Seiko Chronograph 6139A Hairspring Repair

Hi Guys, This is a short video to show you a problem I have seen before on many watches. This is a Seiko 6139A Chronograph needing a hairspring repair. I use this term loosely as I am not tweaking the coils but more showing you a problem that can happen and now to fix it. I show how it effects the running of the watch and then with the fix how it will then run properly again.
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[@MyRetroWatches]

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[@neo-YoutubeStoleMyHandle]

Mike always gets an easy thumbs up from me right from the start...

[@hamishspencer]

That orange hand is not a sub seconds hand, it's the chronograph minute counter hand. It will only click over if the chronograph is running. Given that the pushers are gummed up, you will need to wait and see. Lovely watch. Hope you can get it going.

[@MyRetroWatches]

Thanks sir, I knew the collective would come to the rescue! clearly I have my hands mixed up. Really need to source that missing hand!

[@Emilmarch]

Michael you are a great guy, good source for beginners and love your channel. Thank you.

[@MyRetroWatches]

I thank you also for watching and enjoying my content. Good luck with your projects!

[@alan776600]

Evan Callum enjoyed watching this with me :) Thanks for the mention mate and fantastic work as always. As someone said the little hand is the minute hand and when you find a chrono hand it should work perfectly :)

[@MyRetroWatches]

alan776600 cheers Alan! You have been mentioned many times on the channel pal!

[@Supercruze]

Mike - With the movement in the watch, remove the rotor and winding assembly. Under that, you will see a small cover plate. Remove that plate and you can then observe the chrono wheel and the engagement of the minute recorder jumper spring for the minute recording wheel. If you can observe the chrono wheel turning the chrono function is engaged. Observe how the chrono finger interacts with the minute recording gear. You will need to push the start/stop button to stop the chrono and then you can press the reset button. The hammers should reset both the chrono wheel and minute recording wheel to zero. Check to make sure the bottons are not sticking. Old seals will create sticky buttons. Sometimes removing the seals altogether is better for testing purposes until you install new seals. You can remove the movement ring and gently nudge the chrono buttons back out to their normal position with a pair of tweezer or a case back knife. Once they are reset, try to start and stop the chrono. Good luck with it.

[@MyRetroWatches]

Supercruze thank you for this insight I will be sure to follow your instruction to better understand how it all works.

[@Supercruze]

Mike - Another suggestion is to obtain the Seiko tech guide for 6139. There are some very specific notations in that guide related to the chrono functions and trouble shooting on these watches i.e. minute counter jumper spring placement and adjustment, chrono wheel arm engagement to the minute counter gear . Hammer engagement to the chrono wheel heart and minute recording wheel heart for reset. A must if you are going to get one of these to work correctly. If you are lucky, it all goes back together and you do not have to make any adjustments.

[@Supercruze]

Mike - One more note. You are going to need movement holder S-501 for 6139/6138 or an AM version in order to properly set the minute sub dial hand and second sweep hand of the chrono when you get ready to set the hands. The movement holder allows you to press the rest button while setting these hands which is critical for zero placement at the 12 o'clock position. These also provide support for the center chrono wheel jewel so as not to damage when setting the sweep hand. Adrian at VTA has a good usable S-501 movement holder.

[@ianmansfield68]

Lovely example of a vintage Seiko - good luck finding the spares, would love to see it fully restored.

[@plainclotheshorse224]

Gosh that’s a really nice watch. Good purchase. Good luck with the repair. Always nice to see another one saved.

[@MyRetroWatches]

Plain clothes horse thank you

[@buzzufy]

Nice job, thank you for the sharing :)

[@JonTheComputerDoctor]

Chrono centre wheel/ clutch is a rare part these days, they can be found eventually but are expensive. Great video thank you.

[@MyRetroWatches]

JonTheComputerDoctor my Helmet Seiko is a 6139B so I will most likely end up buying a donor watch when the right one comes along

[@JonTheComputerDoctor]

I also have a Vader helmet.

[@newlifeforvintagewatches2732]

As usual, perfect perfect perfect.

[@adrianbirkett594]

Good video Mike, sorry I can't be of any help!. Tricky job ahead!, watch out for those bloody springs!!😱. Look forward to next video. Adrian 🍀🍀

[@hal0eight]

Geday Mike, Great video!. The changeover of proof to resist happened over 1970. Due to mix and matching over the years sometimes dials/cases are mismatched. Very occasionally you will see a mix of resist/proof dials and/or casebacks from the factory as they used up remaining stock. The worn ring on the balance wheel spokes could suggest endshake issues, so check that out if it still misbehaves after a rebuild. The pivots might be a bit worn or someone may have monkeyed around with the endshake previously. That's from the spokes clipping the edge of the pallet cock. The minute accumulator issue is either a broken pivot, click adjustment, chrono wheel finger adjustment, a detached wheel/heart, sticky intermediate wheel or worn bush, in order of what to check for.

[@MyRetroWatches]

Vintage Time Australia thank you so much Adrian this is really interesting and used to me. I have not had a chance to strip the movement yet and as it’s my first real attempt at a chrono I will need full concentration. The minute accumulator seems to be working right (now I know what it is) only does not reset to the top . Wish me luck as I may need it.

[@MyRetroWatches]

Vintage Time Australia I’ve also been watching your 6139 stripdown video for reference. Looks simple enough but the rebuild will of course be a bit more interesting to get right.

[@robertmduckworth6566]

I have one of these I bought in South America ( long story) in 1971. If I recall correctly, the sub seconds hand moves only when the chrono is running. I will try to verify this later today.

[@MyRetroWatches]

Thanks Bob, clearly I have made an error. I am not experienced with the chrono and my Straton as the long hand as the chrono function so I presumed they are all the same.

[@Ians111]

Really good to watch, I have one of these watches with Proof on the dial in very good condition, it recently stopped working could you repair my watch?

[@rickhewlett1029]

Thank you for all of your videos, I look forward to seeing the disassembly of the chronograph. As I don't have the opportunity to work on many chronograph movements, I enjoy watching the reassembly process. Perhaps if you reverse the camera and lower the angle slightly, you might be able to video it without interfering with your vision. Just a thought, I'll look forward to your next video post.

[@MyRetroWatches]

Rick Hewlett thanks , I have a lot of videos to do and I’m getting asked more and more to do this chrono! I am now tempted to film the disassembly as this should not be too challenging , for the rebuild I will have to practice many times before I would want to do a tutorial video on that. Thanks for your support

[@markirvin2809]

The second hand is missing completely. You can see the second hand shaft in the middle of the minute hand.

[@dineshjain6770]

The watch is really nice from were you get this watched

[@MyRetroWatches]

Dinesh Jain eBay

[@a.aguilar]

Mike, this watch is just georgeus! Please film every step, maybe it will take some time and a lot of editing but the restoration will be so nice to see! I'm not sure what you mean about the seconds hand, but I've notice the minute counter works as it should (@13:03) BTW, that on top of your desk is a case opener, isn't it? Looks great!

[@MyRetroWatches]

thanks it was a great find although it was a complete gamble! i was worried that the chrono wheel staff for the (now I understand) second hand would be broken and as my other 6139 is waiting for this impossible and expensive part I really had to just take a chance. It appears that reading all the comments here already that my assumption that the small hand is the seconds is incorrect. I have another non seiko chrono and its the long hand that is the chrono... I did say I am not used to Chronos! :-)

[@MyRetroWatches]

ps, yes super caseback opener, I should have done a video on that as I need to restore it but its a great tool for those welded shut cases.

[@a.aguilar]

@@MyRetroWatches The small hand is a minute counter for the chronograph, it can only count up to 30 minutes. Yours is a bit misaligned :(. I know it well because in the 70's I was a proud owner of a brand new yellow pogue (a resist one, not a proof) that I miss a lot because I lost it after many years of daily use 😥

[@akarpun]

Hi how you'd polish glass scratched so badly ?

[@MyRetroWatches]

Oleg Karpun I will be replacing the crystal. Have it on order already. As it’s hardlex it’s impossible to remove scratches

[@SPICY_BEAR]

That'll be nice if you're able to fix it up and restore it!

[@rborissov]

Did Seiko use radioactive substances for lume? Is it save to disassembly and touch it without gloves and etc?

[@MyRetroWatches]

+Radoslav Borisov not on anything 40 years plus at least.

[@rborissov]

@@MyRetroWatches did you tested before work?

[@hal0eight]

Pre 1960 perhaps but anything you'd want to buy these days uses zinc sulfide (1960's to 1990's) and after that is lumibrite, which is the custom blend of strontium aluminate (similar to luminova).

[@markirvin2809]

The second hand is missing altogether. The second hand shaft can be seen clearly in the middle of the the minute hand centre

[@MyRetroWatches]

I thought the long hand that is missing ( I do make reference to this) was the chrono hand and the subdial small red hand is the main seconds hand?

[@gitmoholliday5764]

@@MyRetroWatches yes there isn't a real second hand the missing hand is a chrono secondhand the small subdial is the chrono minute..

[@markirvin2809]

@@MyRetroWatches The small dial is a minute recorder. I just checked the spec sheet for the movement. I am sure you will get it going and it is worth a reasonable amount of money. Love your work and can't wait for your next vid.

[@MyRetroWatches]

Mark Irvin thank you Mark.

[@benb1131]

I cleaned my hairspring with lighter fluid and demagnetised the watch but it is still gaining crazy time any ideas?

[@coolvibrations4065]

Did you find the cause ?

[@benb1131]

[COOL VIBRATIONS] it was on a 7s26 so I upgraded it to an nh36 for around €25

[@coolvibrations4065]

@@benb1131 i see, i was asking because i bought a omega geneve with à 565 movement and it's gaining about 2hrs/day. I didn't open it yet

[@stevebo8055]

Do you use the desk for repairs ?

[@MyRetroWatches]

Steve Bo yes sir. All watch repairs are carried out there .

[@stevebo8055]

My Retro Watches that’s awesome. Good day.

[@km4027]

When is the next video coming?

[@MyRetroWatches]

Kristi Masho on this movement I don’t know. Didn’t plan to video as I’ve not been inside one and need to concentrate when disassembling . May still film but it won’t be much commentary !

[@biliouevdokia]

Hi i have tried to clean a crystal on a similar watch,but because the movement was in the watch,i had poor results.However it can be cleaned ,though the crystal is going to thin down as a result of the sandpaper on the dremel tool.After this when everything will look hazy you start using cerium slurry and rub,rub,rub......VERY NERVE WRECKING PROCEDURE ,IT DEMANDs passions,and time.Though it worths because if you haven`t got a new crystal you are stuck plastic does not go with this watch. see you then

[@dineshjain6770]

When will be the giveaway sir

[@MyRetroWatches]

Dinesh Jain a while yet still have to film every step and I’ve not started yet