Bulova 1969 Accutron Date & Day

Submitted by shelton243 on
K
Manufacture Year
1969
Movement Model
2182
Movement Date Code
Triangle
Movement Jewels
15
Case Serial No.
J01836
Case shape
Round
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Crystal details
29.56mm
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

     I purchased this watch as is missing a crown and said not working.   I got a battery from the local jewer but is was opened and I do not think it was new.   However the watch is running slow and the day/date is not changing and the hands sometimes stop at the 1/2 past Mainly).   I bought a new accutron stem and it seems to stick out to far, as if it the problem with the day day not changing .   

  I would appreciate any suggestions on whats wrong,  I am able to fix it if it is not extremly complicated.   Thank You in advance.

1969 Accutron Bulova watch
1969 Bulova watch
1969 Bulova watch
1969 Bulova watch
1969 Bulova watch
JP
Posted March 14, 2016 - 2:38pm

You will need to trim the stem a little bit to fit the watch properly. I am not sure, but it sounds like it needs a cleaning and oiling which should help the sticking problems. I would probably buy another battery to seee if the first one is just old and low on voltage.

shelton243
Posted March 15, 2016 - 4:52am

In reply to by JP

     Battery is on its way,  The stem may be the wrong one,  I don't have the tools to trim it but I do have a digital calibar to measure the lengh.   (I'll wait to see whats up with the battery first,  lol

1955mercury
Posted March 15, 2016 - 9:39pm

In reply to by shelton243

Hi Shelton243. I don't know anything about Accutrons but you are not going to be able to trim that stem. There's not enough threads left to do any trimming. Looking at your last photo it appears that the crown may be hitting the bezel before the stem goes all the way in. I don't know if that's the problem or if you had the stem pulled out in that photo. You could check the battery you have with a voltmeter and see if it has 1.5 volts.

shelton243
Posted March 16, 2016 - 6:28am

In reply to by 1955mercury

    I tried another sten (smaller) and it still sticks out.  I now noticed even without the crown on the stem seems to be out too far,  I can see the stem and threads and it's out way past the threads.  I'm wondering if this stem was replaced at one time with one that is too long

 

Geoff Baker
Posted March 16, 2016 - 9:35am

Limiting my comment to the ID (outside) as we have far more qualified members to comment on the inside. This is a fairly unique case but I don't see any adverts that come close to a match.

Accutron Date and Day

Reverend Rob
Posted March 16, 2016 - 10:09am
 

The stem may very well not be seated properly, and there could be a few reasons for this. If the keyless works were disturbed when the stem was installed, no amount of fiddling will allow it to function properly or even be inserted properly. The only fix is to take the movt out of the case and take off the dial and hands, check the sliding pinion and the yoke, and then re-assemble, synchronizing the date change when you install the hands. I strongly recommennd taking this to a qualified watchmaker unless you are familiar with this procedure.

shelton243
Posted March 16, 2016 - 12:14pm

In reply to by Reverend Rob

     That sounds about right, I believe someone has messed with it, it came without a crown and it was pretruding out (stem) .I was able to see the smouth part of the stem past the threads when it was pushed in.  It also turns (rotates) the date while pushed in also.    I do not know if there should be two clicks when pulling it out.  this only pulls out one click to adj the time.   Thank you very much.

 

shelton243
Posted March 16, 2016 - 6:51pm

    I thought the opened battery I bought from the jeweler might have been dying  I wound up taking it out for a day until a new one was delivered and after installintg the new one the watch does nothing no hum or movenent unless it's tapped and then moves a few seconds.  Everything seems ok inside as far as the hold down strap and everything else looks ok .    Watch does nothing. 

 

1955mercury
Posted March 16, 2016 - 7:45pm

In reply to by shelton243

That's a bummer Shelton. If you look under "Information" in the header of the site you will see a drop down menu. Click of the vintage catalog link and there's an Accutron service manual posted in that section that could be of help to you. But most likely you are going to require an Accutron  repair specialist with all the problems your watch seems to have.

Reverend Rob
Posted March 17, 2016 - 12:22am

Accutrons will move for a few seconds when tapped, what is happening is the slight shock makes the tuning fork vibrate a bit, and this drives the sweep second slightly. All of them will do this, even with no battery installed. What you are describing is a failure in the circuit most likely or another dead battery. 

Parts are available for Accutrons, Fork assemblies, circuits, coils, but the part everyone needs has been extinct for many years: the index wheel. You can destroy an index wheel just by touching it with tweezers, and there are precious few NOS wheels around.