How hard is it to lube a a7750 movement yourself?

[VinnyJones]

I have an IWC Portuguese rep with the a7750 movement and I was wondering how hard it is to lube the movement yourself?  I know the pros can do a full service (I assume that is disassemble, clean, lube) but that would cost as much as the watch so I'm wondering if it's possible to remove the back and lube what you can?  I have some really incredible liquid lube (used by NASA no less) that lasts seemingly forever and I was hoping that simply squirting some of that in the right spots might help smooth things up and increase longevity.  Again no disrespect to doing a proper service and I bet that is tons of hours to do but I was wondering how hard it would be to add some lube to a watch which is already working well (I mean without disassembly other than removing the back).  Thanks for any thoughts guys.  I'm hoping that some minor proactive DIY maintenance might be doable. ?

Edited August 30, 2013 by VinnyJones

[B3nj4min3]

From what I know so far, too much oil (lube) can be as damaging as too little.

It increases drag (friction); I know that sounds counter-intuitive but that's weirdly what happens.

You could also end-up inadvertently adding lube into areas that shouldn't have any and hence cause the movement to gunk-up.

All the watch oils I have seen are incredibly fine, far finer than machine oil and my guess would be this lube could cause more harm than good.

Taking a proactive approach is a great move however you would be gutted if it ended up damaging your movement and the oil seeped onto the date wheel meaning the whole thing needed to be cleaned/replaced.

[fraggle42]

As I understand it the oil (which as Ben says is incredibly thin but more importantly stays exactly where you put it, and there are 3 different types of oil used in different places) is put between the jewels.

 

What you might think is one jewel is actually two, one concave and one convex shape. The two flat sides face each other and a drop of oil is put between them. Ditto at the top and bottom of every jewelled wheel.

 

(I think that's right, also something is telling me that the only thing that has jewels like this is the balance wheel)

 

But simply put, no, you can't get access to where the oil needs to be without pulling the movement out and dismantling it, at least partially.

[imajedi]

Wow, love this thread. Because it makes perfect sense that people would pay $200 for a service if all you needed to do was take of the case back and hose down the movement with KY-Jelly!!

Opening the back and spraying the movement will absolutely not work even if the spray is made on Krypton. (although I hear that stuff works great on squeaky brakes). Not only will it not work it will further impede the proper functioning of your watch.

[hiker01]

You can't be serious???? Have you seen the number of parts a 7750 have??? This is a very complicated movement.....it's tough, but you can't screw around with it if you don't know what you're doing. Believe me, I'm like

you when I started, but after a few phucked up movements (now they're good for parts) I give up! Let the likes of MD2020 and some on this board do their thing and you stay with a head full of hair!

[Rolexman]

Just give that spray a try and report back. Would love to hear how the watch runs afterwards

[VinnyJones]

I never mentioned anything about a spray and I have no idea what KY-Jelly is.  Thanks much for the good advice from those that posted helpful info.

[panerai153]

I can guarantee you that you will regret trying to get oil in the movement from the back like you asked. You will end up making it worse, then what are you going to do? Throw it away and buy a new watch, or get it serviced? Either way, you are going to spend the price of a service. If you can't afford to get it serviced properly, I would wear it until it either quits or becomes unreliable, then make the decision about the service or replacement. And for your info, KY Jelly is a vaginal lubricant, commonly known around hospitals as motion lotion!!

[hjshin]

I would let a watchsmith do that...

[FxrAndy]

Yesterday I saw an old heuer single button chrono movement that some one had simply opened the back and sprayed WD40 in it and I can report the following :-

It does not work

The service will be expensive

Stupidity costs

A watch smith charges a lot for a service because it is a lot if work and saves you money in the long run because if serviced correctly you watch could run for ever, the opposite is also true!

[PeteM]

I guess we all call it something different....I call mine Percy...but never had a problem lubing it.... I would recommend Mango Butter .... just be liberal with it ...