Any watch that has an adjustment lever can be tweaked. Problem is you never really know how sensitive it is until you try it. Sometimes a breath is all it takes to make it hours off. Other times you have to nudge it a bit to get it to register a change. You'll likely have to keep at it until you figure out how your particular watch reacts to the adjustments as you dial it in.

I have an SKX that I could not get right. No matter what I did it would just not seem to settle down. One day I said eff it and it just rotated the adjuster one way, back the other way and then back into the center and started over. That did it. I got it dialed in after a few days so it keeps good time IF I WEAR IT. If it put it on a winder it doesn't stick. It's just a watch that needs to be worn and moved into different positions all day long to get it to even out. Sadly I have more than a few watches and can't wear it enough so it's one I put on the winder to get it running, set it to the correct time the next morning, wear it all day and then put it away for a week or so. No sense worrying about it as it's accurate enough for that day.

So, yeah, the 4R36 can be regulated. I say buy the Timegrapher and try it. Just don't push the wrong lever or touch the spring.

 

Use a wooden, plastic or some tool like Dummont which is non magnetic to move the lever. Very tiny movement is ideal. Take a few days to time and regulate till you get within reasonable timing.

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The 4R36 can EASILY be regulated to +/- a few seconds per day dial down on the TimeGrapher. Then move it to crown down and observe for same. There is mild positional variance in most cases, sometimes not which is obviously better. Get those 2 numbers to within 5 seconds per day of each other and within 10 seconds per day and you'll be golden. On a new 4R36 after a few weeks of run-in COSC numbers while sitting still on the TG is easily achieved.

I've had dozens of 4R36s and currently have maybe one dozen 4R35 and 4R36s and they all run within 10 seconds per day on the wrist. Some came that way out of the box, others required a small tweak on the timegrapher.

Go get yourself a TimeGrapher - they are useful and FUN! The 4R36 is a $40 movement new, so why stress over the possibility of a big time disaster? If you trash the movement, which is very unlikely unless you are hamfisted bull in a china shop, you have no financial worries if the worst case scenario played out - which trust me won't happen !

 

I regulate all my mechanical watch movements myself. I have no prior experience. I have borked up two balance springs, though. I'm better at it now than I was when I started.

Seiko 4R movements tend to be pretty inconsistent, which makes regulating them not really an exact science. And you need a timegrapher to do it correctly.

 

I've had to regulate several of my Seiko movements. You can use the tip of a retractable lead pencil to push the adjustment lever (or whatever it's called) - the hollowed out tip will prevent slipping. The smallest adjustments can change the timing by several seconds per day. The pointer connected the adjustment lever isn't even an actual point it's more of a rounded over bump, which makes keeping track of your adjustments difficult. Sometimes I feel like these movements just weren't made with accuracy in mind. Anyways, I cut tiny triangles from post-it note pads or low-stick tape that doesn't leave residue to help me keep track of where the pointer started and how much I've moved it. I also use a magnifier. It usually takes me about 4-10 tries before I get a good result. I aim for +2 secs per day but usually end up with +4-6 secs, which I'm perfectly happy with.

 

I regulated the 4R36 in my souped-up SKX007, which was initially running to the vicinity of -10 seconds per day (I prefer my watches to run fast). The regulation lever is both sensitive and imprecise. And it's not like regulation lever is incredibly easy to move. You have to put a surprising amount of force to move it, and so it's hard to put enough force to move it, but not too much force to move it drastically.

I didn't have a timegrapher, so it took quite a bit of trial-and-error in conjunction with the WatchCheck app on my phone. I managed to regulate it down to around +20 seconds per day (partly because I had got fed up with trying to get a smaller positive delta). But that regulation setting has actually sort of worked out for me. The 4R36 in my watch tended to lose time when rested on its side and as the power reserve got lower. So resting the watch on its side at night (in conjunction with wearing it for the day) tended to make the watch run around +10 seconds per day. Furthermore, I've found that the 4R36 in my watch has slowed down since I regulated it; now I can get it to run around around +5 seconds per day without even having to rest the watch on its side.

 

I have several watches with this movement or the NH35/36 versions, and they are all regulated to run very accurately, so yes it definitely can be done. I do it myself, and unless I get lucky, it usually requires more than one round. This could be due to my inexperience as a watchman But, I look at them on the timegrapher, then I do a real world test, where I wear and track it for a day or two. Then I go back on the timegrapher and adjust. So if it runs +15 in the real world, and reads +7 in dial down on the timegrapher, I'd probably go for -5 in dial down(subtracting 15 seconds plus a few, since I would rather have it running a few seconds fast than slow.. easier to pop the crown for 3 seconds to bring it back to dead on). So I use the timegrapher reading as a reference and the real world test as the real reading.

Go get yourself a TimeGrapher - they are useful and FUN! The 4R36 is a $40 movement new, so why stress over the possibility of a big time disaster? If you trash the movement, which is very unlikely unless you are hamfisted bull in a china shop, you have no financial worries if the worst case scenario played out - which trust me won't happen !

I actually had this happen, I slipped and bent the balance spring I believe. It started running erratically. I got a replacement movement for $35 dollars, and just replaced it yesterday, and it's back to running great. I learned how to replace the movement, hands, etc, in my tinkering hobby, as a bonus. I also learned a lesson about being careful near the balance spring
I now have an erratic movement which at some point I will probably dissassemble and try to fix, as my next learning project.

 

Yes, you can make a useful alteration to your watch by doing so. Be careful you don’t slip though or disaster could ensue.