You're going to shake your heads but I couldn't resist...

[tIB]

So yeah, I like watches and I hope to develop even a tiny bit of the skill lots of you have here in terms of stripping down, cleaning, oiling and rebuilding... but while I don't currently have these I've tried out a not so skilled technique...

 

Read on a few places of the 'old trick' of soaking a movement in (naptha based) lighter fluid to give it a 'clean', and since I have an old Vostok manual that only holds power for anything up to 12 hours or so, I figured may as well see before finding a donor watch to switch movements with. Folk with a squeamish disposition should quickly scroll past the next photo:

So yeah, Vostok Komadirskie drowned in lighter fluid, left over night, removed and left to dry. What could possibly go wrong?!

I wound it when home yesterday evening (after a day drying out) and it was still ticking happily this morning, albeit at about five seconds fast a minute, presumably because the balance hadn't fully dried and was sticking somewhere...

Gave it a tickle (whack) this morning and it sorted the running fast issue. Left it on the side to dry out more while at work... Extremely surprised to find it still running on my return from work this evening - I reckon it's done about 25 hours off a wind, plus the extra 5 seconds a minute for over half that! That's over twice what I was getting. 

The lighter fluid obviously cleared out some crud from the movement as you could see it in the dish. Obviously there's an oiling issue here, but the 'logic'/story goes that what's mixed in with the lighter fluid along with the naptha leaves enough behind to give some lubrication. 

We'll see - I've wound it this evening to give it a timekeeping test... so far so good! I'm definitely not suggesting anyone so this, and neither would I have but for a last chance saloon with an about to be switched out movement. But yeah, I'll report back later...

 

[mbwatch]

I would be most interested in what you find if you opened up the barrel lid right now. How much naphtha got in and how much evaporated, and what happened to all the old grease that was in there before.

The same trick works okay on a Timex because the barrel is open and the mainspring exposed to drying.

[tIB]

33 minutes ago, mbwatch said:

I would be most interested in what you find if you opened up the barrel lid right now. How much naphtha got in and how much evaporated, and what happened to all the old grease that was in there before.

The same trick works okay on a Timex because the barrel is open and the mainspring exposed to drying.

As you might guess, unfortunately that's beyond my capabilities! 

[tIB]

Probably unsurprising update time...

I got a whopping 14 hours or so off a full wind (I think will try later), so while the 'cleaning' has kept things functional, the improvement is so far nominal... 

I've wound again this morning to see how it fairs today, but expect I'll be swapping out the movement as planned if I can find a better one for cheap (hopefully already have). 

[AndyGSi]

1 hour ago, tIB said:

Probably unsurprising update time...

I got a whopping 14 hours or so off a full wind (I think will try later), so while the 'cleaning' has kept things functional, the improvement is so far nominal... 

I've wound again this morning to see how it fairs today, but expect I'll be swapping out the movement as planned if I can find a better one for cheap (hopefully already have). 

Have you considered just getting a new complete barrel and trying that?

Edit

What's the movement?

Edited December 11, 2024 by AndyGSi

[tIB]

8 hours ago, AndyGSi said:

Have you considered just getting a new complete barrel and trying that?

Edit

What's the movement?

Off the top of my head it's a 2409 movement though I'd need to check. I've toyed with the idea of trying to repair, since I'll end up with another case, dial, hands etc (assuming the one that I have coming is better) so yeah I guess so, though I'm not sure how easy it is to get parts with the current situation.

 

There's a guy on eBay who sells spares though I'm not sure whether they're any good - think they're all salvage parts. 

[tIB]

Great this - messed around fitting the other movement yesterday as I couldn't test it correctly since it had a loose hand. Go for it I figured! Runs for two hours less than the one it replaced! 

[tIB]

Right, so I got a pack of four new barrels and had a go at swapping out in each watch as per this guide: https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/how-to-change-a-main-spring-barrel-on-vostok-2409-2414-the-short-cut-method.5313397/

(If I'm not supposed to post links to other forums mods apologies and please delete)

That's probably my biggest repair job so far and first impressions are it's gone well - I've fully wound both so hopefully they will both still be ticking this time tomorrow...

[tIB]

Still running after the new barrel install - result! 

The original watch (dial and hands from the OP ended up with a different movement/case) I soaked ran really fast - I've got a new balance bridge/hairspring coming though I'm not convinced i have the skills to fit it... 

[tIB]

I got a whopping 43 hours off that new mainspring - result!