[Hans Moleman]

Fellow watch nerds!

I have a Longines Conquest VHP watch that runs too fast. Faster than the 10 seconds per year that Longines advertises with. My watch gains 5 seconds per month. Almost a minute per year.
I have been keeping an eye on it, for a few months now, and it is very consistent at gaining one second every 6.5 days.

It might be due for a new battery since it is almost 8 years old. The second sweep still moves every second though.

It has been quite good so far, although I have not paid it as much attention before. I think it used to be one or two seconds out per month.

Anyone else has experiences with a VHP? I read that the rate can be adjusted when serviced. Is that a good idea? Who could do that?

It is a 1999 Conquest Perpetual Calendar Calibre 546. It has 'L1.632.4' inscribed on the back. Not too sure what that stands for.

Cheers
Hans.

 

[Hans Moleman]

Excellent!
Looks like I came at the right time.

I've got all I need to have a go now.
Thanks for all the pointers.

 

[Hans Moleman]

Now that I have read the thread on watch regulation, I have to thank you and other members for sharing your experiences so freely!
Especially the link to the ETA calibre is invaluable.

I know now that I am not the only one with a VHP watch that is out of spec. Not because of faulty workmanship, but because of lack of adjustment.

A few points remain:
- I need to find a helpful jeweler who can open the case.
- This watch is worn continuously. Do you recommend that I keep wearing it, while I
regulate it?

Thanks
Hans.

 

[Hans Moleman]

I really would like to get this watch to run a few seconds off per year.

First hurdle; getting the back off and keeping it off so that I can adjust it a few more times until I am satisfied with the rate.
I tried a simple trick with a piece of inner tube. The rubber is quite soft and sticks well to the embossed back. Pressing down with my fingers and turning at the same time, the back slowly turned. You can only tell by the orientation of the embossing that it is turning though. No chisels required!

Once open its inner guts looked exactly like on one of the photographs. Only a lot smaller!
I soldered wires to three needles. Two for the power supply and one for the pulses. A washing peg kept the wires attached to the battery that had to come out and now served as an external power supply.

A few deep breaths and off it went. Balancing the two power supply needles with my left hand, I was dishing out the pulses with my right. 14 taps later I was happy it was all over and removed the power.

Battery back in, and I was relieved to see that the patient had not died. The date wheel was turning, which stopped after it had done its thing and the second arm was ticking away.

That was two days ago, and I don't think it has made a difference. But reading the manual again, I missed two instructions. The part of pushing the crown in after the tap adjustments, and waiting for 5 seconds before disconnecting the power. I am not too sure yet how I'll push in the crown while balancing the two power needles.

I might construct a small rig so that I don't have to hold these power needles all the time.

Anyway. I'll have to wait a week, to see if it is off to its usual 1 second gain per week. If that is the case I know for sure that I did not make any adjustments and I can repeat most of the above.

I don't like doing it, but I like it that it can be done.
Cheers.
Hans.

 

[Hans Moleman]

Very little progress so far after the second attempt.
The good news is that the watch is so far out of spec that its quickly obvious that the regulation hasn't worked. Every cloud has its silver lining!

The last effort I made sure that the external power supply works. The clock is ticking when the crown is in 'position one' and stops when in 'position three'.
The only thing I can think of now, is that I administer my correction pulses too quickly. I pulsed at two pulses every second or so. I have 14 pulses to go through, so obviously I was in a hurry.

I guess the little computer inside has to differentiate between bounces and proper pulses.
What do you think, do I need to take my time with these pulses?

Cheers
Hans.

 

[Hans Moleman]

The 'little progress' is an example of British understatement. It is supposed to be funny.
Here are the steps. The more eyes the better.

1. Put watch in cradle. It locks it into place.
2. Open back.
3. Put crown in position 3.
4. Remove battery.
4. Connect needles to the '+' and '-' terminals. As in diagram on page 19. The cradle holds these needles into place. I still have two hands available.
5. Connect the battery (that came out) to wires that are soldered to these needles.
6. Confirm that the watch runs on the battery via the needles by pushing the crown into position 0. Once released, it flips back to position 1, the date ring turns, then ticks normally. It will not run until pushed into the 0 position.
7. Pull crown to position 3 again.
8. With one more needle connected to the '+' of the battery; tap the 'C-' patch 14 times.
9. Wait 5 seconds.
10. Push crown into position 0.
11. Release crown and let it settle into position 1.
12. The date ring turns. The second arm ticks.
13. Pull crown to position 3.
14. Remove needles.
15. Insert battery.
16. Close watch.
17. Push crown to position 0.
18. Release crown. It will settle in position 1.
19. The date ring turns. The second arm ticks.
20. Adjust time.
21. Check rate.

I don't really know what happens when the date ring turns. I am too slow with turning the cradle over.

Thanks guys!

 

[Hans Moleman]

Agreed!
Thank you for your tenacity about this.

To make sure that these needles are providing the external power correctly, I will measure some voltages on the watch.

Can't wait to try again!
But first I'll have to wait a few more days to make sure I still have the same rate.

I admire you for your patience with your watch George. It must have taken ages before you knew the corrections worked.

Thank you!

 

[Hans Moleman]

I am an utter moron. It's official.
The correction needle was connected to the minus of the battery. It should have been the plus.

With all my attention focussed on these power providing needles the obvious escaped me.

My apologies for waisting everybody's time.

The good news is that my next effort will likely have a lot more chances of succeeding. Phew!

I have corrected the rate again, and I look forward to the results.

Sorry about that George!

 

[Hans Moleman]

Maybe we're not there as yet.

My watch was 0.03 second slow after I adjusted the rate.
I was a bit slow pushing in the crown! :-d
And after 17 hours of operation, it is 0.06 second fast.

That would equate to 1 second gain every 6 days. Which means no change in the rate.

Measured by video with a NTP calibrated computer clock as reference.

It's a bit premature, to draw conclusions on that so I'll make some more measurements the next few days.

 

[Hans Moleman]

These were the steps I used last:

1. Remove the battery (leave the crown at position 1 - neutral).
2. Connect needles to the '+' and '-' terminals. As in diagram on page 19.
3. Connect the 3V external power supply to the wires that are soldered to these needles.
4. Pull crown to position 3.
5. With one more needle connected to the '+' of the external power supply; tap the 'C-' patch 14 times.
6. Push the crown into position 1.
7. Wait 5 seconds.
8. Disconnect power (remove needles).
9. Insert battery and close the watch.
10. Push crown to position 0 to let the seconds hand run.
11. Set time as you would normally do.
Cheers
Hans

 

[Hans Moleman]

Don't worry George!
I enjoy doing it.
You have been a source of inspiration for me.

There is one more step that I would like to slip in somewhere. And I believe it makes a lot of sense.
It is step 3B as outlined on page 16. "Press the crown briefly; the watch will begin to work ..."

I suspect that connecting an external power supply, and for that matter inserting a new battery will not get this watch going. It needs this quick push on the crown for the watch to get to work.

So the corrections I made in my last effort were made to a watch that is asleep. Or at least not switched on.

And another guess: The quick push on the crown to get the watch going, was meant so that the watch could be stored without draining the battery. To store it until it was time to be sold.

In my last effort I made sure that the watch was connected to the external power supply by measuring the voltage as in Fig 1. on page 15. I would have liked to just switch it on, by pressing the crown briefly and then pulling the crown to position 3, and start the corrections.

What do you think? Do you remember anything about quickly pressing the crown to get the watch going while on external power?

Cheers
Hans

 

[Hans Moleman]

I've had another go at the correction. This time with the 'on switch'. Good name that!

Got caught out with one minor thing: Pushing this 'on switch' makes the date ring spin one complete turn. This seems to be quite a drain on the battery.
After the correction I put the battery back in and pushed this 'on switch' again. The date ring advanced only one number, then stopped.
A fresh battery made the date ring do its proper trick. The battery was 8 years old anyway; it did not seem to have the strength left for moving dates along.
The second arm was still moving every second with that old battery.

I'll keep an eye on the rate.
There will be more adjustments to come. I want it perfect.
Psychiatrists probably have a name for that.

 

[Hans Moleman]

:-!
One step closer to heqphoria!
My watch has stopped ignoring me.

It looks like I have over-corrected it, but at least it proves it responds to the correction.

Now I'll have to wait a few weeks to get some good numbers.

Thanks guys!

 

[Hans Moleman]

Looks like this story has a wee tail.

A few observations over two days all points to the fact that I've overshot my mark.
Instead of applying 14 pulses to go slower I must have administered 7 too many.
The watch went from 1 second gain per week to 0.5 second loss per week.
That is still an improvement but hardly an accurate adjustment.

Did I lose count?
Hardly.

It must have been the way I applied these 'impulses'.
I applied them as one would push a button. Holding it down a second or so.
That seems to be too long and is interpreted as several impulses.

Next time I'll try a quick tap method.

Cheers
Hans.

 

[Hans Moleman]

I am impressed you've managed to make a correction with the borrowed hands!
There doesn't seem to be enough space, even for my own two hands.

Thanks for catching a few of those arrows!

 

[Hans Moleman]

I really don't know whats going on here. I was diligently counting to 14 and seem to have ended up with 21.
The French instructions don't mention impulses. They talk about one or more 'contacts'. Only the German and English talk about 'impulses'.

Wasn't your watch over-corrected at one time in the shop?

Are we having the 0.33 seconds wrong?

 

[Hans Moleman]

If I do my sums again, with only 2 days worth of operation to go by, it would make a lot more sense if 1 impulse equated to a 0.5 second correction.

 

[Hans Moleman]

Its very early to draw conclusions, I agree.

What I know so far is that my watch used to gain a second every 6.5 days. And that is measured over a few months.

It now loses seconds. Not too sure how many exactly, but its getting closer.
:-!

I never expected this to be the full and final adjustment. I am happy enough to know that I can adjust it!
We'll get there eventually. I won't tighten the back as yet.

Cheers
Hans

 

[Hans Moleman]

Does your attempt converge Eeeb?
For what I can see I went from +4.6 to -3.5 per month.

That's 10 corrections too many out of the 24. I really should cut down on the coffee!
I'll have another go after a week.
If I can't get the applied corrections accurate, then there's no point in getting the numbers of required corrections accurate either. I might do a few for practice sake.

 

[Hans Moleman]

I am now getting good consistent measurements with recording a video of my watch together with a reference clock.