RGRC AP Franken Help

[imajedi]

I have a absolutely stunning (I think so) Rose gold Rubber clad franken. It worked great for about a year and the stem snapped. Crap. I emailed Chris (he did the original build) about it and haven't heard back from him at all. Anyone know if he's still in business? Anyway, I took it apart to see what was up and it's really obvious why the stem broke. The stem hole and movement are not lined up depth wise meaning in and out of the glass (z axis).

 

Broken stem sits almost completely above the movement and it's not bent, I checked. When you turn the crown it stays right there.

 

 

 

In the second picture you can see the broken stem poking out almost completely above the movement. This seems weird given that you can also tell from the picture below that the location of the tube has been moved (in what seems like the wrong direction). It almost seems like the tube would have been perfect right where it was to begin with.

 

Tube Position from outside:

 

 

You can see the silver metal filling where the tube used to be and thus can tell it's been moved.

 

 

In terms of the stack up. It appears the dial rests against the back of the Tachy so the position of the back surface of the tachy in relation to the tube is critical. I have a gen tachy, not sure if that matters but that distance on my watch seems to be way off. It's almost like the rubber bezel needs to be shaved down to push the tachy down. With that said, I have no idea how that rubber bezel and tachy are assembled!?!?!? I took all the screws out but it seems to be stuck to the watch case.

 

Anyone know anything about any of this? Chris? Stem/tube height? What needs to change to fix this? How does the rubber bezel come off?

 

Thanks!!!

 

Jedi

 

Please help me get this baby back where she belongs, on my wrist!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sogeha]

Reach out to @Legend I'm sure he can help you with what needs to be done and who could do it for you.

[imajedi]

Reach out to [mention=39943]Legend[/mention] I'm sure he can help you with what needs to be done and who could do it for you.

A, any advice to nudge me in the right direction.@legend

[QueTip]

That sucks! I've had similar experiences with a build by C&W. If A can't help you, there are a few guys in the EU that can do their magic. 

 

On the other hand, I'd love to take it off your hands and reduce your hassle. At a good price for you of course!

On 4/30/2017 at 0:51 AM, imajedi said:

 

A, any advice to nudge me in the right direction.@legend

 

 

Edited May 1, 2017 by QueTip

[imajedi]

That sucks! I've had similar experiences with a build by C&W. If A can't help you, there are a few guys in the EU that can do their magic. 
 
On the other hand, I'd love to take it off your hands and reduce your hassle. At a good price for you of course!
 

What's crazy is by how much the stem height is misaligned and the fact that it appears the tube positioned was moved to make it worse. I'm not even a watch maker and I can see how bad it is. For god's sake it misses the entire movement. Lol

I just need some advice about why it's so far off and then I'm sure either I can fix it or I can find someone who can.

Thanks for the offer but I don't think I'm ready to sell yet.

[Sogeha]

To put so much stress on the stem is unacceptable, I wonder if the crown position was changed to be closer to gen? I can't think of any other reason

[QueTip]

Just now, Sogeha said:

To put so much stress on the stem is unacceptable, I wonder if the crown position was changed to be closer to gen? I can't think of any other reason

 

It was but due to the fact that the movement is slimmer than the original rep ROOs 7750 crown position it should be on par, there'd be even more pressure to the stem if it was in stock rep position. 

 

Maybe they did lower it but not enough which is causing the issues. One solution I might think of. 

 

 

[imajedi]

 
It was but due to the fact that the movement is slimmer than the original rep ROOs 7750 crown position it should be on par, there'd be even more pressure to the stem if it was in stock rep position. 
 
Maybe they did lower it but not enough which is causing the issues. One solution I might think of. 
 
 

No that's the confusing part. The tube is way to close to the caseback and that's the direction it was moved. If they would have left it put, it seems like it might have been perfect.

The alternative, of course, is that the movement is too far into the case. Because the dial/movement thickness/height is fixed, it means the back of the tachy, which defines the location of the dial and movement, is too far away from the caseback. I'm not sure how to adjust this. Plus I'm just assuming that's the issue.

[gochessmango]

Hey jedi, it sucks to hear about this.... did you use gen tachy of rep tachy for the build?

Can you post a picture of the underside of the tachy, i think this might be the issue

[manodeoro]

Could you confirm if the chrono works or not and if the pushers are well aligned or not (to high or to low) ?

Envoyé de mon XT1068 en utilisant Tapatalk

[imajedi]

Hey jedi, it sucks to hear about this.... did you use gen tachy of rep tachy for the build?
Can you post a picture of the underside of the tachy, i think this might be the issue

Yep sure does. Thanks for the reply. It was sold to me by Chris as a gen tachy. I'm not an expert but the color is perfect.

Images of the back of the Tachy are below. You can see it has a step in it and the dial rests against the back of the tacky.

[imajedi]

 

Figured that out. Turns out it was just a little stuck. Once the screws are out, nothing is holding the bezel on.

 

 

Looks like Chris clues the tachy to the case to try and keep it from moving.

 

 

So the tachy is sitting on top of the glue which is definitely not helping the problem. You can see a small gap between the top side of the case and the bottom of the tachy when you assemble them. I think it's a combination of that and the crown was just put back a little too far towards the case back. Removing the glue and getting the tachy down flush on the case will certainly help.

 

 

[imajedi]

Glue removed. That should help the tachy sit a little lower in the case.

[Garuda]

jedi that does not look a gen tachy.  can you post some macro pictures of tachy?  gen tachy has a step at the bottom

[imajedi]

Holy crap miracles do happen. New stem on the way. Now just pray the keyless isn't screwed.

jedi that does not look a gen tachy.  can you post some macro pictures of tachy?  gen tachy has a step at the bottom

Yeah, I think it has the step. If you mean on the outside. Also, it does not have the tabs to fit in the little holes like the reps do. Just a smooth bottom.

[Garuda]

the gen tachy has 2 tabs fit the slots on case. wonder why they were removed?  you just need a new stem and hope all fit together.  

[masterwatch24]

Sorry to see this happen on your amazing watch also one of my favorite Franken AP.
Maybe the Movement holder isn't properly made to align the movement and the crown and tube.

[imajedi]

Could you confirm if the chrono works or not and if the pushers are well aligned or not (to high or to low) ?

Envoyé de mon XT1068 en utilisant Tapatalk

Chrono works. Watch ran fine for about a year.

the gen tachy has 2 tabs fit the slots on case. wonder why they were removed?  you just need a new stem and hope all fit together.  

Hmmmm not sure but no tabs on this one. Totally not needed anyway. The tachy fits snug in the rubber bezel ring and the ring is fixed from moving by the 8 through screws that hold the bezel on. The tabs are just for alignment so I'll just have to be careful when I assemble to make sure it's aligned.

Sorry to see this happen on your amazing watch also one of my favorite Franken AP.
Maybe the Movement holder isn't properly made to align the movement and the crown and tube.

Don't worry, she'll be back. There were a couple places on the case where I wasn't happy with the plating job so this gives me the opportunity to fix everything. Plating solution on the way along with the new stem. I also got the new legend/edge datewheel so this thing is gonna be perfect.

[gochessmango]

@imajedi hey bud, i just now had a chance to check the forums.

The issue is not so much the movement holder ring as others mentioned. Because the movement tabs to hold the lwo to the midcase fits in the groove of the midcase itself and not the movement holder ring.

It is the tachy.

What you have is an aftermarket/rep tachy. The rep tachy is a tad thicker and much taller than the gen tachy. This is why you see the underside of the tachy shaved. But it seems like the tachy is still a bit too tall.

When taking a look at your repositioned tube, its at around where it should be for the lwo.

So hopefully the glue removal brought the tachy down closer to the midcase. You also might want to change the main bezel gasket to a non shaved one. This will give you more room to push down the tachy towards the movement, although you will be trading off with a little gap between the bezel/crystal and the top of the tachy. Your movement and stem will be better aligned. Short of shaving down the tachy more, i think these would be your best options.

Hope this helps. Good luck bud.

[imajedi]

@imajedi hey bud, i just now had a chance to check the forums.

 

The issue is not so much the movement holder ring as others mentioned. Because the movement tabs to hold the lwo to the midcase fits in the groove of the midcase itself and not the movement holder ring.

 

It is the tachy.

 

What you have is an aftermarket/rep tachy. The rep tachy is a tad thicker and much taller than the gen tachy. This is why you see the underside of the tachy shaved. But it seems like the tachy is still a bit too tall.

 

When taking a look at your repositioned tube, its at around where it should be for the lwo.

 

So hopefully the glue removal brought the tachy down closer to the midcase. You also might want to change the main bezel gasket to a non shaved one. This will give you more room to push down the tachy towards the movement, although you will be trading off with a little gap between the bezel/crystal and the top of the tachy. Your movement and stem will be better aligned. Short of shaving down the tachy more, i think these would be your best options.

 

Hope this helps. Good luck bud.

 

Yeah, I know it's not the movement holder because it's irrelevant to the stackup. The dial fits against the back of the tachy and the dial is flush with the movement so the only thing that can affect where the movement is positioned with respect to the case (crown position) is the back of the tacky.

 

The no glue will help for sure. Probably lowered it half a mm. I have a new stem on the way. I can't believe the old one came out. We'll see how it looks when I get it reassembled.

 

Are you sure this tachy is rep? It was sold to me by Chris as gen. I paid $600. At the end of the day I don't care too much because the color is absolutely perfect but it's the principle that is upsetting. Conveniently, Chris seems to have disappeared.

 

Thanks for the reply!!

[Garuda]

difficult to confirm tach gen with picture angle. fact the back of tach missing 2 align tabs look sususpicious there no reason to remove. If you can place the tach over dial then make picture in good light show tach/dial spacing.  

What to look for. Where dial meets inside rim tach, gen tach has like 1mm height before slope starts. rep tach has no  height with slope begin.  does that make sense?

Edited May 4, 2017 by Garuda

[imajedi]

On 5/4/2017 at 0:35 AM, Garuda said:

difficult to confirm tach gen with picture angle. fact the back of tach missing 2 align tabs look sususpicious there no reason to remove. If you can place the tach over dial then make picture in good light show tach/dial spacing.  

What to look for. Where dial meets inside rim tach, gen tach has like 1mm height before slope starts. rep tach has no  height with slope begin.  does that make sense?

Yes it makes sense.  My tachy definitely has the flat 1mm height before the slope starts, which accordingly to you would indicate a gen tachy.  You can see the flat height very clearly in a number of the pictures I posted above.  Look at the pictures where I'm just holding the tachy or where you can see the back of the tachy where the dial mates.  You can easily see about a 1mm step or flat surface before the slope of the tachy starts on the top side.  

[Legend]

Guys so sorry I have been away from the forum due to work issues. 

Let me know the current situation and if you still need help! Once again my sincere apologies, I did not mean to be rude! 

[imajedi]

Guys so sorry I have been away from the forum due to work issues. 
Let me know the current situation and if you still need help! Once again my sincere apologies, I did not mean to be rude! 

No offense taken A. No one expects a forum on rep watches to be your first priority in life. Thanks for checking in. Gold solution to touch up the case is here and new stem arrived so I'll let you know how things progress. No input needed at this time but please stand by. :-)

[Legend]

7 minutes ago, imajedi said:

No offense taken A. No one expects a forum on rep watches to be your first priority in life. Thanks for checking in. Gold solution to touch up the case is here and new stem arrived so I'll let you know how things progress. No input needed at this time but please stand by. :-)

Thanks mate, you have one of the most lovely ROO frankens in the business. Well done, and keep us updated.