IWC Da Vinci Chronograph Hands Do Not Reset to Zero

[Alan_Schezar]

Hello everyone,

 

My IWC Da Vinci Chronograph Laureus (ZF) is just 1 day old and the chrono is acting oddly. If anybody has any ideas/suggestions as to what is going on and how to deal with it, I'd be very thankful!

 

• The Start/Stop pusher works, but the reset pusher results in the chrono's second hand being reset to ~2 seconds (left picture), not zero.
• If you repeat the act of starting, stopping, reset, the chrono's second hand will reset to ~2.2 seconds, then 2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 3.0, to where it is now, at ~3.2 seconds. The minute hand on the chrono subdial also resets to -1 minute.
• If you try to start the chrono, then stop it at exactly 12 o'clock, then plan on never using the chrono again, the chrono's minutes and hour functions on the top subdial keep running (right picture). I remember from a previous poster here that you should not continuously run the chrono.
• I googled the topic and the only solutions were for watches with quartz movements, not automatics (7750 Valjoux). 

 

 

 

 

Thanks in advance, 🤠

[Alan_Schezar]

Also, I just tried starting, stopping, and resetting the chronograph ~300 times so that the chrono's second hand went all the way around to 12 o'clock.

 

Unfortunately, when the hand reached the stopping point of 59 seconds, the next reset resulted in the hand jumping to 1 second. Zero-second was skipped over. All the previous times, the second hand only advances between 0.2 and 0.5 seconds. For the final jump, it jumped 2 seconds.

 

The top subdial still also is zeroed at -1 minute.

 

Thanks for any advice,

[ceejay]

You should really try to simplify your problem. Your methods of explanation are very confusing!

You have 2 hands that record chronograph functions, centre seconds & 60 minute counter (12 o'clock subdial)

 

When you stop the chronograph and reset it, the centre seconds hand is gradually moving further from the 12 o'clock position...Yes? If so, the hand 'probably' needs reseting. This requires lifting the hand, moving it back to the 12 o'clock position and pressing it back onto its pivot.

 

Is the 60 minute counting hand (12 o'clock subdial) reseting to the same (- ~1 minute) position every time or is that gradually moving too?

[Alan_Schezar]

Thank you for your feedback. Here is a video that should better explain the problem. The chrono's second hand in the video starts at 8 seconds, and finishes at 13 seconds.

 

Yes, when you stop the chronograph and reset it, the centre seconds hand is gradually moving further from the 12 o'clock position. Basically, push start, wait ~15 seconds, push stop, push reset, and the second hand resets ~1 second further away from 12 o'clock.

 

However, when you push to stop the chronograph, the 60 minute counting hand, and the hour hand, on the 12 o'clock subdial will continue to keep running. Because of this, it prevents the makeshift solution of stopping the chrono's second hand on 12 o'clock and never using the chronograph again. For example, I stopped the chrono's second hand at 12 o'clock, then went to sleep for 7.5 hours. When I woke up, the 12 o'clock subdial's hands were at 7:30. Pushing reset, both the 12 o'clock's subdial's hands returned to -1 minute.

 

Thanks again for your advice, 🤠

 

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Alan_Schezar

[ceejay]

The centre second hand is more than likely slipping, so need resetting and pressing on the pinion securely. This is a straight forward job for anyone competent working on watches.

 

The second issue of the 60 minute counter running continuously indicates a problem that would need further investigation. This watch has a modification to move the running seconds from 9 o'clock to 6 o'clock. That means a few extra gears and I am unaware what the layout of it is.

 

I can imagine how disappointing this is but my advice would be to get the centre seconds hand set properly and forget about the 60 minute counter. It may be more trouble than what it's worth.

[fabbe79]

If the 12 subdial is 30minutes counter it should be a standard 7750 mechanism, the modification is not on the 6 o clock subdial.
A watchsmith should be able to solve it and when reassembling it pushing firmly the second hand


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[ceejay]

But it’s not a standard 7750 and to access the gears on that 12 o’clock subdial the top plate will need to be removed, under which will be all the extra extra gears that shift running seconds from 9 o’clock down to 6 o’clock.


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[AstroAvia]

@Alan_Schezar Did you ever fix the issues?

I own/owned a few watches with this movement, which is a modified A7750. A typical and common problem with this particular movement is the chrono hour counter (lower hand at 12) constantly running. To solve this problem, one has to disassemble the hands, dial and two top plates of the movement in order to gain access to the chrono's hour wheel. Once there, the parts involved in braking the hour wheel - especially the plastic brake - need to be fiddled about with. With a loupe, check that the plastic brake is touching the hour wheel; if not, replace this part and check for contact again. That's the only solution to the problem. 

 

Now regarding the big chrono seconds hand, as other colleagues have said already, it is lose from its central post and needs to be reinstalled with proper pressure. 

 

Lastly, it is impossible to have the chrono minutes counter (upper hand at 12) running unless the chrono function is running. That simple. I believe your description of the symptoms are wrong in this particular aspect. 

[Alan_Schezar]

On 6/7/2019 at 2:34 AM, AstroAvia said:

@Alan_Schezar Did you ever fix the issues?

I own/owned a few watches with this movement, which is a modified A7750. A typical and common problem with this particular movement is the chrono hour counter (lower hand at 12) constantly running. To solve this problem, one has to disassemble the hands, dial and two top plates of the movement in order to gain access to the chrono's hour wheel. Once there, the parts involved in braking the hour wheel - especially the plastic brake - need to be fiddled about with. With a loupe, check that the plastic brake is touching the hour wheel; if not, replace this part and check for contact again. That's the only solution to the problem. 

 

Now regarding the big chrono seconds hand, as other colleagues have said already, it is lose from its central post and needs to be reinstalled with proper pressure. 

 

Lastly, it is impossible to have the chrono minutes counter (upper hand at 12) running unless the chrono function is running. That simple. I believe your description of the symptoms are wrong in this particular aspect. 

 

 

Thank you for your advice. I mailed it back 5 weeks ago. Last weekend, I was sent an email reporting it as received, and that they will attend to it accordingly. Hopefully they will fix the issues and I will keep everybody informed what happens.

 

Thanks again for everybody's help and advice, 🤠

[Alan_Schezar]

On 6/7/2019 at 2:34 AM, AstroAvia said:

@Alan_Schezar Did you ever fix the issues?

 

@AstroAvia @fabbe79 @ceejay I just received the watch back. It came back with the same issues. Nothing was fixed. 

 

It arrived wrapped in a ZF package and the hands of the 12 o’clock subdial and the chronograph hand were all at 12.

 

However, when attempting to use the chronograph, the same issues as demonstrated in the previous video remained. Push start, wait ~15 seconds, push stop, push reset, and the second hand resets ~1 second further away from 12 o'clock. Upon resetting, the minute hand of the 12 o’clock subdial resets to 59 minutes instead of 0 minutes.

 

Do you or anyone have any advice on how to go forward with this? Thanks in advance, 🤠

[AstroAvia]

It's not surprising that the dealer did not fix anything. At this point, I can only see two options: you send the watch back for

good and get a refund, or you send the watch to one of the members who could take a proper look at it. Where are you located?

[Alan_Schezar]

@AstroAvia The watch was ~$400 and it cost ~$35 to mail it from San Francisco, CA to China. Which members do you think could fix it? Thanks again for your help, 🤠