JLC Quartz Help Required

[MattWatch]

Hi All,

I have a somewhat strange problem with this JLC Master Quartz. The watch will occasionally just stop running (might be after 10 minutes, might be 10 hours) for no apparent reason. If I pull the crown out to the setting position and then reinsert it the watch will immediately start running again, but will eventually stop again.

I've changed the battery a few times to make sure they weren't dud, but the same problem persists. The terminal doesn't look too bad so I don't think a previous battery has leaked or anything.

Any ideas would be very much appreciated!

Thanks as always

Matt

[MattWatch]

Not sure if it's related/relevant, but when pushing the crown back in the second hand seems to 'rock' once before it starts running.

[HectorLooi]

That's a strange looking movement. 

It might be due to a stray speck of dust in the wheels or corroded electrical contacts. Have you disassembled and cleaned the movement?

[Plato]

The quartz resonator is dying. You can replace it with a modern one. It looks bad but it will fix the watch for many years to come. 

[MattWatch]

Thanks Chaps. 

I've not cleaned the movement no. I recently obtained the watch so not got to that stage yet.

I just noticed if I give the watch a light tap it'll start running also. I checked all the connections and didn't spot anything obviously loose but that seems a likely culprit no?

The watch is now stopping every minute or so!

[Plato]

Could be a poor contact in the trimmer capacitor, might be worth giving it a turn back and forth.

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Plato
Misspelling

[rodabod]

That's a Girard Perregaux. JLC did not make the movement in-house. It's not easy to jump to conclusions regarding the fault. It could simply be dirty / sticky. Measuring the current draw with a Witschi would help to determine this.

[MattWatch]

On 1/2/2022 at 11:13 AM, Plato said:

Could be a poor contact in the trimmer capacitor, might be worth giving it a turn back and forth.

 

Well sir, whilst not wanting to speak too soon, you may well be my new official hero! I did as you suggested and the watch is now functioning perfectly, or at least it has been for the past few hours or so. A few days wear and if it continues to do so then I think we're good. Thank you so much

Thanks everyone so much for taking the time to respond to my pleas for help

Cheers

Matt

[Plato]

Fingers crossed!! However, I've had a couple of these movements and the quartz resonator has been the weak point (in a 50yr old watch) . As @rodabodhas already pointed out, the JLC uses the Girard Perregaux 35x movement which is the daddy of all modern analogue quartz movements. I've been on the look out for the old shape resonators for appearance sake but keeping them running is the important bit. Solid and reliable watches (movements/modules).