 270 degrees plus but quite a few are showing a lot less when they look fine strong movement Any ideas appreciated
Posts: 68 | Location: New South Wales, Australia | Registered: June 21, 2015
So many thing that could cause this problem (too many to list)but I would add the many Columbus I have worked on over the years are notoriously problematic some are just not practical to continue trying and cant be fixed without access to new parts.