Minute Hand Alignment

[chillbun]

Ive had my Turn-o-Graph (116264) for about 3 weeks now and I noticed that the minute hand has not been consistent.

When I set the watch it was dead on the minute marker and it stays like that for about 20-30 minutes then it starts to be off. I have noticed variations as much as 10 seconds behind to 15 seconds ahead of where its supposed to be on the minute marker when the second hand hits 12. Its not always off, about 1/2 of the time it is dead on the marker.

I don't think it is a dial issue because it happens at different spots on the dial. I was wondering if this is a normal thing or maybe there is a little too much play in the hands? What are your thoughts?

Other than that the watch is pretty accurate at about +3 sec/day

[Tools]

My thoughts.......

It's a mechanical watch made up of dozens of interacting gears and pinions that translate to a needle spinning around a painted dial.......

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Wow!!!

My response is gone. What happened - it was here earlier. It was positive, factual, and I feel informative.

Guess a Moderator did not think so. I thought this was forum. Guess I was wrong.

No more responses from me - Glad I signed up as a "2011 Pledge Member" - sarcasim.

I wil now just troll.

[Rollie2011]

Originally Posted by mrbill2mrbill2

Wow!!!

My response is gone. What happened - it was here earlier. It was positive, factual, and I feel informative.

Guess a Moderator did not think so. I thought this was forum. Guess I was wrong.

No more responses from me - Glad I signed up as a "2011 Pledge Member" - sarcasim.

I wil now just troll.

Maybe it just got lost in the vast void of the internet.

Repost it maybe?

[sleddog]

Originally Posted by mrbill2mrbill2

Wow!!!

My response is gone. What happened - it was here earlier. It was positive, factual, and I feel informative.

Guess a Moderator did not think so. I thought this was forum. Guess I was wrong.

No more responses from me - Glad I signed up as a "2011 Pledge Member" - sarcasim.

I wil now just troll.

Just checked back through all deleted posts Bill, and there's nothing in there from you!!!!

It is quite possible and plausible, that you hit the "Preview Post" button instead of the "Submit" button before pushing off to other areas of the forum!!!

Don't rush to assume please.

PS: I didn't appreciate the sarcasm!.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by mrbill2mrbill2

Wow!!!

My response is gone. What happened - it was here earlier. It was positive, factual, and I feel informative.

Guess a Moderator did not think so. I thought this was forum. Guess I was wrong.

No more responses from me - Glad I signed up as a "2011 Pledge Member" - sarcasim.

I wil now just troll.

Nobody intentionally removed any posts of yours that I can see or can determine .........

Of course, rather than asking a question, or simply re-posting; I think that your knee-jerk reactionary post is quite telling...........

[chillbun]

Originally Posted by mrbill2mrbill2

Wow!!!

My response is gone. What happened - it was here earlier. It was positive, factual, and I feel informative.

Guess a Moderator did not think so. I thought this was forum. Guess I was wrong.

No more responses from me - Glad I signed up as a "2011 Pledge Member" - sarcasim.

I wil now just troll.

If you could repost it I would like to see what you have to say

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Originally Posted by Tools

Nobody intentionally removed any posts of yours that I can see or can determine .........

Of course, rather than asking a question, or simply re-posting; I think that your knee-jerk reactionary post is quite telling...........

I was having a bad day and went on line to unwind. I over reacted. I apologize for my rude behavior. We all have our moments.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

What you experience with the minute hand not being "aligned" is caused by the socalled play in the hands..

I made a writeup of the phenomenon a while back that was adopted to the FAQ Sticky):


Watch Winding Setting Etc.


Let's take the example that you want to set you watch at PRECISELY 11 o'clock AM on the 27th. of May 2007.

Take the following steps: (important things are underlined and in red):

1) Unscrew the winding crown counterclockwise. Two or three turns, and then the winding crown should "pop out" in the "winding position". If not, make SURE that the winding crown is free of the threads before winding the watch. Reason: if you turn the winding crown clockwise while it is still on the threads and if you are NOT pushing the winding crown inward whilst turning it, you might damage the threads. So again: Make sure that the winding crown is free of the threads before winding the watch!

2) Now you give your watch at LEAST 30-40 FULL windings by the crown. Wind the watch by turning the crown CLOCKWISE and NOT "back and forth" as some do! The reason to wind the watch manually when it has stopped: That way you make sure that the watch is FULLY wound and will have its full power reserve. By just "shaking it to get it going" you will NOT get the full power reserve. Do not be afraid of "over-winding" the watch (there is a safety catch to prevent over winding), but about 30 full windings should be enough.

3) IMPORTANT STEP! Remember that our example states that you want to get your watch going at 11 AM (in the "morning")??

What you do BEFORE MOVING THE HANDS is to pull out the winding crown FULLY (time setting position) and then you turn the hands to make SURE that both the hour hand and minute hand stand at FIVE OR SIX o'clock!
Reason: the date change mechanism (date-wheel) could be harmed if you change the date MANUALLY during the period from 21 to 01 o'clock. So by setting the hour and minute hand well off that period is strongly advised.

4) (now back to the date): Push the winding crown back to the SECOND notch (date change notch) and then advance the date MANUALLY via the winding crown until you reach the date of YESTERDAY (in our example: the 26th. of May).

5) Then you - once again - pull out the winding crown to the LAST notch (time setting position) and stop the seconds hand (that is now running since you have wound the watch manually!) at EXACTLY 12 o'clock (easier now to synchronise with another watch!).

6) Then you advance the hands by turning the winding crown clockwise. Keep a close eye on the date window as you advance the hands!. IF the date changes at midnight to the date of our example then you will have to advance the hands another 11 hours so that the date will change correctly at next midnight. If the date does NOT change, you have to advance the hands accordingly.

7) If you want to make the minute hand points EXACTLY on the given minute when the seconds hand has reached "12" (or "60" seconds), then you must know that there is some "play" in the hands.
So if you just set the minute hand according to our example (EXACTLY 11 AM so that the minute hand will point exactly on the 12) then you will notice that by "one minute past 11 AM" the minute hand will NOT (or probably not!) point EXACTLY and spot on on the minute but rather somewhat (like 15 seconds) PAST it due to the "play" in the hands!

Solution: Following the example, turn the minute hand approximately TEN minutes PAST "11 AM" and then turn the minute hand BACK again to the EXACT time (hour hand point at "11" and minute and seconds hand pointing - exactly - on "12"). Then - EVER SO GENTLY - turn the winding crown clockwise so that the minute hand actually points a bit (like "15 seconds" PAST the full minute marker). That way you adjusted to the "play" of the minute hand, and the minute hand will point EXACTLY on the minute next time the seconds hand reaches "twelve".

8) When you have wound the watch, set the time and date, screw the winding crown back so that the watch is once again waterproof. By the way: You do not have to screw it very hard onto the case. As soon as you feel some resistance, stop using more force on the crown."

[bighaole]

SPACE-DWELLER, thanks for posting that. I have one question. Why should you only wind in the clockwise direction, rather than back-and-forth? I know it only winds the spring, when you go in the clockwise direction, but is it bad for the watch to use the back-and-forth motion?

[bewithabob]

Originally Posted by bighaole

SPACE-DWELLER, thanks for posting that. I have one question. Why should you only wind in the clockwise direction, rather than back-and-forth? I know it only winds the spring, when you go in the clockwise direction, but is it bad for the watch to use the back-and-forth motion?

I have always wondered about that.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by bighaole

SPACE-DWELLER, thanks for posting that. I have one question. Why should you only wind in the clockwise direction, rather than back-and-forth? I know it only winds the spring, when you go in the clockwise direction, but is it bad for the watch to use the back-and-forth motion?

No. It won't harm your watch... the counter-clockwise winding won't wind it either, though..

Only advantage of the back and fro winding is that you don't have to let go of the crown during winding the watch...

Here's more info:

http://home.earthlink.net/~firedog46/windwatch.html

[bighaole]

Thanks for clarifying and for the link.

[Johny]

i think that there might be a danger that your crown might come off if you wind anti clockwise. if this is correct then perhaps thats one of the reasons for clockwise winding in the original design/plans... just a thought, i think that i need an expert opinion on this theory.

[chillbun]

Originally Posted by SPACE-DWELLER

What you experience with the minute hand not being "aligned" is caused by the socalled play in the hands..

I made a writeup of the phenomenon a while back that was adopted to the FAQ Sticky):


Watch Winding Setting Etc.


Let's take the example that you want to set you watch at PRECISELY 11 o'clock AM on the 27th. of May 2007.

Take the following steps: (important things are underlined and in red):

1) Unscrew the winding crown counterclockwise. Two or three turns, and then the winding crown should "pop out" in the "winding position". If not, make SURE that the winding crown is free of the threads before winding the watch. Reason: if you turn the winding crown clockwise while it is still on the threads and if you are NOT pushing the winding crown inward whilst turning it, you might damage the threads. So again: Make sure that the winding crown is free of the threads before winding the watch!

2) Now you give your watch at LEAST 30-40 FULL windings by the crown. Wind the watch by turning the crown CLOCKWISE and NOT "back and forth" as some do! The reason to wind the watch manually when it has stopped: That way you make sure that the watch is FULLY wound and will have its full power reserve. By just "shaking it to get it going" you will NOT get the full power reserve. Do not be afraid of "over-winding" the watch (there is a safety catch to prevent over winding), but about 30 full windings should be enough.

3) IMPORTANT STEP! Remember that our example states that you want to get your watch going at 11 AM (in the "morning")??

What you do BEFORE MOVING THE HANDS is to pull out the winding crown FULLY (time setting position) and then you turn the hands to make SURE that both the hour hand and minute hand stand at FIVE OR SIX o'clock!
Reason: the date change mechanism (date-wheel) could be harmed if you change the date MANUALLY during the period from 21 to 01 o'clock. So by setting the hour and minute hand well off that period is strongly advised.

4) (now back to the date): Push the winding crown back to the SECOND notch (date change notch) and then advance the date MANUALLY via the winding crown until you reach the date of YESTERDAY (in our example: the 26th. of May).

5) Then you - once again - pull out the winding crown to the LAST notch (time setting position) and stop the seconds hand (that is now running since you have wound the watch manually!) at EXACTLY 12 o'clock (easier now to synchronise with another watch!).

6) Then you advance the hands by turning the winding crown clockwise. Keep a close eye on the date window as you advance the hands!. IF the date changes at midnight to the date of our example then you will have to advance the hands another 11 hours so that the date will change correctly at next midnight. If the date does NOT change, you have to advance the hands accordingly.

7) If you want to make the minute hand points EXACTLY on the given minute when the seconds hand has reached "12" (or "60" seconds), then you must know that there is some "play" in the hands.
So if you just set the minute hand according to our example (EXACTLY 11 AM so that the minute hand will point exactly on the 12) then you will notice that by "one minute past 11 AM" the minute hand will NOT (or probably not!) point EXACTLY and spot on on the minute but rather somewhat (like 15 seconds) PAST it due to the "play" in the hands!

Solution: Following the example, turn the minute hand approximately TEN minutes PAST "11 AM" and then turn the minute hand BACK again to the EXACT time (hour hand point at "11" and minute and seconds hand pointing - exactly - on "12"). Then - EVER SO GENTLY - turn the winding crown clockwise so that the minute hand actually points a bit (like "15 seconds" PAST the full minute marker). That way you adjusted to the "play" of the minute hand, and the minute hand will point EXACTLY on the minute next time the seconds hand reaches "twelve".

8) When you have wound the watch, set the time and date, screw the winding crown back so that the watch is once again waterproof. By the way: You do not have to screw it very hard onto the case. As soon as you feel some resistance, stop using more force on the crown."

I tried this method and it still shows variations. I also tried dan's method of:

"It's gear slack.
1-Hack the second hand @ 12.
2-Move the minute hand past the time you want to set by about 15 minutes, then move it counter clockwise back to the exact time you want to set.
3-When it's time, push the stem back in to sync w/ a reliable timing source.
Each watch has it's own personality and it might take you a few attempts to get it perfect."

I guess I am just OCD about the watch and expect too much precision. I also called the SF Rolex service center and spoke to Giovani and he said its normal that the hands don't always align.

But on an older thread about minute hand aligning I heard many people say their minute hand aligns perfectly with all 60 minute markers.