NH35 loosing regulation
Hello all,
So I own 2 NH35 watches, this 5KX and a DressKX. The pics are from my last trip with the 5kx.
I regulated both to below 3 s a day a few months ago (I got a timegapher for that) and have been tracking them with an app (Toolwatch). I know the app is not perfectly precise but I like to monitor over a whole week to get the real life performance.
Since regulation they drifted away and are now at +10 a day and -15 a day.
I also know this is very much within Seiko specs but I hoped to have them running more precisely.
I then automatically turned on my engineer mode a got into trying to find the’ why’.
Maybe the regilation assembly on mine are more on the loose side as they are held in place by friction? Are they sensitive to being carried in a watch roll on my backpack? Is it just the way those movements are and I would then have to regulate them periodically to keep them the way I want?
As far as I know the airport x-ray machines do not magnetize objects.
Any insight or ide is welcome as I am a bit frustrated.
Mechanical Engineer, Grease monkey, mad about watches, working with Electric Car Batteries Repairs and After Sales Process Consulting. Yes, All over the place!
I would check for magnetization first. That seems to be the issue most of the time, based on other posts from here. If not, the part underneath the regulator (I forget what it's called) might have gotten loose and moved slightly. You might be able to tell if the beat error increased.
I would check for magnetization first. That seems to be the issue most of the time, based on other posts from here. If not, the part underneath the regulator (I forget what it's called) might have gotten loose and moved slightly. You might be able to tell if the beat error increased.
Thank you! Good point. The 5kx has an increased beat error.
Would you know if it is ‘fixable’?
Thank you! Good point. The 5kx has an increased beat error.
Would you know if it is ‘fixable’?
You have to carefully adjust it back or as close to zero as you can get it. You have to be extremely cautious, I've accidentally knocked the balance wheel out of place and it takes time to set it back correctly. It's happened to a few of my NH35/36s, all from TMI. I assume it's from vibration or hard impacts though I can't say for certain.
What is the difference in your time grapher when you time the watch in horizontal and vertical position? If there's a significant difference (and that's not uncommon in a Seiko movement), it's difficult to get an accurate result. A watch can be in various positions throughout the day—on its side when you're sitting, face up when lying on a table, or face down overnight. Each position can affect the movement differently due to gravity. If you move your hand the same way every day you can in theory get good accuracy but in real life you will get differences from day to day.
A watch that is regulated to COSC standards is adjusted in several positions and will be more accurate.
It's also a good idea to regulate the watch when it's fully wound up.
It is perfectly normal for them to drift when new. (This is also the reason why I don't regulate them right out of the box, unless I really need to.) Lubricants move, small irregularities wear off, and the whole apparatus finds its balance.
Magnetization is actually rather rare, and the results are more drastic.
I would give it a few months, and then regulate again, and you should get better results.
And as others have said: The accuracy will be impacted by how you wear your watch. And no, Seikos will not be as accurate as watch types that use more complex types of regulation, and that expresses itself through the sensitivity to different positions.
Hey guys, thank you for the inputs, you also gave me some ideas.
I do consider the normal wear and different positions of the watch during day and nigh. That why I use the app. It allows me to monitor the average time keeping over a longer period of tim under normal wear. With that number in mind I go to the timegrapher and adjust accordingly. In this case it will not matter if I get 0s a day in the timegrapher. It will matter to make the reading move the amount of seconds a day I got in average. For example: if I get +10 a day over a few weeks of normal wear, and I get on the timegrapher +5, I would then adjust the watch as close as I can to -5. This proven for the to get the best results in real day to day accuracy.
All being said, your inputs are super valuable and make me look at it under another perspective, which is of great value.
Please keep them coming!