Chronograph activation issue?

Afternoon all, long time no see.

I thought I'd come here to ask for insight because I've encountered an odd phenomenon I've not seen before.

I pulled this lovely Longines Record Chronograph out of the box today, set it to time.gov, and wore it for a few hours without issue as usual.

Come time to time some cooking, I attempt to activate the top pusher, it feels "crunchy", and the chronograph second hand does not budge. In my infinite wisdom, I thought I'd press it again (maybe I just hadn't pushed hard enough I thought), and to my delight and immediate dismay the second hand started to move and then came to a heartbreaking halt as I released the pusher. As soon as I had let go, the sweep stopped. I also noticed the normal sub-seconds hand stopped at this point.

It was here I decided, again drawing from my infinite wisdom, that I should test the reset. My I.T. brain instincts compelling me to narrow down the problem. The reset (thankfully) worked without a hitch, and after resetting the chronograph to 12 the sub-seconds hand began rotating again.

Realizing a service of the watch likely meant shipping it to Switzerland anyway, I decided that one more attempt couldn't possibly hurt and attempted to start/stop the chronograph again. This time, it worked. It even felt like it should.

Daring to tempt fate, I proceeded to start/stop/reset the chronograph for another half-dozen cycles. Again, no issues. Flawless, normal operation.

So now I come to you crunchers, knowers of all things to know, any guesses what might be going on? I've never even heard of something like this before, where the chronograph only works while holding the start/stop pusher down. I'm not naive enough to believe everything will be fine from now on if left unchecked, and am considering contacting Longines to have them take a look at it under warranty just to be safe, but wanted to get more data/opinions from you lot.

EDIT: Wanted to add, that beyond this weird encounter, the watch has been running like a champion and keeping time within its chronometer certification.

Reply
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I don’t think it needs to be shipped back to Switzerland, probably needs a full service though.

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Wear it more often, and run the chronograph more often. It is most likely just getting a little sticky (the oils). It may be nearing time for service, I would just keep an eye on it.

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Chrono pushers always feel a bit crunchy. If you don’t regularly use the chronograph the buttons and movement can become “sticky”, I always activate the chronograph when I rotate. You should get your watch serviced at this point and stop pushing the buttons. You can cause damage that’s going to cost more.

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@TOwguy @SurferJohn @watchdawg For more context, the watch is only 7 or 8 months old, purchased new direct from Longines. It shouldn't be remotely near the time for a service yet.

Also, I wear it about 2 or 3 days a week and use the chronograph daily (when worn obviously). So the oils shouldn't be stuck, settled, or drying. I have multiple mechanical chronographs, all of them older than this particular one, and none of them have ever presented this issue before.

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Nuclear1711

@TOwguy @SurferJohn @watchdawg For more context, the watch is only 7 or 8 months old, purchased new direct from Longines. It shouldn't be remotely near the time for a service yet.

Also, I wear it about 2 or 3 days a week and use the chronograph daily (when worn obviously). So the oils shouldn't be stuck, settled, or drying. I have multiple mechanical chronographs, all of them older than this particular one, and none of them have ever presented this issue before.

IC, keep running and assessing, it really may just be a hiccup. If it isn't you will want to know now during the warranty period.

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I had a similar problem and it turned out that the lever that engages the stopwatch was not working properly and had to be replaced. This was on Poljot 31679 movement so the replacement part costed me 20 euro and a bit of time to replace it.

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Sometimes it would engage, sometimes it would feel like it's "stuck" and sometimes it would just not run the stopwatch at all.

So definitely get it checked out before it get more damaged.

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watchfindsgermany

I had a similar problem and it turned out that the lever that engages the stopwatch was not working properly and had to be replaced. This was on Poljot 31679 movement so the replacement part costed me 20 euro and a bit of time to replace it.

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Sometimes it would engage, sometimes it would feel like it's "stuck" and sometimes it would just not run the stopwatch at all.

So definitely get it checked out before it get more damaged.

Thank you for this insight!

I think the plan for now is to babysit it for the weekend, see if anything odd happens again, and if it does get in touch with Longines on Monday to have it checked out/repaired under warranty.

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watchfindsgermany

I had a similar problem and it turned out that the lever that engages the stopwatch was not working properly and had to be replaced. This was on Poljot 31679 movement so the replacement part costed me 20 euro and a bit of time to replace it.

Image

Sometimes it would engage, sometimes it would feel like it's "stuck" and sometimes it would just not run the stopwatch at all.

So definitely get it checked out before it get more damaged.

Also, unrelated, that's a lovely looking movement, I'm glad you were able to get it going again 🙂

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Nuclear1711

Also, unrelated, that's a lovely looking movement, I'm glad you were able to get it going again 🙂

Thanks mate, hopefully you will get yours repaired in no time 🍻

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It’s still under warranty, take it and for peace of mind have the ADs watch maker check it out in case there is an anomaly, @Surferjohn sounds experienced, he makes sense too , but because you stated in the thread you’ve only owned it for eight months get it checked under warranty!