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WK1113 Losing 5 seconds per hour. Can I adjust the movement?

1K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Archiesdad 
#1 ·
This Professional 2000 is my daily wear watch.
Received from my wife for my 50th birthday in 2001. Ran perfectly for years with time reset only needed when the battery got weak.
Last year it began losing time even with a new battery so I figured it was past due for a service.
Sent to Tag's USA service center, had it service and replaced the bracelet. After some weeks it came back looking pretty as new....but still losing time.!!

So I called up Tag and told them it was the same as before the service. They had me return it and they did a level 2 service (overhaul). They did this at no-charge since my original request had been to correct the slow running/loss of time.

Well, it is better, but still losing time. I used a stop watch to test and found it is 5 seconds an hour. That's 1 minute per day.

I don't want to send it back again. Being a very technical guy (my profession, although not a watchmaker!!) I figured I would open the back and see if there is a regulator in the movement I can tweak. (I have the tools).

So does anyone know, is there an adjustment? Any advice is welcome.
 

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#3 ·
I second imagwai's recommendation. I know it's a real pain being without your watch (again), but if you or someone else opens it, that could/will void the warranty that TAG Heuer Customer Service provides you (I believe it's a one year warranty). Send it back!
 
#4 ·
It's not very funny when a quartz watch loses time so fast.

Sent from my LG-H630 using Tapatalk
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the responses.
OK....I decided to do some more testing over a longer period. My initial calculations were not as accurate as I thought (done over a small number of minutes).
Actual measured loss is +/- 4 minutes over 5 days. A bit less than 1 minute a day or 2 seconds per hour. Still very high in my opinion.

I didn't have the greatest experience with the TAG service center. When I sent the watch back to correct the time loss issue after the first service they sent me an estimate listing replacement for the blue face among other items?? A pretty expensive replacement part.
I questioned that, as they were the only people who had been inside the watch and didn't mention a need for that part on the first service (and I saw nothing wrong with it when I sent it back).....and the only issue I had was losing time.

Anyway, they agreed that if it was damaged it must have been by their technician. The second trip to the shop for time loss was covered at no cost to me.
But both times I sent it to them they kept it several weeks past the estimated return date.
Looking at the price i paid for the first service and adding the price they initially quoted for the second service, I could buy a new watch for not much more.
I don't want to give them a third chance. Would rather find a good watch repairman in my area or have a go at it myself.

So....Does anyone know if this old ETA movement has a regulator adjustment screw? If not I suppose the crystal itself is old/damaged and not vibrating at the correct frequency anymore.
 
#6 ·
I've not heard of being able to adjust quartz movements before, and anything more than +/-1sec / day is too much for quartz in my opinion. I would give Tag one more chance and hope for third time lucky (but on no account pay any more than you already have, unless of course they need to charge for a new movement). An alternative would be to track down a new movement and fit it yourself, or get an independent to replace it. Or... my second preferred option... sounds like an excuse for a new watch :)
 
#7 ·
My understanding from research is some older high end quartz watches had a potentiometer/capacitor arrangement where the pot can fine tune the voltage to the crystal to make small adjustments in frequency and therefor time keeping.

Guess I'll open it up and just look....agreed, maybe a good excuse to buy a new watch... a "Retirement Present" to myself LOL !! :-d
 
#8 · (Edited)

Found this on an old WUS thread, posted by cameronweiss:

Re: How do you regulate an ETA 255.461 quartz movement?
Regulating a quartz watch is quite simple.

1. remove dial and hands
2. toss movement in parts bin
3. Get new movement
4 Install dial and hands


Brilliant, and joking aside, may be the best way forward as I would imagine a watchmaker could replace the movement easily and cheaply as it's pretty standard and not high accuracy one (and it'd save sending the watch off for weeks)​



 
#9 ·

Brilliant, and joking aside, may be the best way forward as I would imagine a watchmaker could replace the movement easily and cheaply as it's pretty standard and not high accuracy one (and it'd save sending the watch off for weeks)

Yes, i think that may be the way forward !!....I do like the watch, but it has had a rough 16 years!!

Alternatively, I can just keep resetting it. I need to slow down anyway .. b-)

Thank all for your replys.
 
#10 ·
When you said that they did an overhaul on the movement when you sent it back, it should not have come back running that slow! My classic 2000 has gained 5.8 seconds over 60 days! I hear you on the "painful" wait time and your hesitation to send it back again. But I believe the smart thing to do is to indeed send it back. If you open it and tinker with it yourself, you will void the warranty from the service. But I understand your frustration with TH Customer Service. I had a bit of a run around myself with TH Customer Service on my classic 2000 - but that's another story...
 
#11 · (Edited)
I'd send it back, with a strongly worded letter, they should have tested the accuracy of the watch before returning it and if they cannot get it correct you should have been informed of the problem, if if the watch is going to be awol for a long period of time whilst (hopefully being correctly repaired) then it may be the time to get a replacement as you have suggested, worst case is you will have a new watch and an accurate refurb with which to interchange, seems like a win-win?
 
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