Servicing my Rolex 5513, calibre 1520

[Delgetti]

Here a little walkthrough the servicing of my Rolex 5513, calibre 1520. Sorry for the funny english, I'm no native speaker.

I'm not a professional watchmaker, this is only amateur-work.  

 

I start by opening the case, taking off the automatic device and disassemble it.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I remove the movement and take off hands and dial.

 

 

 

 

 

Removing the cannon pinion.

 

 

Now it's time for the balance and the pallet fork.

 

 

 

 

Continuing disassembling with ratchet and train wheels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next one is the barrel bridge.

 

 

 

 

I decided to use a new mainspring.

 

 

Now it's time for the keyless works.

 

 

 

On the other side of the movement the spring for stopping the balance.

 

 

 

Removing the screws for the movement and the dial.

 

 

And reassemble the balance for protection reasons.

 

 

Ok, everything taken apart, ready for cleaning.

 

 

Best regards

Erik

 

 

[Delgetti]

Here we go with part 2. Now it's easy to note, that I'm not a professional as the cleaning equipment is only... ehm... semi-professional.

 

 

 

 

Special treatment for the balance and the pallet fork.

 

The equipment for oiling and grease.

 

Inserting the new mainspring.

 

 

 

 

Reassembling the train bridge. Surprise: Much easier than on other watches, the parts fall into correct positions by themselves. Nice.

 

Barrel bridge and ratchet system.

 

 

 

 

The keyless works.

 

Assembling and oiling the Pallet fork.

 

The return of the balance.

 

A drop of oil for the balance and escape wheel stones.

 

Winding up and...it runs! Oops, some adjustment needed.

 

Better.

 

Reassembling the automatic device.

 

 

 

Inserting the screws for movement and dial.

 

Time for the cannon pinion and the hour wheel.

 

 

Bringing back dial and hands (oh, I love those Maxi dials).

 

 

 

Back in the case...

 

...and completed with the automatic device.

 

Some grease for the gasket.

 

Got it.

 

It's called a wrist watch, so it's for the wrist not for the safe.

[Delgetti]

Finally a slow-motion video of the balance working I took during the work.

 

[Endeavor]

@Delgetti Very nice pictures and a good walk through

You keep mentioning that you are an amateur, but in my eyes a very organized one, to say the least !

Looking at the pictures, the way you work, most likely a lot of professionals would have to take a run for their money !!

[Geo]

An excellent walkthrough Erik, very well done and illustrated.  I wish more folk on here would do that!

I hope you remembered to replace the screw on the the balance regulator.

[Geo]

I've just looked at your video Erik.  Is it an optical illusion, or is the hairspring off centre?  

[Delgetti]

Hi Geo,

thanks for the kind words. No, I didn't replace the screw on the balance regulator yet, as I broke it during work and couldn't find a spare part right now. Luckily the regulator is very tight so the watch keeps time even without this screw. Of course I'm still searching for the part to complete the watch again.

 

Concerning the hairspring: You are right, looks strange. I will have a look at this topic when the 5513 comes to my wrist next time. If it's really off centre what would be the consequences? I can't spot anything unusual looking at the timegrapher and the watch runs constantly with +2-3 seconds a day.

 

[Geo]

6 minutes ago, Delgetti said:

 I will have a look at this topic when the 5513 comes to my wrist next time. If it's really off centre what would be the consequences? 

I would expect positional timekeeping issues and possibly running fast.  Hopefully others will pitch in with advice too.

if your watch was keeping good time before servicing, it should have pretty much the same after unless someone has adjusted it to compensate for bad timekeeping instead of serving it.  

Often a watch that is needing servicing will start to run slightly fast; cleaning will bring it back to where it should be without the need for adjustment.  This is due to the balance wheel amplitude reducing when the oil dries up; when clean and lubricated it goes back to full amplitude.

Your watch was running off beat and fast after cleaning and assembly; how was it running before you serviced it?  Did you demagnetise the movement when reassembled?

 

[matabog]

"the return of the balance"  nice one!

 

Check the amplitude right after manual winding until the MS slips inside the barrel. I have a watch that is knocking for a couple of minutes after that.

 

p.s. very nice walkthrough! And with all the right materials!

Edited February 15, 2017 by matabog

[Delgetti]

@matabog: Yes, I was a little bit worried about the high amplitude. But the watch doesn't knock, even not just after full hand winding.

@Geo: I demagnetised the movement. I wore the watch for many years and it ran always about -6 sec/d. When I bought a timegrapher 2 years ago I analyzed it. Bad surprise: Amp about 220 deg and positional accuracy variation from -30 to +40 sec. So I decided to put it apart completely. I will do a new analysis and have a look at the hairspring in the next few days and will post the result here.

 

 

[rodabod]

Fantastic workthrough.

[Gary]

Great walkthrough and thank you for sharing! One question, after the first test on the timegrapgher what do you do to adjust or correct the issues shown in the next timegrapher photo?

Thank you again,

Gary

[Delgetti]

@Gary:

You can correct the beat error by manipulating the little lever on the balance cock which is secured with the little screw. After that you can correct the gain or loss by manipulating the regulator arm. Just the rolex 1520 version of what Mark shows here.

 

 

 

[Watchtime]

Looks very professional as an amateur, nice write-up...well done.

[RickHOW]

That's is a great tutorial on the tear down and rebuild! Im just about done servicing a 2135 in a Lady DJ, they are so compact.

[Plato]

Fair play for having the balls to strip down an expensive watch and getting stuck in! That regulator screw would be playing on my mind though.

[RyMoeller]

Great job.  You're very organized and have a clean workspace- that's usually conducive to good results and it looks like you achieved just that.  It's a beautiful timepiece too.  Thanks for sharing your experience!  

[Oboema_Sesetokoe]

Very nice!!

[ecodec]

On 2/15/2017 at 10:15 AM, Delgetti said:

Hi Geo,

thanks for the kind words. No, I didn't replace the screw on the balance regulator yet, as I broke it during work and couldn't find a spare part right now. Luckily the regulator is very tight so the watch keeps time even without this screw. Of course I'm still searching for the part to complete the watch again.

 

Concerning the hairspring: You are right, looks strange. I will have a look at this topic when the 5513 comes to my wrist next time. If it's really off centre what would be the consequences? I can't spot anything unusual looking at the timegrapher and the watch runs constantly with +2-3 seconds a day.

 

Thank you, well done Erik. If it keeps good time and the Timegrapher shows it to be OK then put the back on and use it to get the time. Many thanks again, Mike.

 

[AlexeiJ1]

Great work!
There are a number of people in the industry/hobby who shout about Rolex's needing to go to a Authorized Rolex Service.
From experience - most industry workshops be it in cars, computers or watches are staffed by 16 year old apprentices or elderly idiots who have lost their marbles.

I don't trust workshops, I wouldn't even bring a $10 timex for a battery change to them.

Good on you for bucking the trend and doing the work yourself! You've done better than most service places.

 

[garysmith]

hey @Delgetti

The pictures are blurred, is that because I'm something wrong?

Thanks

Gary

[Delgetti]

Hi Gary,

when I created that thing I hosted the pics on photobucket for free (like many others, especially VRF/VRM-members). Meanwhile photobucket changed its conditions and requires monthly payment for hosting. I didn't pay (and will not in the future), so the pics are blurred.

If wanted, I can repost the pics, but not in the next days as we have Oktoberfest right now here in munich.

[garysmith]

Hey Delgetti

I figured as much when I looked at opening a Photobucket account.

Reposting would be great when you have time thank you.

I have a 5513 with a 1520 movement in pieces and can't find any other reference shots or diagrams. I dropped my watch a few times and some of the movement became dislodged and when I opened I disturbed the Balance wheel and the spring twisted...bit of nightmare but I'm enjoying the rebuild.

Do you mind if i ask you a few questions and no rush with a reply? Can he hairspring on the balance wheel be replaced or do i have to buy the wheel with the spring?

Thank you for getting back to me and enjoy Oktoberfest

Gary

[jdm]

5 hours ago, garysmith said:

Can he hairspring on the balance wheel be replaced or do i have to buy the wheel with the spring?

Is this the first time you work on a watch mov't? If so then I'm sorry to be blunt but as a total beginner attacking a valuable and precise piece is a mistake that you should avoid.

[Watchtime]

I noticed the blurred images too, imgbb offers a free hosting also, don't know if they are going to ask money in the future but for now it is free.