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Thread: Seiko monster running v fast

  1. #1
    Master
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    Seiko monster running v fast

    I’ve a mk1 monster that’s gaining crazy time(poss an hour a day)
    Lepsi app shows it as magnatized- I’ve tried an inexpensive demagnetiser but with no joy
    Any other methods ?
    Thanks

  2. #2
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Possibly the balance hairspring is hung up ? They sometimes stick to itself somewhere.
    Cheers..
    Jase

  3. #3
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonM View Post
    Possibly the balance hairspring is hung up ? They sometimes stick to itself somewhere.
    Jase
    Thanks just took a quick peek
    Does this look hung up?
    I think so
    Untitled by biglewie, on Flickr

  4. #4
    Grand Master number2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonM View Post
    Possibly the balance hairspring is hung up ? They sometimes stick to itself somewhere.
    Yeah, if not magnetised a hung hairspring is definitely a possibility.
    "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

    'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.

  5. #5
    Craftsman Russ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonM View Post
    Possibly the balance hairspring is hung up ? They sometimes stick to itself somewhere.
    Good chance it's this. It had happened to a friend of mine's Monster gen 1 a few years ago. I managed to free it for him.

  6. #6
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    I’ve had it running face down for a couple of hours and seem to run much better - does that give any clues?

  7. #7
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    Sorry, but I do not believe an app on a phone can detect whether a watch has become magnetised. When a watch gets magnetised it's the hairspring that's affected, not the watch case! If someone can explain how a phone app can detect this condition I'm willing to learn.

    It's possible that the hairspring has become snagged and it's possible the watch has become magnetised. If the watch has been demagnetised correctly and shown no improvement perhaps we can discount the latter.

    Suggest you send it to a repairer, I'm not volunteering because I`m far too busy with other priorities at the moment, watch activities may resume in the autumn.

  8. #8
    Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by lewie View Post
    I’ve had it running face down for a couple of hours and seem to run much better - does that give any clues?
    Get it to a repairer, it isn`t like a grazed knee that'll heal up. There's obviously a problem and beyond the magnetised or snagged hairspring suggestions it's a waste of time speculating. I`m sure I could sort this but it's probably wise to fully strip and service the watch rather than look for a quick fix. At the moment I`m up to my eyeballs in jobs that don't involve watches (classic car is in pieces again too) so I'm turning everything down at the moment except for stuff I`ve agreed to do.

  9. #9
    Master Thewatchbloke's Avatar
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    The hairspring is not centralised, you can see the coils touching on one side, this is what will be causing the large rate gain.

    If the watch has been correctly demagnetised you can rule that out as a cause so either the hairspring is contaminated (usually oil or grease) causing the coil to stick to itself, or it has been bent/damaged and is out of shape.

    The fact it runs better dial down would lead me to believe that the hairspring has been deformed/damaged as any contamination causing the coils to stick together should be evident no matter the watch position.

  10. #10
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    Hopefully the hairspring wasn't oiled by a chef.

  11. #11
    Master
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    Thanks all for the input
    I think it may have been caught up as I’ve been wearing it today and it appears to be keeping fair time - I’ll monitor over the next few days
    Possibly removing the movement from the case and passing it ‘bare’ over the demagnetiser has worked
    Thank you

  12. #12
    Grand Master
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    Hadn’t seen the pictures yesterday when I posted, as Duncan’s pointed out the hairspring is distorted and isn’t centralised. I had one recently this, coincidentally a Seiko that was fairly new, and I couldn’t work out how it had happened. After taking the balance out it was clear that the spring was distorted and wasn’t sticking together, a bit if careful manipulation with the fine tweezers corrected it and the watch ran fine.

    If the watch was running OK then suddenly developed this fault I would struggle to give a plausible explanation. Possibly a fall from height could cause the spring to distort, but the modern hairsprings are quite stiff compared to older ones so this is less likely.

  13. #13
    I had the similar problem years ago on an skx

    whacking it face down into an open palm a couple of times seemed to free whatever the problem was.

  14. #14
    Master
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    I’ve done some careful ‘ tinkering’ and it seems to be running now within spec
    Thanks all - looks like a combo of being magnetised and a hung up balance
    Thanks

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