FYI on height of date wheel overlays

[chiman12]

I've been having problems with my date function advancing on my franken Rolex Date. After many tear downs, it seems that the date flips properly without the gen dial in place, but yet the date advance sticks with the gen dial installed. I eventually determined that the datewheel overlay is higher than the dial rest of my ETA 2824. With this in mind, I found a solution to resolving this issue and it involves the dial rest from the ETA 277X movements. They are solid semi circles, unlike the 2824 ones that are thin full circles. I discovered that the the height of the 277x dial rests are a tad taller than the 2824 ones and this resolved the sticking or rubbing issue that I previously had. What I simply did is bend the two 277x dial rests a bit and test fitted them on my 2824. Then I epoxied them onto the movement...one up and one down.

Here are some pics...

Notice how much higher the dial rest sits above the date wheel overlay...

Now with the gen dial reinstalled, just enough space so that the date wheel rotates freely, but not wide enough that it leaves an unsightly gap...

I checked on CousinsUK on the cost of the 277x dial rests and they sell them for about $6.30 each, yes they are pricey, but at least it is a solution to the date wheel sticking and not advancing...

[freddy333]

Well done.

An alternative is to sand down the surface of the ETA datewheel base before applying the datewheel overlay. This effectively lowers the surface of the datewheel, which provides sufficient clearance for the datewheel to fit/operate below the dial.

[alligoat]

Cool Chi!

Are you using a 2824-2 for your franken Date and a 1500 case?

[chiman12]

freddy...that is a good point! I guess my fyi would be for lazy guys like me that already spent countless hours trying to align the date with the window!!!

alligoat...yes sir...

[Dizzy]

Can you still fit the hour hand without it rubbing on the dial?

[chiman12]

The hour hand still has no problems clearing the dial...