Drop of wd40 in watch, stopped ticking!

[emu88]

I have a timex wrist watch, both digital and analogue with ticking second hand. It's 11 years old so i got a new strap for it and opened the back plate to give it a bit of a clean. Didn't touch anything but put a drop of wd40 on the push in-out knob mechanism. It moves and rotates much smoother now but the second hand wont tick at all! Digital works fine, but not the hands this did happen before when i removed the plate but a it of jiggling around and it started again. Have i ruined my watch???

[Tanguero]

Yes.

[emu88]

Thanks. But how, can it not just dry out? Maybe i will take it to a watch place, but will theyncharge a fortune?!

[Tanguero]

A drop WD40 is enough to completely clog a quartz watch with mechanical hands. Normally quartz watches are not oiled as the wheels are self lubricating plastic. When oil is used, it is used in minuscule quantities and applied to very precise areas with an applicator that is a small fraction of a millimetre across the tip.

If the watch is worth anything to you then a watchmaker can dismantle it, clean off the WD40, lubricate it properly and reassemble it, but it wont be a particularly cheap exercise.

WD40 is not even really a lubricant - it is a water displacer, the clue is in the name. In a watch it spreads very readily and might as well be glue.

[emu88]

Oh crap. Would timpsons be able to do it properly? And if i got it repaired, is it likely to last? The watch is 11 years old and has some memories so I would like to keep it.

[Tanguero]

Possibly, you would have to ask them. if not then the BHI keeps a list of registered repairers here, try ringing a couple of ones local to you for a quote.

[Nick M]

A replacement movement may not be that expensive - was looking at one for an Adidas watch I have, and a new movement looks to be about 20 quid + postage. Can't imagine a Timex uses anything other than an off-the-shelf movement.

Probably cheaper than a 'repair' (which might also be a movement swap) in the long run.

[Pints]

Conversely I used a drop of WD40 in an old quartz analogue of mine a couple of years ago, after 2 new batteries didn't get it going. Been keeping perfect time since.

[Rowan138]

to lubricate a watch, ask the missus for some sewing machine oil. wet the end of your finger little with a SINGLE drop, then carefully run the end of your finger on the gears to lubricate them. less than 0.01cc of oil is required to lube a watch!!

[Tanguero]

Rowan138 said:

to lubricate a watch, ask the missus for some sewing machine oil. wet the end of your finger little with a SINGLE drop, then carefully run the end of your finger on the gears to lubricate them. less than 0.01cc of oil is required to lube a watch!!

The teeth of watch gears are never ever lubricated - only the pivots! A quartz watch should not normally need lubrication at all anyway. Following this advice, while better than a drop of WD40 is still is highly likely to prevent a watch from working.

If you want to find out how to correctly lubricate a watch then there are plenty of text books that will give you details. To do so correctly is something that requires both the right tools, the right oils and a good deal of practice.

[littleredrooster]

Brake cleaner.

HTH

[Tanguero]

Naah, just fill the entire case with 10w40, it'l be fine.

Shell did with these promotional watches back in the 40s



(the fact that they only ran for a few months before stopping didn't seem to deter them)