Speedmaster pro not winding up
Discussion
I’ve got a speedmaster pro that I bought new in 2017 and I put it on last week and went to wind it up and it doesn’t wind any more and there’s a change in resistance on the crown so it just feels like it’s doing nothing. It still has a click but it’s doing nothing, it was fine a couple of days before.
There’s a chap local to me who I trust to look at it but can’t get there till the weekend but anyone any ideas what it’s likely to be so I can brace myself if it’s going to need a chunk of money spending on it. I only ever use it once or twice a week at most so it’s a bit annoying that something has gone wrong but I guess it can’t be helped.
Thanks
There’s a chap local to me who I trust to look at it but can’t get there till the weekend but anyone any ideas what it’s likely to be so I can brace myself if it’s going to need a chunk of money spending on it. I only ever use it once or twice a week at most so it’s a bit annoying that something has gone wrong but I guess it can’t be helped.
Thanks
Does the crown still spin or not?
If you can wind it and it keeps going forever with little resistance then you likely have a broken mainspring and it will need a service.
If it's wound as far as it can go and still isn't running then something is blocking the mechanism and it will need... a service.
Or you might be lucky and find it's just a loose screw if you have a friendly watchmaker.
If you can wind it and it keeps going forever with little resistance then you likely have a broken mainspring and it will need a service.
If it's wound as far as it can go and still isn't running then something is blocking the mechanism and it will need... a service.
Or you might be lucky and find it's just a loose screw if you have a friendly watchmaker.
joe6886 said:
I took it to the chap local to me and he said it’s the main spring broken so I guess it’s service time.
Is there a reason for it breaking? The watch is 6 years old and I only wear it once or twice on a weekend so only gets wound up once a week, bit disappointed it’s let go.
Same happened to my Omega PO. Looked after and not bashed around Is there a reason for it breaking? The watch is 6 years old and I only wear it once or twice on a weekend so only gets wound up once a week, bit disappointed it’s let go.
No obvious rhyme or reason.
You have a flat piece of alloy ~0.1mm thick and 300mm long with a weld or (in ye olde days) rivet at one end holding it to a short "hook" to catch the barrel and a rectangular hole at the other. Stress will focus somewhere. Most will last decades gradually producing less power, but in the past (when they were carbon steel and not the "unbreakable" modern ones) a broken mainspring was so common that american pocket watches would be designed with a screw-on pinion that would unwind if the mainspring broke to protect the rest of the watch.
With an automatic you have less stress at full wind as the spring will automatically slide around the inside of the barrel wall when there's too much wind applied. With a manual the relief is provided by the amount of give in the click/ratchet mechanism (the small amount the crown winds back at full wind) which you could argue allows for more stress. Even then, I've found it more common for mainsprings to break near the centre closer to where the arbour goes in. Something so simple as a tiny crease when inserting the arbour may cause a problem five years down the line.
It's just a spring at the end of the day. Is it number of times you bend it or the temperature or how hard you wind it, or how long you leave it sitting, or the way the metal presses against itself and flexes at one point, or an imperfection in the spring metal that got through QC that causes one to fail and not another? Just bad luck.
Rolex have redesigned the mainspring on their 2236 caliber to give a longer power reserve, but the redesign looks like it should also reduce stresses on the mainspring. I guess we'll find out in 30 years!
You have a flat piece of alloy ~0.1mm thick and 300mm long with a weld or (in ye olde days) rivet at one end holding it to a short "hook" to catch the barrel and a rectangular hole at the other. Stress will focus somewhere. Most will last decades gradually producing less power, but in the past (when they were carbon steel and not the "unbreakable" modern ones) a broken mainspring was so common that american pocket watches would be designed with a screw-on pinion that would unwind if the mainspring broke to protect the rest of the watch.
With an automatic you have less stress at full wind as the spring will automatically slide around the inside of the barrel wall when there's too much wind applied. With a manual the relief is provided by the amount of give in the click/ratchet mechanism (the small amount the crown winds back at full wind) which you could argue allows for more stress. Even then, I've found it more common for mainsprings to break near the centre closer to where the arbour goes in. Something so simple as a tiny crease when inserting the arbour may cause a problem five years down the line.
It's just a spring at the end of the day. Is it number of times you bend it or the temperature or how hard you wind it, or how long you leave it sitting, or the way the metal presses against itself and flexes at one point, or an imperfection in the spring metal that got through QC that causes one to fail and not another? Just bad luck.
Rolex have redesigned the mainspring on their 2236 caliber to give a longer power reserve, but the redesign looks like it should also reduce stresses on the mainspring. I guess we'll find out in 30 years!
Edited by glazbagun on Thursday 1st June 22:29
joe6886 said:
I took it to the chap local to me and he said it’s the main spring broken so I guess it’s service time.
Is there a reason for it breaking? The watch is 6 years old and I only wear it once or twice on a weekend so only gets wound up once a week, bit disappointed it’s let go.
Main spring on my Speedy also went after a similar time from new, about 6 years or so. Is there a reason for it breaking? The watch is 6 years old and I only wear it once or twice on a weekend so only gets wound up once a week, bit disappointed it’s let go.
Had it serviced and repaired at the same time. Service costs not cheap if going through official Omega service (or authorised service centre).
https://www.omegawatches.com/en-gb/customer-servic...
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