[TheTigerUK]

“Project” 6309 !!​

Replacing Hands, dial, day & date wheels.​

Replacing the hands, dial, day and date wheels.

.

​

· Tools needed tweezers, finger cots, movement holder, 1mm & 1.2mm screwdrivers, hand drivers and fitting plate.
· I always just out of habit let the movement run down totally and then I remove the oscillating (rotor ?) weight from the rear that is held on to the auto mechanism with the one centre screw..

· Then hold the movement in the holder and slide the date wheel in from the left (on this occasion) and position the date ring teeth so that they locate on the date jumper correctly, then replace the date dial guard held in place by the one screw, after tightening always make sure that the date wheel is free and not jammed.

· Then the day wheel can be placed in position, I normally hold it down and rotate it anti clock wise until I feel the day jumper click into the gear on the day wheel, now replace the snap “C” washer making sure that the flat side is facing upwards and push it down into position. Sometimes you will need to hold the day jumper with a pin or cocktail stick to make sure it is positioned in the day wheel gear correctly. Now with the crown check that both day and date are working correctly both in the quick set mode and by winding the movement through 24 hours as it is a pain in the rear if you have assembled the dial and hands only to find you have not correctly installed the day/date wheels and have to strip it all back down L

· Now install the dial and dial ring making sure to press it into place properly and locking the two screws that hold the dial feet but don’t press the dial down to hard or it could interfere with the day wheel preventing it from operating correctly, once again after the dial is installed try the quick set day/date and wind the movement through a 24 hour cycle to see that the day and date are changing correctly.

· I now wind the movement until the date just clicks over which to me is then the 12 pm position and place the movement on my hand fitting ring that is held in the movement holder and replace the hour, min, second hands, I then wind the movement round to check that the hands are lining up and not fowling and that the date is changing as near to 12 pm as possible, replace the oscillating weight and that’s it. Wind the movement and check that the hands are working properly and that’s it.


This is a very nice original dial and the hands are very good as well so I have had then relumed by by Bry at Satintime and I am really pleased with the job he did on them, thanks Bry.


Disclaimer.
At no time do I say my methods are the correct way, best way, proper way or the only way just that these methods work for me, you copy or use these methods at your own risk.



Why have this project? Two reasons,

• 
  To perhaps help some of you guys to do a little more to your watches and have the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
  Ulterior motive of mine to pick up tips from others.

 

[se7en8n9ne]

thanks John,
as always beautiful work great pictures, informative. however, if our day/date wheels line up and look the same as your pictures but still don't work what should we do?
any trouble shooting advice guys?
thanks again, Brian

 

[TheTigerUK]

Hi Brian,
when you say not working what do you mean ? please elaborate

 

[ADB]

:whoo:
G-R-E-A-T tutorial! Fabulous pictures!
Thanks John, I was waiting for that part to get down to work on my project 6309!
:You_Rock_Emoticon:
:1rij:
Cheers,

 

[cwood]

thanks John,
as always beautiful work great pictures, informative. however, if our day/date wheels line up and look the same as your pictures but still don't work what should we do?
any trouble shooting advice guys?
thanks again, Brian

Two things you might check. Make sure the crown is in the right position to be adjusting date. Hard to tell without the hands on because usually when its out and you turn you can see the hands move and know that you need to go in one click.

Second, I noticed that when I put the day wheel back on that it looked like it was on correctly but if you looked closely it was sitting up a bit due to the day jumper not being in the right position. Like John mentioned, I had to hold it a bit with the tip of a needle to get it nestled between the teeth. Otherwise the teeth.

 

[se7en8n9ne]

ok so when i had it all taken apart and put it back together and turned the crown it everything changes as it should but when i put the hands on and turn it loose (wind it up if you will) it does not change day and the date stops half way. my wheels are on flat gears are in teeth, i would really hate to find out its cause i destroyed the tension of the day jumper. i haven't tried turning the date wheel counter clockwise though.
anyway hopefully that's enough detail. thanks, Brian

 

[TheTigerUK]

Have you checked that you have not pushed the dial to hard down before you locked it in position ? it might pay you to loosen the dial feet screws and then try it

 

[se7en8n9ne]

i tried that and that's not the problem, i even tried it without the dial locked down at all. anyway at the end of all my efforts to fix the day/date the watch (which used to run stroger than my 2007 7s26) runs two minutes and stops. so now i don't know what to do, i guess i'll take it to get serviced along with the one that works ok but has pitting on the weight and the other one that only runs 2 minutes then stops but may be beyond hope.
:'( , brian

 

[andrema]

Great tutorial.

Is there any trick to setting the second hand properly? I am at that stage and I want to make sure that it is done correctly.

Thanks!!

 

[TheTigerUK]

Great tutorial.

Is there any trick to setting the second hand properly? I am at that stage and I want to make sure that it is done correctly.

Thanks!!

I always find the second hand is the easiest to set, i set the movement running and then just position the second and if it is moving i then just gently press it into position with a flat ended hand tool.

 

[andrema]

I always find the second hand is the easiest to set, i set the movement running and then just position the second and if it is moving i then just gently press it into position with a flat ended hand tool.

Being a COMPLETE novice...I have to ask.

When you say "set the movement running", do you mean push the crown to be fully inserted and shake to start? Is that with the hand already partially set or prior to starting the insertion?

 

[otherjohnuk]

I'm also a complete novice (well actually I'm on 6309 project # 5) but managing to 'get by' somehow with little tricks picked up here (mostly here!)and there. Could you show us what hand fitting tools (hand drivers?) you use. And any recommendations on which to buy? I always find the second hand hardest to fit as it easily falls out of my tweezers and I'm using a home made plastic pusher.

Is there a tool that holds and fits the second hand?

Is it recommended to fit a dial protector when fitting the hands?

 

[TheTigerUK]

I use these hand tools for putting the hands back on, remember the sizes for Seiko automatic hands are 150 H, 90 M and 20 second.

A piece of Rodico is ideal for picking up the second hand to place it in position

I always use a dial protector when removing the hands but no need when installing them.

Check out the hand tools here:
http://www.watchtool.co.uk/hand-setting-removing-c-12.html?osCsid=229b4b6c15f2791bc67429b1a1120f3b

 

[Timepiece]

John, this relates to a 6139 chrono I picked up a year or so ago and haven't bothered sorting... yet - but it does relate, after a fashion, to what's been discussed here. On this 6139 the date wheel changes at midnight but day wheel changes at Noon (or vice versa, I forget). Easy fix?

 

[TheTigerUK]

I should at the very least you would have to remove the dial and hands Dave to have a look what is going on under there with the day/date mechanism, i have never as yet had the pleasure of stripping a 6139 down and not in any great hurry to do so

 

[Timepiece]

I've not progressed yet from a rebuild of an old cal. 66 and a tinker with a 7006 but I have read that the 6139 is a swine of a thing to work on. The article I read said that many professional watch repairers won't look at them and those that do charge very highly for their services.

It's a shame because as a whole I really like the 6138/9 chronos (I think there's only one colourway/case combo that I wasn't fussed on) and ultimately I wouldn't mind focussing my collection in that direction (and by God it needs some focus - I have a scattergun attitude towards buying Seikos). Given the perceived difficulty in servicing them, however, especially when you consider how inexperienced I am in that area, it may be something I need to avoid. They're just so bloody tempting...

 

[absoluteczech]

does something have to done to ensure its still water proof?

 

[pdoddy]

when hands are removed (and put back on) is there a notch or certain shape that the hand will only go one way back on, so that they point in the right direction thus showing correct time? does that make sense??? i maybe could have worded that better...

 

[pollyc]

The hands will push onto the cannon pinion and hour wheel in any location.

To position them correctly; on a cal. with day/date wheels turn the crown to advance the date and just as it clicks over stop and fit the hour and minute hands so they both face upwards to indicate 12 o'clock.

On a dateless cal. just fit the hands indicating 12 o'clock.

If you do not fit the hands this way they will not be synchronised.

 

[pdoddy]

thanks Mike, great info!!