Bulova 8 BBA fourth wheel needed

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Submitted by banker29 on

My fourth broke while cleaning in the ultrasonic😢  Anyone have a spare?

1955mercury
Posted November 24, 2023 - 5:48pm

Hi Banker29. The 4th wheel for the 8BBA movement is supposed to be interchangeable with the 4th wheel for Bulova 9AS movement. There are 2 for sale on ebay right now for the 9AS. One from Canada and one from France. We aren't allowed to list ebay links on here, but you should be able to find them.

Merc 

banker29
Posted November 24, 2023 - 6:35pm

Thanks, I will take look.

banker29
Posted November 25, 2023 - 9:13am

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a Bulova interchangeable parts book, but it did not list the 8BBA movement in it. I  checked the part in the Jules Borel parts data base and you are correct.  

 

banker29
Posted December 5, 2023 - 7:03pm

I ordered the fourth wheel from the Canadian seller.  The wheel arrived today and I installed it this afternoon. The wheel works in the watch, but the pinion is too short to fit the seconds hand. 



I assume the 9AS movement does not have a seconds hand.

 

banker29
Posted December 5, 2023 - 7:16pm

I double checked a Bulova 9AS for sale on eBay. It shows a seconds hand on the movement. 

The wheel I ordered did not have a broken seconds pinion. I wonder if the 9AS came with or without a seconds pinion?



 

1955mercury
Posted December 5, 2023 - 8:38pm

Hi again Banker29. To the best of my knowledge the 9AS movements have a sub-seconds hand at the "6" position. The 9ASC movements have a sweep seconds hand. Was the part you received in a factory sealed container? Just wondering here if the seller put a 9ASC wheel in a 9AS container. Second hands come in different tube lengths but if yours was on your watch before the staff broke on the 4th wheel it should fit the new 4th wheel if the dial is seated on the movement correctly. I've seen the staff break off inside the seconds hand tube and they won't go back on, but you said yours was broken in the ultra-sonic cleaner. I'm puzzled as to what could be the problem. 

mybulova_admin
Posted December 5, 2023 - 9:22pm

That's a fair point about the sub-second tube length. It might also depend on the dial configuration and what if any the curvature is. This can also impact seating the sub-secoind hand. However as you said, if it all fit before, then chances are either the part is incorrect or there are indeed different variantions of this wheel for staff lengths.

banker29
Posted December 11, 2023 - 5:23pm

The wheel arrived in a container, but not sealed with a Bulova seal.  My dial has a curvature to it. I checked the staff length under a microscope, but it was not broken. I gave the seller the benefit of the doubt and notified him of the situation with the wheel ,but have not heard from him. As you say, it was possible he put the wrong wheel in the container.  Also , it is possible there must be variations of the fourth wheel for a 9AS movement. Seller does have good feedback.  Back to the hunt.

banker29
Posted May 14, 2024 - 8:58pm

Long search but I found one. 

mybulova_admin
Posted May 15, 2024 - 1:15am

For reference, was there any package labelling difference to suggest a variation in length?

banker29
Posted May 19, 2024 - 6:03pm

None .  Container did not state variation in staff length.  I feel the wrong wheel was in the  container.  I finally bought a used movement to get the wheel I needed. 

The price was acceptable and the watch is repaired.

1955mercury
Posted May 20, 2024 - 9:10pm

I'm glad you were finally able to get it repaired Banker29. It can be frustrating at times. We would all like to see this watch if you have the time to post some photos of it.  

                                                            Merc

banker29
Posted May 28, 2024 - 3:32pm

1955 Mercury, Thanks for correcting my URL. For some reason I could not leave this Bulova with a broken staff on the wheel.  I had to find a fourth wheel  even though I ended up buying a used movement to get the fourth wheel complete.  My obsession.

 

1955mercury
Posted May 28, 2024 - 5:58pm

I fully understand. I've had some that I bought new parts and several movements just to get one watch running again. I spent 12 years searching for a part to fix one of my watches. 

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