Hello,

I have a South Bend giving me fits right now. 16s 15j Pendant set. Runs like a champion but looses time. It will loose 6 minutes or so within the first 12 hours arter setting the time. After that all is right on the money. It can loose that 6 minutes and run right on time for days until you set it again and it looses the time again. Any ideas what to look for? It seems to move from the set to wind okay and the hands dont move when winding.
Thanks,
Aaron

Aaron

Aaron,

Is this ocurring in one position only? You wind the watch, set it down and not touch it again?

Until the watch is taken down and all of the parts closely inspected (especially for train wheel trueness), troubleshooting may turn into a guessing game. As I've said before, you need a good baseline to start with when troubleshooting. That includes a parts inspection along with cleaning, oiling and in this case, a good check of the balance poise would be in order.

John D. Duvall
Vice President, Education

John,

I believe the watch was just cleaned. This happend all of the sudden as in overnite. Yes, I just wind it and set it down. If I set it 6 minutes fast before bed by morning it is right on the money. I can wind it and it will run right on for days wheather I carry it or not until I set it.

Aaron

Aaron,

Have you tried just winding and not setting the time to see what happens? Also, does this occur in other positions as well?

John D. Duvall
Vice President, Education

It could be a loose cannon pinion. Or the clutch wheel is not disengaging from the setting wheel properly. In the later case, the watch is draged down by having to move the setting train, which robs power from the mainspring train. Over time the clutch wheel disengages, and the watch runs normally, until the next time you try to set it.

As a test. Wind the watch only one turn and set the hands to proper time. Then push in the stem (or lever) and finish winding the watch. Now time it out. Sometimes winding after setting will disengage the clutch wheel. Gummed up oil in the setting mechanism or poorly matched replacement parts can cause this.

Mike Miller

Sounds like John and I are on the same trail again

Mike Miller