misaligment of day-date wheel on my 'belle

[JohnZ]

So I bought  a nice old 4006-6021, the kind with the blue ring  around the dial.  Runs well, pretty good condition with wonderfully light feeling original bracelet.  Lately I have noticed that the text on the day and date wheels no longer align perfectly, as they used to....before the watch suffered a small (3 foot onto carpet whilst strapped to watch-pillow) fall.  Have my butterfingers effed up my sweet 1972 vintage Bellmatic? Is this a at home fix or am I off to Ye Olde Watch Shoppe to get this right?

[otr002]

So I bought  a nice old 4006-6021, the kind with the blue ring  around the dial.  Runs well, pretty good condition with wonderfully light feeling original bracelet.  Lately I have noticed that the text on the day and date wheels no longer align perfectly, as they used to....before the watch suffered a small (3 foot onto carpet whilst strapped to watch-pillow) fall.  Have my butterfingers effed up my sweet 1972 vintage Bellmatic? Is this a at home fix or am I off to Ye Olde Watch Shoppe to get this right?

This just might answer your question



http://www.thewatchsite.com/index.php/topic,23066.0.html

[JohnZ]

Interesting.  I wonder if I should take the plunge and violate my Bellmatic.....take off the caseback and indulge in some amature  watch repair.  And if I break it worse in the learning process, I have an excuse to get another!!! 

[haloeight]

If you feel adventurous, it's probably a pretty simple fix. Id say one of the discs has jumped off or mis-aligned on it's mechanism. In short, you would need to remove the movement, remove the hands, remove the dial. By this point the discs are in plain view and if you are mechanically minded, the problem will probably pretty obvious. Also spend some time studying the Seiko tech manuals for the 4006 before doing the job, they make it pretty clear how the day-date system works.

Words of advice, invest in quality plastic tweezers and remember to cover the dial when removing hands, its pretty easy to trash a dial with tools. If you think you will do this kind of stuff more often, invest in a good set of screwdrivers and a "presto" hand puller for your first bits of kit.

[chrono1950s]

In my experience, either the spring which holds the day/date tight has misaligned, or the centre of the wheel (which should be peened over to hold the gear to the day wheel) has broken and come adrift.  Both are very fiddly jobs and I wouldn't recommend it as a job for an amateur.  They are very delicate parts.
Mike