Watch running fast

Mental Mickey

Hi

I have recently got my late Mother's wrist watch converted into a pocket watch as a keepsake for myself. However, I recently noticed that it has started to run fast(?) The watch is a small "Limit" brand watch. My Mother bought it for herself a couple of years ago, and it was given to me after her death.

Would anyone with experience of watches on here have any idea(s) what could be wrong with it?

Are there any specialists who could check it out for me?

Cheers.

Mental Mickey

Thanks for that. Also, would it be easy to get such a thing as an "escapement"(?) replaced in a watch? I've been told by a friend that this could be what's causing the watch to run fast? My friend think that this piece could be worn??

marcus1971

Presuming that it is a mechanical watch (not quartz or tuning fork) and it just suddenly started running waaaaaay fast a quick and easy 2 possible DIY repairs might be:

First the easiest and less traumatic, Its possible that your watch has become magentized.. something in your pocket, TV, Speakers, mobile phone, fridge, microwave...the list is endless, if you have access to a demagnetizer that might fix it....if you don't have access to one they are all around you every day, find a store that uses a mat at the checkout to demagnetize the security tags on merchandise (the white plastic strips on C.D.s, electronic items...usually higher priced stuff) and place your watch on it and slide it around on it for about 30 seconds.... then check the timekeeping.

If that doesn't work....

Let the watch run right down totally until it stops and give the case a couple of taps against your palm in a few different positions (tap each side, top and bottom), not too hard... but with a bit of oomph, then wind it up fully (even if it is an automatic) and check the timekeeping again, sometimes the hairspring can get caught up on the base, this means the spring is now shorter/more compressed and will cause the watch to run (very) fast, giving it a little shock when it is unwound may release it if it is hung up.

Wibbs

marcus1971 wrote: »

if you don't have access to one they are all around you every day, find a store that uses a mat at the checkout to demagnetize the security tags on merchandise (the white plastic strips on C.D.s, electronic items...usually higher priced stuff) and place your watch on it and slide it around on it for about 30 seconds.... then check the timekeeping.

Brilliant tip for DIY degaussing.

Mental Mickey

marcus1971 wrote: »

Presuming that it is a mechanical watch (not quartz or tuning fork) and it just suddenly started running waaaaaay fast a quick and easy 2 possible DIY repairs might be:

First the easiest and less traumatic, Its possible that your watch has become magentized.. something in your pocket, TV, Speakers, mobile phone, fridge, microwave...the list is endless, if you have access to a demagnetizer that might fix it....if you don't have access to one they are all around you every day, find a store that uses a mat at the checkout to demagnetize the security tags on merchandise (the white plastic strips on C.D.s, electronic items...usually higher priced stuff) and place your watch on it and slide it around on it for about 30 seconds.... then check the timekeeping.

If that doesn't work....

Let the watch run right down totally until it stops and give the case a couple of taps against your palm in a few different positions (tap each side, top and bottom), not too hard... but with a bit of oomph, then wind it up fully (even if it is an automatic) and check the timekeeping again, sometimes the hairspring can get caught up on the base, this means the spring is now shorter/more compressed and will cause the watch to run (very) fast, giving it a little shock when it is unwound may release it if it is hung up.

The watch was running slow even when my Mother was wearing it(it used to drive her mad :-)), so I'm not sure about it being de-magnetized? Maybe the "escapement" thingy is what's wrong?

marcus1971

Mental Mickey wrote: »

The watch was running slow even when my Mother was wearing it(it used to drive her mad :-)), so I'm not sure about it being de-magnetized? Maybe the "escapement" thingy is what's wrong?

I thought it was running fast?

Just how slow/fast is is running? If its only off by a minute or so a day and this is consistant, then it might only need regulating, You have to understand that even some of the better watches costing over 2-3000 Euro might only be rated to within 5 or 10 seconds accuracy/day, yours might be off by as much as a minute/day and still pass QC with the manufacturer..... even though a 5 Euro quartz watch will be accurate to within 5 seconds/month, its just different.

Demagnetizing will not do any harm to your watch and will be a good place to start, just try it, you will not cause any damage.

The other idea of it having a twisted hairspring would be more for a watch that is running fast at a rate of minutes per hour, so I am reckoning that its not that bad?

The escapement is very basically what you would most easily describe as the assembly with the very light spring that you see coiled around a see thru skeleton wheel inside a watch with a couple of "levers" on it usually marked with a + and - , in a roundabout way this is what makes a watch tick, if you tighten the spring (+) it ticks faster.... runs fast, while if you loosen the spring (-) off it ticks slower... runs slow, this spring is easily affected by magnetism that is why all watches should be demagnetized regularly... well maybe once a year or so.

If the watch is consistant in running slow may just need to be regulated, that means moving the lever on the escapement in the direction of the + ,
it can also however mean that the watch needs to be serviced, over time the oils in the watch break down and cause friction and the main spring (which you can't see inside the watch) may have become worn to the point where it is not tranferring enough power down to the escapement.. this is easily noticed in a loss of power reserve.... the watch does not run as long as it used to when you wind it.

If you feel you need to have it serviced/fixed/movement replaced just be careful here you bring it to, you can almost be guaranteed that none of the usual shopping centre or high street mainstream jewellery stores have an actual watchmaker employed, they just send it out to an independant watchmaker (who is really just a watch fixer) and will just double or triple or quadruple the repair bill and charge you for it... especially when they will tell you it is not "worth" fixing and you will tell them it has sentimental value, that usually adds to the bill even more.
Find an independant watchmaker tell him your story and he/she will most likely be happy to help you out..... watchmaking attracts a "certain type" of person and they are usually not motivated by greed or profit and in my experience are always happy to help out in a situation like yours... fancy high street stores are usually only driven by profit

* another idea for you would be to replace the movement with a quartz one, this is sacrilege in these circles but it used to be a common thing to do years ago when quartz watches came out first, if the fact that it is a mechanical watch holds no interest to you then a quartz module inside will give you more accurate timekeeping, no need to wind it, you will hardly ever need to reset it and a battery nowadays should last 3-5 years, it would be a cheap swap and probably cheaper than fixing your watch as it is and the only thing you will notice is that the seconds hand will tick once per second instead of sweeping which is just a series of ticks per second.

Mental Mickey

marcus1971 wrote: »

I thought it was running fast?

Just how slow/fast is is running? If its only off by a minute or so a day and this is consistant, then it might only need regulating, You have to understand that even some of the better watches costing over 2-3000 Euro might only be rated to within 5 or 10 seconds accuracy/day, yours might be off by as much as a minute/day and still pass QC with the manufacturer..... even though a 5 Euro quartz watch will be accurate to within 5 seconds/month, its just different.

Demagnetizing will not do any harm to your watch and will be a good place to start, just try it, you will not cause any damage.

The other idea of it having a twisted hairspring would be more for a watch that is running fast at a rate of minutes per hour, so I am reckoning that its not that bad?

The escapement is very basically what you would most easily describe as the assembly with the very light spring that you see coiled around a see thru skeleton wheel inside a watch with a couple of "levers" on it usually marked with a + and - , in a roundabout way this is what makes a watch tick, if you tighten the spring (+) it ticks faster.... runs fast, while if you loosen the spring (-) off it ticks slower... runs slow, this spring is easily affected by magnetism that is why all watches should be demagnetized regularly... well maybe once a year or so.

If the watch is consistant in running slow may just need to be regulated, that means moving the lever on the escapement in the direction of the + ,
it can also however mean that the watch needs to be serviced, over time the oils in the watch break down and cause friction and the main spring (which you can't see inside the watch) may have become worn to the point where it is not tranferring enough power down to the escapement.. this is easily noticed in a loss of power reserve.... the watch does not run as long as it used to when you wind it.

If you feel you need to have it serviced/fixed/movement replaced just be careful here you bring it to, you can almost be guaranteed that none of the usual shopping centre or high street mainstream jewellery stores have an actual watchmaker employed, they just send it out to an independant watchmaker (who is really just a watch fixer) and will just double or triple or quadruple the repair bill and charge you for it... especially when they will tell you it is not "worth" fixing and you will tell them it has sentimental value, that usually adds to the bill even more.
Find an independant watchmaker tell him your story and he/she will most likely be happy to help you out..... watchmaking attracts a "certain type" of person and they are usually not motivated by greed or profit and in my experience are always happy to help out in a situation like yours... fancy high street stores are usually only driven by profit

* another idea for you would be to replace the movement with a quartz one, this is sacrilege in these circles but it used to be a common thing to do years ago when quartz watches came out first, if the fact that it is a mechanical watch holds no interest to you then a quartz module inside will give you more accurate timekeeping, no need to wind it, you will hardly ever need to reset it and a battery nowadays should last 3-5 years, it would be a cheap swap and probably cheaper than fixing your watch as it is and the only thing you will notice is that the seconds hand will tick once per second instead of sweeping which is just a series of ticks per second.

Sorry, you're right, my mistake. It is running approx 10 minutes fast. The guy who fitted the chain to it, adjusted the time for me, but it went back to running fast pretty much straight away. I found a shop called "Time Express" in the FAQ section - is this shop any good? They're based on Middle Abbey Street.

marcus1971

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Sorry, you're right, my mistake. It is running approx 10 minutes fast. The guy who fitted the chain to it, adjusted the time for me, but it went back to running fast pretty much straight away. I found a shop called "Time Express" in the FAQ section - is this shop any good? They're based on Middle Abbey Street.

10 minutes fast per day? per week? or per month?

Wear and tear or the need for a service will usually result in a slow running watch

The watch running fast will usually be down to it being... magnetised/badly adjusted (the beat or rate could be off)/or the "spring" is hung up on itself.

I kind of suspect that the guy that fitted the chain probably doesn't know too much about whats going on inside.. when he "adjusted" it did it actually keep good time for any period? .. or did it make no difference?

How did he fit the chain to it..... heat would possibly magnetize it... or whatever tools he used could have affected the magnetism.... this can make a BIG difference... resulting in the coils on that tiny spring "sticking together"

Pocket watches traditionally were shielded, wheather intentionally or not, from magnetic fields by thick covers front and back and would be a far more robust movement in any case also they were popular in the days long before all the electronic devices we have nowadays, seriously even the mobile phone in your pocket will have a pretty high magnetic field that your watch will not be shielded against....

You probably should consider going down the route of putting in a quartz module... request that they return your original movement and you will always have it to put back in again.

I wouldnt have a clue where would be good to go for a repair, I do all my own, but I'm sure someone could steer you right.

Mental Mickey

marcus1971 wrote: »

10 minutes fast per day? per week? or per month?

Wear and tear or the need for a service will usually result in a slow running watch

The watch running fast will usually be down to it being... magnetised/badly adjusted (the beat or rate could be off)/or the "spring" is hung up on itself.

I kind of suspect that the guy that fitted the chain probably doesn't know too much about whats going on inside.. when he "adjusted" it did it actually keep good time for any period? .. or did it make no difference?

How did he fit the chain to it..... heat would possibly magnetize it... or whatever tools he used could have affected the magnetism.... this can make a BIG difference... resulting in the coils on that tiny spring "sticking together"

Pocket watches traditionally were shielded, wheather intentionally or not, from magnetic fields by thick covers front and back and would be a far more robust movement in any case also they were popular in the days long before all the electronic devices we have nowadays, seriously even the mobile phone in your pocket will have a pretty high magnetic field that your watch will not be shielded against....

You probably should consider going down the route of putting in a quartz module... request that they return your original movement and you will always have it to put back in again.

I wouldnt have a clue where would be good to go for a repair, I do all my own, but I'm sure someone could steer you right.

It stays 10 mins fast all the time - ie: it doesn't go any more than about 10 mins fast.

EDIT: As I'm typing this, the time on the watch reads just gone 6.45pm.

marcus1971

Mental Mickey wrote: »

It stays 10 mins fast all the time - ie: it doesn't go any more than about 10 mins fast.

EDIT: As I'm typing this, the time on the watch reads just gone 6.45pm.

I dont want to sound like a d1ckhead but are you serious?
If your watch is always 10 minutes fast never more, never less... and you never re-set it, its 10 mins fast today, tomorrow, wednesday, thursday, friday..................... THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT!!!!!, you just need to set the time

Mental Mickey

marcus1971 wrote: »

I dont want to sound like a d1ckhead but are you serious?
If your watch is always 10 minutes fast never more, never less... and you never re-set it, its 10 mins fast today, tomorrow, wednesday, thursday, friday..................... THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT!!!!!, you just need to set the time

I have done that in the past, but it goes fast almost immediately.

EDIT: I've just reset the time on it now, so I'll see how long it lasts................

marcus1971

Well if it goes 10 mins fast almost right away and stays 10 mins fast consistantly from there on in the best thing you can do, and this makes NO sense at all - but if what you say is true why not just set it 10 minutes slow and let it catch up?