An appeal for help on a Citizen movement

4443 Views 11 Replies 4 Participants Last post by ricardopalamino, Sep 24, 2014

TakesALickin

Discussion Starter · Sep 17, 2014

Guys, I have a Citizen Ti 800M diver from 1991. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the model (pic below). The movement in mine has started too act up. It still keeps good time, but the stem no longer engages the hour and minute hand very well - there's a lot of slippage and I can't get the minute hand to advance more than five minutes before it slips and disengages. The crown and stem still advance the day and date when pulled out to the first stop, but the day and date may not be advancing properly at midnight (still in the process of checking this).

I haven't been able to find much on the net on the movement, a Citizen 5503M. It looks like Frei and Borel have nothing. The only thread on this model I could find on the forum here did not leave me hopeful, as it appears Citizen's response on questions regarding this model is that it's past the 20 year service window and no longer supported.

My question, I guess, is this: Is there a substitute for the Citizen 5503M? Another Citizen or possibly Miyota movement that will drop in and replace the 5503M? I'd hate to see this beautiful rare bird go belly up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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7s26b

· #2 · Sep 17, 2014 (Edited)

There's no real panic - the 5500 series seem to have many parts in common, so you'll likely find plenty of donor watches with compatible parts.
If you cross reference parts from the 5500 for example http://cgi.julesborel.com/cgi-bin/matcgi2?ref=CIT_5500A and your 5503a http://boley.de/en/caliber/watch-movements/citizen/2198?search_caliber=5503 you can see the similarities. And Borels lists a lot of parts.
The tech drawing is for 5500 to 5503.

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TakesALickin

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 17, 2014

Thanks - I'm not panicking... yet. But I wasn't really anticipating having to rebuild the movement or research what various models might house a 5503M so I could cannibalize them for parts. I'm looking for a replacement module so I can swap the dial, hands and crown/stem assembly into the new movement. I have a feeling that could be done fairly easily. The fact that this is an 8 o'clock crown movement with white on black day and date wheels would, I think, make finding a 1:1 replacement... difficult. Repairing the existing movement is probably going to involve seeking out a watchmaker well versed in quartz modules.

From what I can glean from the tech specs I've found (a couple of which you provided, thanks), it's a 10&1/2 ligne, 3.3mm tall movement, using (I think) hands that are 70/120/20. Similar modules may include the Miyota 6M02 or the Citizen 6100, but the positioning of the crown at 8 o'clock is a determining factor in whether either of those might work. Am I on the right course?

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7s26b

· #4 · Sep 18, 2014

The 6M02 is also known as the 6102
If you download the tech pdfs for 6102 & 5503, you can compare the dial feet position.
Interchange lists for parts can lead to very useful information, but if it's too mundane.....

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Chris Galbraith

· #5 · Sep 19, 2014

Jeff, would you consider an auto swap? From the top of my head, there are at least 2 models from Citizen with crown at 8: NY0040-09E (cal. 8200) and NY0054-04E (cal. 8203).

Maybe that's a start...

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TakesALickin

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 21, 2014

Chris Galbraith said:
Jeff, would you consider an auto swap? From the top of my head, there are at least 2 models from Citizen with crown at 8: NY0040-09E (cal. 8200) and NY0054-04E (cal. 8203).

Maybe that's a start...

It's a thought, Chris. Of course it would alter the watch in such a way as to render it fairly worthless as a collectible, I would think. And it's not that this model has a great deal of value as a collector's item (I've seen them languish for weeks at $400 to $500 on sales boards), but I'd like to exhaust my options for keeping it close to original before I start thinking about a Franken approach (not sure about the pinion sizes on the 8200 series either, it appears I'd have to lose the original hands if I went that way).

Anyway, I did find Miyota 5500 movements for sale at Esslinger and it looks like this may be my best bet. Any expert opinions on the feasibility of making that work would be welcome.

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7s26b

· #7 · Sep 21, 2014

"Anyway, I did find Miyota 5500 movements for sale at Esslinger and it looks like this may be my best bet. Any expert opinions on the feasibility of making that work would be welcome."
Is that not what I said earlier??
"Interchange lists for parts can lead to very useful information, but if it's too mundane.....":41:

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ricardopalamino

· #8 · Sep 22, 2014

That is a very nice looking watch ...so good luck in your efforts ....

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TakesALickin

Discussion Starter · #9 · Sep 23, 2014

7s26b said:
Is that not what I said earlier??
:41:

No, that wasn't what you said. I asked for that but you pointed me in the direction of cannibalizing other movements for parts. If you knew Esslinger had the complete movements, then that would have been the proper thing to recommend. In the meantime, I can send you some Prozac to help with your stress levels.

Namaste.

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7s26b

· #10 · Sep 23, 2014

TakesALickin said:
No, that wasn't what you said. I asked for that but you pointed me in the direction of cannibalizing other movements for parts. If you knew Esslinger had the complete movements, then that would have been the proper thing to recommend. In the meantime, I can send you some Prozac to help with your stress levels. Namaste.

Since you can't follow simple logic, and even though you were so dismissive of my suggestion, I'll repeat it in simple terms - the dial feet position on the other movements you gave won't work.
The 5500 and 5503 share parts, but aren't the same - for very obvious reasons.
RTFM.
You asked for help and then ignored it, and now you're behaving like a petulant child.
If you're going to be a #dick, sort out your own watch and your own attitude.
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