importr Posted January 16, 2012 Report Posted January 16, 2012 I recently picked up a new Navitimer tricompax (thanks GK) as a base for modding. I've been told by a rep dealer that there were 3 'factories' producing Navitimers, and I believe that this is the latest and possibly only version available. It has a different case from my v1's. Taller strap lugs (incorrect compared to gen), sliderule better than v2, dial better than v1 & possibly v2. It has high beat a7750 decorated and also has the signed rotor. The sapphire crystal has the most AR I've seen on any standard Navi rep. However, it has a terrible hue to it, making the subdials and sliderule look beige. So bad that I felt it was unwearable as is. I had seen this bad AR on another rep sometime ago. Today I decided to open up this new watch and take a look. L to R: v1- no/very light AR; v3- single AR; v1 with Taka AR Look how beige the v3 looks. It is worse in natural light. Here we see the difference against a white background. The v3 has a beige crystal!! I swapped the v1 crystal for the v3, so that it is wearable in the meantime while I send the other to Uwe for double AR treatment. I was also bothered by the infamous sunken date. I remembered that I had a spare ETA 7750 dw @6 lying around. I decided to have a go at the raised DW mod as perfected by the modders on these forums. First, i snapped off the teeth using fine pliers. Then smoothed off the inside with a round file. The DW thickness is 0.5mm. Then I used - wait for it... fishing line to raise the DW! It just happens to be 0.3mm thick - which was perfect to make the assembly 0.8mm overall. I glued the line to the underside edge of the DW. This took a while using a sharpened toothpick, being very careful not to let excess superglue run or stick to my fingers. I then marked out the plate to indicate the original DW numerals to align the new DW later This was carefully glued to the outer edge of original DW. The mechanism was tested and dial added. I put tiny pieces of sellotape under the dial near the feet to slightly clear the dial from new DW. Refit dial and test. The DW mod took me about 1.5 hours to do. Here is the non-AR crystal and raised DW! Admittedly, the date changeover isn't as smooth as i'd like; due to excess glue touching the transfer gears, but it does work nevertheless. I'll fix it for good when I get the treated crystal. I'm much happier with the colour of dial and sliderule now. ...and a few quick & dirty shots of this work in progress 1
redwatch Posted January 16, 2012 Report Posted January 16, 2012 Very nice little write up. Definitely fix up the "excess glue" issue. You don't want piece of hardened glue coming off and ending up in the movement somewhere. That would be bad
rogerthat Posted January 17, 2012 Report Posted January 17, 2012 Great job!!! Nice detailed pics and write up too Think we will see new navi high quality reps this year? I hope so would love to have one but don't want to invest in what mods it would take a current rep to look good enough for me
1976 Posted January 17, 2012 Report Posted January 17, 2012 That is a grate post and mod using fishing line to rase the DW.Thank you very much.
andreww Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Importr, I was looking at this picture and wondering how you accomplished it? Aren't there supposed to be transfer gears that pass over the datewheel on the tricompax A7750?
importr Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Posted January 18, 2012 Yes, the gears are above the old DW (still in place) but underneath the new DW as shown fitted above. The glued 0.3mm fishing line forms a solid ring (under the new DW) which just clears the gears. If you look very closely by numbers 6 and 7, you can just see the old DW
andreww Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Yes, the gears are above the old DW (still in place) but underneath the new DW as shown fitted above. The glued 0.3mm fishing line forms a solid ring (under the new DW) which just clears the gears. If you look very closely by numbers 6 and 7, you can just see the old DW Ah, I get it. Did you use a sigle piece of line and wrap it completely around or did you just use several small pieces spread equally around?
importr Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Posted January 18, 2012 Just one continuous length. It's easier to manage this way and probably more secure. I would prefer to use a metallic ring, but don't have the time or resource to make one. Hence this cheap alternative. I think it is 10lb fishing line
krpster Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Great work Importr. Result looks great. Not sure I would have used fishing line myself (given the finicky nature of working with it) but it looks like it worked. Andreww may be on to a good idea about using just a few stand offs around the perimeter of the DW.
importr Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Posted January 18, 2012 The multiple piece approach could be fiddly to apply, as they will be tiny. Slightly out of line and it will jam on the gears. Plus if one fell off, its gonna be stuck somewhere?
krpster Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 Also good points. We need to find some kind of common household or hardware item that can be used to make the spacer. Gonna think about it for a bit.
importr Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Posted January 19, 2012 I was just gonna use an old 7750 DW, and thin it out. But I need a jewellers lathe, which I obviously don't have. I have about 20 old 7750 DWs! If I could machine them down, they would be a perfect mod for all the existing tricompax reps out there!
andreww Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 Also good points. We need to find some kind of common household or hardware item that can be used to make the spacer. Gonna think about it for a bit. i was thinking a caseback O-ring? probably too thick though.
importr Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Posted January 19, 2012 That could work, if you found the exact size. Not sure if the glue solvent would accelerate the rubber perishing?
krpster Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 What about even using some good old wire. Like a strand of picture wire or copper conductor. Something malleable that can be formed to the correct shape and will stay that way during adhesion. Trick is to find the right size I guess.
importr Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Posted January 19, 2012 Yes I also tried fuse wire. But what I had was either too thick or too thin. I guess I got lucky....
sneed12 Posted January 20, 2012 Report Posted January 20, 2012 28 gauge wire is about 0.32mm, and 30 gauge wire is just a little bit less. I think 30 gauge wire would work.
krpster Posted January 20, 2012 Report Posted January 20, 2012 So now we just need an item of the correct diameter to wrap it around to set the shape
importr Posted January 21, 2012 Author Report Posted January 21, 2012 Is it possible to solder the ends together , then rub it smooth - when setting the shape? Or is it too thin to solder?
krpster Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 Possible but tricky I think. Plus, once you smooth it out I am not sure how much would remain to hold it together. Besides, if it as a formable material it should keep it's shape during the adhesion process. Then, once glued in, it would be held in place.
dmacnz Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 (edited) Very interesting thread. I have a navi I'm happy to experiment with! Where can I find a nice date wheel to fit a navi fighter model? ETA or rep as longmasmit looks decent!<br />I like a idea of using house hold materials to space the layered date wheel. Very clever Edited January 21, 2012 by dmacnz
hackR Posted January 23, 2012 Report Posted January 23, 2012 just saw this...awesome!... is the fishing line glued right to the edge of the dw?...how much space is there between the edge of the gear and the edge of the dw?... thinking krpster is on to something with wrapping 30 guage wire around an object the size of a dw...hmmm... @importr --> can you take a pix of the 6 o'clock dw and where it aligns in the date window when it flips over on its own?...i can't recall how off it is compared to using a 4.5 o'clock dw...i do like the 6 o'clock dw's alignment in the 4.5 date window...especially days 1-9! R-
sneed12 Posted January 23, 2012 Report Posted January 23, 2012 Very interesting thread. I have a navi I'm happy to experiment with! Where can I find a nice date wheel to fit a navi fighter model? ETA or rep as longmasmit looks decent!<br />I like a idea of using house hold materials to space the layered date wheel. Very clever On a Fighters, you have to use a different approach. There are no transfer gears in your watch, the sunken DW is due to an extra plate. You have to remove and modify the plate. Once you do so, you can just glue another datewheel on top of the one that's already in the watch.
importr Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Posted January 23, 2012 @importr --> can you take a pix of the 6 o'clock dw and where it aligns in the date window when it flips over on its own?...i can't recall how off it is compared to using a 4.5 o'clock dw...i do like the 6 o'clock dw's alignment in the 4.5 date window...especially days 1-9! R- Sorry, i can't do that request as the DW@6 was modded to removed the teeth, then attached to original DW. Therefore the alignment with date window is perfect. However, what I can say is that a unmodified DW@6 will almost certainly be off by >1/3 a number when viewed thru a date window @4.5. If you're planning on fitting a DW@6 without raising it - i'd say don't do it. The sunken-ness will still bug you. It's only worth doing if you do the mod as described. The gap between gear and calendar plate (if thats the correct terminolgy) is less than 1mm. I'd say closer to 0.5mm.
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