Del 4,463 Posted February 23, 2011 Hi folks, Appreciate your advice and comments on this. My PAM288 (A7750 movement) appears to have a problem with self-winding as it keeps stopping :(. Everything seems ok, you shake it and it starts running but after a short time it stops again, even when you are wearing it. For example, I gave it a shake on Monday, it started, I set the time and wore it. By late morning it had stopped. After doing some reading up, I decided to give it a long but gentle hand wind (30-40 times or so) as I hadn't done that before. Naturally, it ran ok for the rest of Monday (I take my watch off in the evening so it is stationary overnight), wore it all day Tuesday and today again. Got home tonight and took off my watch about 5:30pm - I just looked at it and it stopped at 6:40pm. I gave it a quick shake and it started . So, it looks like the watch runs ok, keeps good time, and self-winds to some extent when you shake it, but clearly it is not maintaining power reserve through self-winding during normal wearing and eventually runs out of power. (Btw, I opened the caseback and everthing looks ok, and the rotor spins and appears to turn correctly.) Any thoughts? (I could return it to the dealer but before I do I am wondering what, if anything, I could try.) Del Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djprone 0 Posted February 23, 2011 My 7750 Breitling bentley GT has started doing this recently. I even had it on a watch winder, it ran fine on the winder for a few days, but then when it was on a 3 hour resting period it stopped, but a good shake gets it going again. I too would love some advice on this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cynikal.Mindset 1 Posted February 23, 2011 bad reversing wheels?...another reason the 7750 scares me away every time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djprone 0 Posted February 23, 2011 bad reversing wheels?...another reason the 7750 scares me away every time I doubt mine is a bad reversing wheel, as its in a watch winder thats set to wind in one direction. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 23, 2011 bad reversing wheels?...another reason the 7750 scares me away every time Do you mean it's unwinding itself? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cynikal.Mindset 1 Posted February 23, 2011 basically unwinding itself...it winds and then unwinds with the motion of your arm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 23, 2011 Hmm, I suppose there is no fix for this, or at least no easy one. Time to email the dealer I think... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
a2b 0 Posted February 23, 2011 I also have the same problem with my GMT II Opened the case and everything seems to be OK (gears turning and everything...) I did notice that occasionally during the day the rotor starts spinning really fast (without me throwing my hand around sharply or agresivly) The only solution I found was to manually wind it 10-20 turns each morning before wearing it... I would also like to know if there is a solution for this enigma, other then trying to disassemble the watch, cleaning it and reassembling it... (hoping it would solve the problem) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luthier 1 Posted February 23, 2011 Winders never works for 7750. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 23, 2011 Winders never works for 7750. Hi Luth. I'm not using it in a winder, it's either not self-winding enough when I'm wearing it or it's unwinding itself when I'm wearing it. You came across this before? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted February 23, 2011 The GMTII, if it has an ETA or clone, would be the reversing wheels. One of them is bad and allows the rotor to spin and unwind. Not particularly hard or expensive to fix. There are two different wheels. One is about $4 and the other is about $7 as I recall. Generally, it's the more expensive one that seems to break. The 7750 only winds in one direction, unlike the ETA. It has a small click lever that keeps the spring tension from unwinding. This lever is quite often sticky, dirty or un-lubricated on the A7750. This will allow the rotor to spin, sometimes it just happens occasionally, sometimes always when the spring develops tension and the watch is laid flat. Also, since the 7750 only winds 1/2 the time compared to other watches, it's quite normal for it to stop if you put it on from totally dead and expect it to keep running. I always wind my 7750's about 15 times before I put them on. And, if I've not be overly active, I'll give them a few turns every couple of days. I haven't personally fixed a 7750 with a sticky click lever but I have had it done and the watch smith didn't even charge me, so I can't be too difficult. Franscisco has done tutorials on both of these problems. If the posts are not listed on this forum, I'm sure you can find them on RWGjr or RG. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 23, 2011 KBH - thanks for your reply. Very interesting and informative. So, a 7750 can't actually unwind itself? The click lever stops the spring unwinding but if that sticks open then the spring will lose its tension? The manual wind I gave the watch on Monday kept it running until tonight, including sitting stationary on two overnights, so why would a manual wind produce a power reserve but not the rotor? This is my first 7750 :(. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
midasmook 14 Posted February 23, 2011 Del I've sent you a pm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted February 23, 2011 The rotor does produce power, just not enough in many cases. I have a Acetimer winder that does 1000 turns per day (TPD) on highest setting. But it's bi-directional 50/50 each way. That would be the equivalent of 500 TPD on a 7750 turning in one direction. At 500 TPD a 7750 will not stay wound yet a 28xx series ETA/clone will be perfectly happy at the lowest setting of 650TPD. It's been well documented that no 7750's will work satisfactorily on a bi-directional winder. I don't know why, it's just the way it is. Since I've started wearing my 288 for weeks at a time, I had it stop a couple of times when I first started wearing it. Now I just automatically give it a few turns every couple of days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 23, 2011 Del I've sent you a pm Cheers - I'll reply shortly :(. The rotor does produce power, just not enough in many cases. I have a Acetimer winder that does 1000 turns per day (TPD) on highest setting. But it's bi-directional 50/50 each way. That would be the equivalent of 500 TPD on a 7750 turning in one direction. At 500 TPD a 7750 will not stay wound yet a 28xx series ETA/clone will be perfectly happy at the lowest setting of 650TPD. It's been well documented that no 7750's will work satisfactorily on a bi-directional winder. I don't know why, it's just the way it is. Since I've started wearing my 288 for weeks at a time, I had it stop a couple of times when I first started wearing it. Now I just automatically give it a few turns every couple of days. I've read a lot about 7750s in winders and I've tried mine in a single direction winder (I started a thread on it) and it didn't keep it wound either, even when I "forced" the winder to keep going without resting. I'm just surprised that my 288 didn't keep going for longer than one hour after I took it off tonight considering that I had been wearing it for 10 hours. However, it is comforting to hear that your's has stopped occasionally and that you give it a few turns now and then - maybe that is the simple solution . I remember greg_r saying that he never hand winds his 7750s and just gives them a "swirl" before wearing them - maybe he's more animated than I am at work...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted February 23, 2011 Yours sounds like it might be unwinding. If I was having trouble with my movement on that particular watch I'd probably just have it serviced. I do plan on the 288 being a long term keeper. I've had 2 other 7750 watches that I really liked and planned on keeping serviced and they have been flawless. Also, I wind them very slowly and only about 15 winds. I don't put a lot of strain on the gears. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 23, 2011 Yes, I've only wound mine very slowly and carefully too - after all I read about stripping gears I was worried about cocking up the movement.... I've emailed Mark so will see what he says. Thanks again for your help . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
a2b 0 Posted February 24, 2011 KBH- thanks for the tip regarding the GMTII!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 24, 2011 So, does anyone else have a similar problem with their 288? Also, would you return the watch to the dealer or just live with it and give it the odd hand wind to keep it going? Maybe a service would fix this issue? Cheers, Del Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted February 24, 2011 So, does anyone else have a similar problem with their 288? Also, would you return the watch to the dealer or just live with it and give it the odd hand wind to keep it going? Maybe a service would fix this issue? Cheers, Del Sounds like it needs a service, yes. I wouldn't hand-wind it - it'll wear fairly rapidly if you do that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 24, 2011 Sounds like it needs a service, yes. I wouldn't hand-wind it - it'll wear fairly rapidly if you do that. Thanks greg . I don't really want to hand-wind it often because of exactly that. Question is, should I send it back to Mark for "repair" or get it serviced? I assume getting it serviced is difficult in the UK and I'd need to send it to the guy in Germany? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rsea 0 Posted February 24, 2011 I had this exact problem Does your dial move when you change the time as well? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 24, 2011 I had this exact problemDoes your dial move when you change the time as well? No, it doesn't. Did you get your watch fixed? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rsea 0 Posted February 24, 2011 Yeah, it turned out a movement tab was missing causing the dial movement. It was assumed this same tab was jamming the movement somehow causing it to stop even when being worn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,463 Posted February 24, 2011 Thanks rsea. Who fixed it for you? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
