Should the cap pop back into the barrel with just finger pressure only?
Do most american watch springs go in reverse when looking at the barrel from the open side ?
Thanks to who answers this i thought these questions wee maybe a litle silly to ask,

Kevin,

Let me take a stab at this one...

First, The barrel cover should snap on with finger pressure. If not, something else may be afoot. Too wide of a mainspring or bent barrel cover are a couple of possibilities.

Next comes the orientation of the mainspring in the barrel. While sometimes confusing There are a couple of things that can give you a clue as to the proper winding direction. First look at the barrel.

Here's an example of a mainspring barrel from a 18S Waltham model 1883...

In it you see that the barrel bridge side is up and the pillar plate side is down. On this particular model, the ratchet wheel is on the pillar side and attaches to the barrel arbor over a squared end. This is a typical arangement on many of the 18S watches when the ratchet wheel is not visible from the back of the movement.

Mike Miller
NAWCC Member# 154831
NAWCC-IHC Charter Member# 27

Mike's Online Watch Collection

When you pop the cover off of this barrel you are greeted to this sight. Notice the direction of the spring's spiral and how this wraps around the barrel arbor...

Mike Miller
NAWCC Member# 154831
NAWCC-IHC Charter Member# 27

Mike's Online Watch Collection

Once everything is out of the barrel and cleaned, getting it back in the proper direction is where it is easy to go wrong...

For a clue as to the proper direction of the spiral, look to the arbor. Take the barrel and set the arbor in it to make sure it is properly positioned. Is the squared end in the right orientation to accept the ratchet wheel? If so look at the arbor closely and notice the direction that the arbor hook is pointing. the mainspring must spiral from this hook in a counterclockwise direction in order to properly catch the mainspring

Mike Miller
NAWCC Member# 154831
NAWCC-IHC Charter Member# 27

Mike's Online Watch Collection

Once the direction of the spiral is determined, the spring can be wound in the mainspring winder. Remember to orient it properly in the winder so that it ends up in the barrel in the right direction.

That's how I have learned to figure it out since there isn't a hard fast rule as to which direction (right or left hand spiral) a spring goes into a barrel. It all depends on the orientation of the ratchet wheel, crown wheel, etc. But the direction of the arbor hook is the tell-tale clue.

I hope that this doesn't confuse the issue even more. It can get easy to overanalyze this stuff eh.

Mike Miller

I just draw a picture of the spiral as it looks with the barrel coveroff in a notebook that I keep handy-I also draw the winding/stem/springs arrangement,so that I have a record of how this particular watch looked when it was together-believe me,this has saved my*** on a few occasions

Sam Williamson
NAWCC 154312
IHC Charter Member 14
Member Chapters 96 and 185

Thanks Mike and Sam.It has been simplified somewhat.I bothched my barrel on my elgin and i am getting a replacement for it now.

Veritas,
I lightly scribe the direction of the m/s inside the barrel when removing the mainspring. Also make sure that the tab on the end of the m/s lines up with the slot in the mainspring barrel cover.
Brian C.

pwpartsetc@pwatch.com