Mechanical Issues?

[Napoleon]

I have a Datejust II I bought here on the forums a little less than a year ago. In the past couple weeks it has started to stop at night. Even after a full day of wear on my wrist. In addition, when winding the watch it is starting to feel a little tight when winding. It used to be silky smooth but now I feel a bit of resistance. I'm sure there are some folks here who know exactly what my problem is. Can you help me solve it? If you tell me about how much this is going to take to fix?

[Tools]

Are you winding it when you take it off, and then it still stops at night.. Or are you just taking it off and setting it down ?

Typically a mechanical watch will not run for very long after you take it of unless you are very active during the day. They always wind down to only the amount that you actively put into it each day, and for some that isn't more than a few hours..

[Napoleon]

Thanks for the reply, Larry. I must admit that I have not tried winding it at the end of the day. However, I have tried putting it on a watch winder overnight. Did not completely stop but was hours off in the morning.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Napoleon

Thanks for the reply, Larry. I must admit that I have not tried winding it at the end of the day. However, I have tried putting it on a watch winder overnight. Did not completely stop but was hours off in the morning.

A watch will stop on a watch winder if it is not already wound and the winder is even slightly less than required to keep it static.

You should also wind a watch before putting it on the winder..

(watch winder is kind of a mis-nomer as it is not intended to actually wind a watch, but to keep it wound at the same state until you need it again.)

[tmehanna]

Originally Posted by Napoleon

Thanks for the reply, Larry. I must admit that I have not tried winding it at the end of the day. However, I have tried putting it on a watch winder overnight. Did not completely stop but was hours off in the morning.

I can't see how it could end up hours off in the morning if it didn't stop unless the winder is completely unshielded and ended up magnetizing the watch big time which is very unlikely but still a possibility and n which case your watch would be running erratically all the time.

In any case, you shouldn't need to wind up the watch when you take it off at night. What you should do at this point is wind it 40 complete turns before you wear it in the morning, wear it all day then take it off at night, not put it on a winder, and see if it will still be running and keeping correct time in the morning. It should actually keep running well into the next day unworn, but try this for now.

[Rocket_Man]

How old is the watch? Did the last owner have it serviced before you bought it? Has it ever been serviced?

[tmehanna]

Originally Posted by Rocket_Man

How old is the watch? Did the last owner have it serviced before you bought it? Has it ever been serviced?

Can't be old enough to really need a service given the DJII was only released in 2009 if I remember correctly.

[Napoleon]

The watch is very young. I peeled off the protective plastic stickers less than a year ago. I bought grey market here on the RF and the watch was never owned. The paperwork shows the watch was originally from a store in Germany, but I can't say for how long. Up until about 2 weeks ago it kept extremely accurate time and there was no issue. It's only very recently the issues have come up. I'm just wondering if I've clumsily damaged the winding mechanism or something? I've tried to be careful to never over-wind. I usually do about 25 turns. When not on my wrist it's usually been on a winder. Not always, but mostly. I know there is mixed opinion on these forums about winders. Is there any chance the winder damaged it?

At any rate, I'll take tmhanna's advice and see what happens. I'll report back tomorrow.

Thanks everyone!

[Rocket_Man]

It might just need a service. If after a proper winding it still winds down and you feel resistance, have a watchmaker look at it. Luckily you live only 30 miles from a very good watch maker...

http://www.timecareinc.com/contact.html

[tmehanna]

Originally Posted by Tools

A watch will stop on a watch winder if it is not already wound and the winder is even slightly less than required to keep it static.

You should also wind a watch before putting it on the winder..

(watch winder is kind of a mis-nomer as it is not intended to actually wind a watch, but to keep it wound at the same state until you need it again.)

Depends on the number of Turns Per Day the winder is set to. If more turns than is needed for a day's worth of power reserve, it will positively wind up the watch. Depending on the particular movement a watch with less than a few hours of power reserve left in a winder set to 2000 TPD or higher will end up fully wound in 12 hours or thereabout on average.

[jjdesq]

wind it 50-60 times, or maybe more turns until the spring slips(you will feel it) and set a timer for 40 hours...if it's still running your good and just need to move more to keep the watch wound, if not you probably should get it checked out.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Napoleon

Thanks for the reply, Larry. I must admit that I have not tried winding it at the end of the day. However, I have tried putting it on a watch winder overnight. Did not completely stop but was hours off in the morning.

Lets get thing perfectly straight a watch winder will not always fully wind any watch, yes they will keep then ticking but thats all a winder will do. Most all machine winders just top up the power reserve to whatever the mainspring had to start with.So even on these machines the movement should be fully manual wound up first.Wearing a watch does not wind any movement its wrist activity and arm movement thats what winds the watch.Try this give your watch a full manual wind 40 full crown turns clockwise only.Then watch should run between 39-48 hours while off wrist give or take a hour or so if it runs within that mainspring is fine.

[77T]

Originally Posted by tmehanna

Can't be old enough to really need a service given the DJII was only released in 2009 if I remember correctly.

It could need cleaning and lube - it's within the 5-10 years timeframe I use as a rule of thumb. It doesn't matter when it was sold - it's when it was born that matters most.

The watch-winder discussion aside, the symptom of becoming hard to wind (vs. silky smooth when bought) is worth checking out.


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[Tools]

Originally Posted by tmehanna

Depends on the number of Turns Per Day the winder is set to. If more turns than is needed for a day's worth of power reserve, it will positively wind up the watch. Depending on the particular movement a watch with less than a few hours of power reserve left in a winder set to 2000 TPD or higher will end up fully wound in 12 hours or thereabout on average.

Sure.. But that's not the proper way to use one..

If you have it set to "superwind" it will wind it up and keep spinning the mainspring in the barrel over, and over, and over until the notches that hold it in place are so worn the mainspring will no longer grip and it's ability to be wound fully compromised.

That's why there are actual "settings" on winders. You use the lowest setting that the watch will not stop on.

[jkf2112]

Originally Posted by Napoleon

Thanks for the reply, Larry. I must admit that I have not tried winding it at the end of the day. However, I have tried putting it on a watch winder overnight. Did not completely stop but was hours off in the morning.

Sounds like it is time for a service.

[tmehanna]

I am not a watchmaker or a micro mechanic but I don't see the difference between putting the watch on a winder and wearing it, except the turns are complete which can't be a bad thing. I see setting the winder to superwind like wearing the watch on your morning jog or having an active lifestyle.

[Napoleon]

Originally Posted by Rocket_Man

It might just need a service. If after a proper winding it still winds down and you feel resistance, have a watchmaker look at it. Luckily you live only 30 miles from a very good watch maker...

http://www.timecareinc.com/contact.html

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to give them a call! I appreciate everyone's input and help.

[Napoleon]

UPDATE: I took the watch to Time Care, Inc. Found out the watch was "bone dry". There was little to no lubricant inside. This caused all sorts of wacky things.....running fast, slow, fast, slow, etc. Watch needs an overhaul.

[Rookie52]

Originally Posted by Napoleon

UPDATE: I took the watch to Time Care, Inc. Found out the watch was "bone dry". There was little to no lubricant inside. This caused all sorts of wacky things.....running fast, slow, fast, slow, etc. Watch needs an overhaul.

This is odd. How would the lubricant escape the watch?

[Drjamesie]

The lubricant does not escape per se I would imagine that the more volatile compounds in the lubricant have evaporated. So your lubricant turns to gas and leaves a small non lubricating deposit. I am only surmising this from my limited A-Level chemistry so do not take this as fact until someone wiser confirms!


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