[crankythunder]

Good Afternoon:

I just inherited my great grandfather's Bulova Accutron 214 Railroad Approved watch.

When I received it I was delighted! He worked for the Penn Central in Ontario whereas I was a Engineer in the Bridge and Building department for CSX Transportation.

Soon as I received it, replaced the strap with a new leather strap and since it was running I wore it for a couple of days.

It was stopping occasionally so researched this forum and sent it into J&J in New York.

They cleaned and serviced it for what I consider a good price and I got it back two to three weeks later.

Now I have worn it for three weeks and every morning it is about 4 or five minutes fast.

I do not know if it has a 1.5 volt battery in it or a 1.35 volt battery.

Does it need to be regulated for a 1.5 volt battery since the original 1.35 volt battery is only available at monster prices as "New Old Stock" without any guarantees?

Let me know if you need any additional information, my main hobbies and interests are in other area's but I do appreciate wearing a nice timepiece on my wrist.

Your comments and recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
George

For what it is worth, I have three newer model railroad approved watches (they were required when I was working for the railroad), a newer Seiko, Pulsar, and newer Bulova but this 214 is special.

 

[tayloreuph]

Does it matter how it’s placed? Does the watch orientation matter, can you leave it face down and see?


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[Stu3]

Should work fine with new 387 1.55V battery. Positional variance (crown up or down) might make a difference of a few seconds a day. I am not sure if that is even true - ie it makes a difference. Send it back to JJ and tell them to try again. Any reputable watch shop should re-service it free of charge.

PS. Original 1.35V batteries used Mercury and any NOS batteries would likley be dead. Banned in 1996? Accucel 1.35V batteries will work but at $10 each are not worth it. All my (5) 214s have been serviced and phased/calibrated to run on 387 1.55 batteries ($1 each) and I get a year out of them.

 

[Wrascal]

Another possible consideration ... was it recently magnetized?

 

[skd#214#]

That amount of difference sounds more like a phasing issue. It might also be a damaged or dirty index allowing skipping. You might want a look at this article on phasing:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~fotoplot/accphs.htm

 

[mikeyt_53]

Another possible consideration ... was it recently magnetized?

I'm no expert at this stuff but my understanding is that the Accutron met the ISO standard (60 Gauss or 4800 A/m) for anti-magnetic watches and as such, are reasonably well protected against that issue. That said, the magnets on the tuning forks can be demagnetized but that would likely cause the watch to stop working. Maybe one of our technical guys can clarify this.

And.... usually when a regular vintage mechanical watch gets magnetized, it does tend to 'speed up'. A simple inexpensive demagnetizer from Amazon / eBay etc sorts that out quickly but i wont suggest that for any tuning fork watch.

 

[vim203]

Your watch is almost certainly intermittently triple indexing and will need to indexed correctly. A partially demagnetised
tuning fork will not cause it to run this slow. Do Not put it in a demagnetiser!
Garry

 

[crankythunder]

HI guys!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and advice.

I emailed J&J watch repair and they said that they would be happy to fix the "timing".

Sent it back to them and we will see. Will keep you guys posted.

Regards,
Crankster

 

[Stu3]

Another question for the hive-mind. Is gaining time (2 min in day) all of a sudden a sign of battery voltage dropping (ie battery needs to be replaced - ie 1 year old)? I just hacked my Swiss Astro yesterday at the office after not wearing for a few weeks and today it had gained 2 minutes. Intuitively, you'd think low battery would cause it to slow down. But is that the case with the 214 movement? Does it work the other way? Low voltage causes it to run fast until it hits a point that it stops all together?

 

[Spaceview M2]

HI guys!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and advice.

I emailed J&J watch repair and they said that they would be happy to fix the "timing".

Sent it back to them and we will see. Will keep you guys posted.

Regards,
Crankster

Yes, that would have been the first thing I would have done to see if the issue get remedied. The warranty is free, besides the return shipping. Then if that doesn't fix the issue, then you turn to greener pastures. No sense in sending it out for repair to the various "recommendations' since 90% of them are no better than the rest. Live and learn and follow the cheapest avenue first.

*** Always inquire if the so-called accutron repair employee phases the watch to the common 1.55V silver oxide battery. If they say it's a 1.35V regulated process, take a step back and reconsider. Its a red flag.

 

[Margarets Dad]

HI guys!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and advice.

I emailed J&J watch repair and they said that they would be happy to fix the "timing".

Sent it back to them and we will see. Will keep you guys posted.

Regards,
Crankster

The 214 I had serviced at J&J runs dead accurate. This happens sometimes. They should be able to make it right.

 

[crankythunder]

Hi Margarets Dad:

Thank you for sharing that information. I appreciate it.

 

[Miami Mike]

Definitely a phasing issue. I have a 214 (bought new) which was redone by some guy in Washington state, big fancy ad, we're the best (I think he's out of business now) and it ran 15 to 20 minutes fast an HOUR. Yes, time flies, but I didn't know it was supersonic. It must have gone back three or four times and he still didn't get it right.

I also had a 214 done by Rob B, it is absolutely perfect. Made me a tad nervous to ship the watch to him in Thailand, but no problems at all, came back in due time (no pun intended) and I am wearing it right now.

I have several more to send him as well.

Accutrons are a perfect example of "don't try this at home", I can do quartz watches while I'm asleep, simple mechanicals are no big deal, but I am not ready to ruin a 214 because I know I don't know enough to work on them. Yet.

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida