How often should an automatic require manual winding?

[bsandiford]

I wear my rolex (with 3185 movement) for 5 days before it stops. I have it wound (around 40 revolutions of crown) and then wear for 12-14 hours per day. By the morning of day 5 when I come to put it on , it has stopped. Any views on whether this is normal or whether this indicates some servicing is needed??

[MonBK]

It indicates that either you're not active enough or in need of a service.

I would wind it every 3-4 days.

[AmbSteve]

Just because you have it on your wrist does not mean it is getting wound. Be sure you are moving your wrist throughout the day to make sure it stays wound. If it stops then that just indicates you are not moving your wrist enough to keep it wound

[sleddog]

Originally Posted by MonBK

It indicates that either you're not active enough or in need of a service.

I would wind it every 3-4 days.

There is your answer, which correlates to your particular wearing habits!

For me, I usually go 8 to 10 days before winding if I'm not rotating to another watch.
Remember, you only wind (on the wrist) as much as you actively wear.

[bsandiford]

Thanks guys for your advice, looks like I gave to get a little more active! Haha

[BAMBAM]

Looks like you work for the german goverment as you are not moving LooL

[grandmasterP]

once you manually wind the watch before you wear it, you shouldn't have to wind it again as long as you wear the watch.......at least I've never had that problem.

the only time it stops running is when I don't wear it for 2 days

that's why it's called an automatic instead of a manual winding watch

[padi56]

Originally Posted by grandmasterP

once you manually wind the watch before you wear it, you shouldn't have to wind it again as long as you wear the watch.......at least I've never had that problem.

the only time it stops running is when I don't wear it for 2 days

that's why it's called an automatic instead of a manual winding watch

Well that depends on the wrist activity and how much power reserve the main spring has to start with.But agree if when worn with sufficient wrist activity the movement could run continual but it might not be at peak power reserve.So it will do no harm whatsoever to give a full wind say once a week even when worn.And most crown related problems are mainly down to the winding crown not being used.

[DevinH]

Originally Posted by padi56

Well that depends on the wrist activity and how much power reserve the main spring has to start with.But agree if when worn with sufficient wrist activity the movement could run continual but it might not be at peak power reserve.So it will do no harm whatsoever to give a full wind say once a week even when worn.And most crown related problems are mainly down to the winding crown not being used.

I really enjoy your posts. To the point I look for them in a thread. Great info as usual.

[strafer_kid]

Originally Posted by padi56

Well that depends on the wrist activity and how much power reserve the main spring has to start with.But agree if when worn with sufficient wrist activity the movement could run continual but it might not be at peak power reserve.So it will do no harm whatsoever to give a full wind say once a week even when worn.And most crown related problems are mainly down to the winding crown not being used.

That last line/point is very useful to know. The very few problems I have had with my Rolex through the years have been crown related, e.g. crown stem coming right out (despite me taking care) or crown being stiff and difficult to get to the third/setting position. I was once told that the latter can be an 'oil issue'? Had this particular problem this week with an SD16600 I had not worn for a while though it seems now to have eased up after a couple of days wearing. The date also began changing over at 10pm though after some resetting that too seems to have eased off....the joys of Rolex!

[jatco]

Originally Posted by grandmasterP

once you manually wind the watch before you wear it, you shouldn't have to wind it again as long as you wear the watch.......at least I've never had that problem.

the only time it stops running is when I don't wear it for 2 days

that's why it's called an automatic instead of a manual winding watch

Same here..- and in those 2 'idle' days if Im not wearing one, I'll give it a wind..to carry it over until I do wear it.. (if that makes sense..).

[Brushpup]

I have wondered about this having read about it many times. I've never had any Auto winding watch need a manual wind unless there was a problem.

I'm active, but I don't work out, jog, play sports or any of that. I guess I move around enough for a watch to get wound though.

[Fredrik]

Same here, I never had to wind an automatic watch when wearing it everyday. I only wind them(fully) when I set them if I haven't worn them for a while.

[RXPete]

Same as above, I never had to wind my Sub when wearing it consistently. Even if I take a day off, I don't need to wind. There have been times where it's my daily wearer for a month or more and I never had an issue with it stopping, but I'm constantly moving while working.


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[Rolex time is money]

I give it a full 30-40 wind at the end of every month and if neccessary change the date, I wear my watch everyday for 8 hours and Im not that active and had no problem with my Datejust, GMT or DayDate. If you wear it 12-14 hours a day and give it a full wind every month it should not stop working after 5 days!

[caryyee]

I have a very sedentary job, sitting at my desk all day in front of a computer screen. I wear my watch from approx 7am - 6pm each day and I've never had to wind any of my Rolex's. I'm also very active, but when I'm active, I'd switch to my GMT. An hour of exercise at the gym in a group fitness class is enough to keep my GMT going until my next group fitness class, usually 24hrs later. Have never had to manually wind my watches unless I leave them untouched for 40+ hrs.

[jatco]

Originally Posted by caryyee

I have a very sedentary job, sitting at my desk all day in front of a computer screen. I wear my watch from approx 7am - 6pm each day and I've never had to wind any of my Rolex's. I'm also very active, but when I'm active, I'd switch to my GMT. An hour of exercise at the gym in a group fitness class is enough to keep my GMT going until my next group fitness class, usually 24hrs later. Have never had to manually wind my watches unless I leave them untouched for 40+ hrs.

You,, sound like you're more active than the OP...
.
I wouldnt loose sleep, as I don't, if my DJ or Tudor Sub should stop, because I havent worn it through a 'cycle'.
Hadnt had my DJ on for 2 days.. It stopped, not suprisingly, so I just wound it, the 40+ turns and set the current date to today, the 7th and will wear it for the rest of the night...
Should be good for another couple of days ..or maybe wear again tomorrow, to get it in motion...!
Its part of the partnership you have with these automatics....!!
just my $.02

[bsandiford]

Seems like the opinion is veering toward there being a fault with the watch and not my activity levels....

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Give the watch a full 40 to 50 turns and let it sit. If it stops before 40 hours, most autos not all, it's time for a service.

[solo-act]

Originally Posted by mrbill2mrbill2

Give the watch a full 40 to 50 turns and let it sit. If it stops before 40 hours, most autos not all, it's time for a service.

There you go.

[Xristos]

Anyone up for a "never have to wind" thread?
Seriously though, I think it's a watch issue. You'd have to be pretty sedentary...

[Dove37]

Originally Posted by Xristos

Anyone up for a "never have to wind" thread?
Seriously though, I think it's a watch issue. You'd have to be pretty sedentary...

I have worn the same DJ 1601 daily since 1978.

Never thought of winding.

Occasionally I don't wear I over a weekend....or this week as I had surgery. Put it back on this morning and forwarded the time a couple of hours and scratched the dogs belly vigorously.

Then played guitar for two hours. Keeps on ticking.

Carry on.

[jatco]

If it's you're daily wearer , than no need to worry..!

[bimmerboy]

Yes two days without wearing for my sub seems accurate. I switched over for two days and noticed it was not moving when I picked it up.

[FLHP]

I have your issue with my Explorer as well. Sit at the desk, and on top of that, I usually take it off if I have a long computer project as it gets in the way. Never wear it in the gym or anything like that, so winding every four days or so is my norm.

[Gabik]

Bumping the topic.
So as far as I understand, no activity could wind the spring to the max? Only manual winding gives it a 48-hour power reserve?
At a high activity mine runs for 40-42 hours. Is that normal?
And why automatic winding can't wind the spring to the max?

[Fredrik]

Originally Posted by Gabik

Bumping the topic.
So as far as I understand, no activity could wind the spring to the max? Only manual winding gives it a 48-hour power reserve?
At a high activity mine runs for 40-42 hours. Is that normal?
And why automatic winding can't wind the spring to the max?

The automatic winding will power it up to max during the day if you are active enough. When I only had one watch I wore it for years without winding. If it never was topped it would slowly trickle down and eventually stop in the night otherwise.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Gabik

Bumping the topic.
So as far as I understand, no activity could wind the spring to the max? Only manual winding gives it a 48-hour power reserve?
At a high activity mine runs for 40-42 hours. Is that normal?
And why automatic winding can't wind the spring to the max?

Either way will wind your watch to the max.

The mainspring sits in a barrel and it will rotate inside that barrel when it reaches full wind; this is why you cannot "over-wind" an automatic. The mainspring doesn't know or care how it got to it's maximum wind and starts slipping, it just does.

48 hour power reserve is optimal. Conditions are not always the same for every movement and so not all will have an identical PR.

[Gabik]

Originally Posted by Tools

Either way will wind your watch to the max.

The mainspring sits in a barrel and it will rotate inside that barrel when it reaches full wind; this is why you cannot "over-wind" an automatic. The mainspring doesn't know or care how it got to it's maximum wind and starts slipping, it just does.

48 hour power reserve is optimal. Conditions are not always the same for every movement and so not all will have an identical PR.

Thank you!
manual winding - 47.5 hour
automatic winding (after 15km walk) - 41.5 hour.
Is that normal?

[J!m]

I have a Seiko SKX007 and it does not have a manual wind provision as many here know.

If you wear it, even walking from your desk to the lunch room and rest room should be enough for it to keep going... I think there may be a problem- possibly broken mainspring or slipping of the mainspring in the barrel.

Maybe it was asked but when was the last service?