Usil Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 I am looking to buy a few of the new crowns for my PAMS and try to install them myself. I have learned the process of removing the crown and stem from the watch but am not sure of the process of how to get the old crown off and put on the new one. Can anyone please provide the process I should use to do this? Thansk, Usil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheaton26 Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 at the moment, i do not trust myself. but, i too would like to know if any regular joe's have had success? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Pretty straight forward- Insert the crown/stem assembly into a pin vise, or clamp using some needle nose pliers on the threaded portion of the stem and simply unthread the crown. In some cases, you may want to apply some heat to the base of the crown to loosen the glue securing the crown to the threads, but it should unthread pretty easily. Next, thread on the new crown to the stem and try lining everything up in the stem tube in the case. In some cases, the base of the crown might not fit as it's too large (I don't think this is the case with Palp's new crowns- they should fit properly); in this situation, it is advised to grind out the inner diameter of the tube until the crown base does fit, but again, this is probably not going to be a problem with Tommy's new run of 2.1mm crowns. Next- Check the length of the stem; it might be too long or too short with the new crown, so trimming of the stem may be necessary (or a new stem cut to fit if the original is too short). Once everything is adjusted to preference, secure the crown to the stem using loc-tite and allow cure time. reinstall is the reverse process of crown/stem removal from the movement. Test everything with the CG installed prior to buttoning up the case, and you're set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikellem Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Ubi, Great tutorial.. Thanks for the contribution! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premiumdesigners Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 if you're installing a new 2.0 or 2.1mm palp crown, some may need to grind down the lever some before you can close it. edit - thanks Ubi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 if you're installing a new 2.0 or 2.1mm palp crown, youll need to grind down the lever some before you can close it. Exactly why I recommend testing everything with the CG on. Some need the lever trimmed slightly; some don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce79 Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 This may be a stupid question but I should probably wait for my manual wind 6497 movement to fully stop (run out of power reserve) before removing the crown...since there is no hack function? Just received my crown today but wound the watch fully last night...do I have another day or 2 before I can attempt this??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Ubi pretty much covered it. My experience with the palp crown has been that the thread thread depth is fairly shallow making it necessary to cut the cut down a couple mm or so. YMMV. Also the palp crown is definitely thicker than the reps making it necessary to file down the lever as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce79 Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Ubi pretty much covered it. My experience with the palp crown has been that the thread thread depth is fairly shallow making it necessary to cut the cut down a couple mm or so. YMMV. Also the palp crown is definitely thicker than the reps making it necessary to file down the lever as well. do you have an answer for my questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pannylovernr1 Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 This may be a stupid question but I should probably wait for my manual wind 6497 movement to fully stop (run out of power reserve) before removing the crown...since there is no hack function? Just received my crown today but wound the watch fully last night...do I have another day or 2 before I can attempt this??? I never wait for "time running out" and have never had a problem w/ stem removal but if you want to be extra careful... Maybe there's a risk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 do you have an answer for my questions? Vacuum talks about unwinding manually in this tutorial: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=11771 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dario33 Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 I installed a Palp crown over the weekend on my 111h. The watch was wound when I replaced the crown. The procedure took about 2 hours -- had to cut the stem to the right length and file the lever down, as was already mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce79 Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 So it sounds as though the stem doesn't really play a role in the mechanics of the watch of ther than winding the watch and setting the time. So the movement won't explode if I remove the crown while it's still running? I think I'll take photos of my attempt to replace the crown, if I can do it, anyone can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce79 Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 ok, so perhaps I attempted this too late as it is well past midnight pst, but everything was going smooth...got the crown/stem out of the movement fine, removed the stem from the old crown after applying a little heat. But when I went to insert the stem into palps crown, the threading doesn't appear to line up . I didn't want to force it so as to cross the threading but I gently tried several times to get it and couldn't...what do I do now? Has this happened to anyone else? The 112h came from Josh and is fairly new (couple months old I think). Any suggestions? I'll try contacting palp to see if he has a stem that will fit his crowns but any suggestions in the mean time would be much appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dario33 Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 ok, so perhaps I attempted this too late as it is well past midnight pst, but everything was going smooth...got the crown/stem out of the movement fine, removed the stem from the old crown after applying a little heat. But when I went to insert the stem into palps crown, the threading doesn't appear to line up . I didn't want to force it so as to cross the threading but I gently tried several times to get it and couldn't...what do I do now? Has this happened to anyone else? The 112h came from Josh and is fairly new (couple months old I think). Any suggestions? I'll try contacting palp to see if he has a stem that will fit his crowns but any suggestions in the mean time would be much appreciated. Thanks I used a new stem for installing palp's crown. It didn't go in all that easy, but holding it firm with a plyers, the crown then 'screwed' on. I couldn't even get stem out of the old crown, so not sure if the shape/size is different than the new stem I used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usil Posted December 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 (edited) Two things: 1. Fitting the thread might just be a slightly damaged top surface of the stem which has misaligned the top part of the thread. Check it out with a loop and maybe file the top down slightly making sure you make it flat. 2. Where you say " -- had to cut the stem to the right length and file the lever down " I understand about the filing the lever a little to make it fit but exactly what are you 'cutting' on the stem to make it the right length? and how much did you cut? and how did you know you needed to cut it? Thanks, Usil Edited December 12, 2006 by Usil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Two things: 1. Fitting the thread might just be a slightly damaged top surface of the stem which has misaligned the top part of the thread. Check it out with a loop and maybe file the top down slightly making sure you make it flat. 2. Where you say " -- had to cut the stem to the right length and file the lever down " I understand about the filing the lever a little to make it fit but exactly what are you 'cutting' on the stem to make it the right length? and how much did you cut? and how did you know you needed to cut it? Thanks, Usil 1. Yes! File off any jagged pieces at the end to make threading easier. 2. I cut the length of the threaded part of the stem because I want the crown to fit close to the case like I see in pics of gens for my watch. How much to cut is subjective. But you should thread the crown without cutting, first. Reinstall the stem into the watch and then visually adjust to your liking. I probably cut off only 1mm or so. But make sure to sneak up on it... In other words, don't cut it all off at once. Cut less than you think you'll need. Fit it. See how it looks. Then cut a little more off. Etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce79 Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 ok, well I'll try smoothing out the tip surface of the stem. I just don't want to cross thread the crown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usil Posted December 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Exactly what I needed. Thanks. And, what do you use to cut this tiny little piece? or do you just grind it a little at a time so you don't bugger up the threads? Usil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce79 Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 got it I used a dremel with a cutting wheel to sand it down a bit. Any more and it would have been too short. I'll post a full tutorial for novices like myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usil Posted December 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Perfect, will be glad to see it and thanks in advance for your efforts. Usil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Exactly what I needed. Thanks. And, what do you use to cut this tiny little piece? or do you just grind it a little at a time so you don't bugger up the threads? Usil Wire cutters and a file to smooth out the cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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