Comments:
My Datograph stopped working....
I have had this piece sitting in my safe for about a year. It completly stopped working so I was under the impression that it needed service. I pulled the watch out last night to finally take it in for service, fully wound the watch for the heck of it, and noticed 12 hours later that its not only running but it is also keeping perfect time. I'm wondering how this could happen? Maybe one of the gears got stuck and it sitting so long dislodged the jam? Or could it be something else. What do you think?
That’s unacceptable. Please send it to me for a prolonged period to ensure that all is tip-top. I’m
not a watchmaker, but I’ll do if free of charge 😉.
J/K: that’s a beautiful gen 1 dato. If you can, have the Lange service center look at it to ensure it doesn’t need oil/grease
Watches occasionally need a twist or light encouragement to start running
It’s not uncommon, and you can always give it a little rotation in a horizontal plane if it doesn’t start (before you suffer heart palpitations)
Cazalea
Yes...
When I wound it fully a year ago nothing moved. It was totally dead. I'm guessing as it sat in the safe the tension from the full wind lossened the gears up and made the watch move again. In all my years of owning watches though this type of scenario has never happened to me before.
Some watches are self starting, others are not...
Some watches are self starting, others are not. Generally Swiss Lever escapements (like the Datograph for instance) will start on its own 99% of the time - when it gets enough motivation from the mainspring, the escapement will want to move and will start moving the escapement and impacting the hairspring/balance wheel.
HOWEVER, a different movement escapement, like the Robin Escapement is not self starting and most times you may need to encourage it to start by gently rotating the watch on a horizontal plane in order to get it started.
Seems like your Lange just has a way of stopping with the escapement and the hairspring/balance wheel in a specific position that makes it a little harder to start and it might need a little encouragement to start again. There is possible something else is the matter, but I just guess that your watch happens to stop coincidentally in a position where there's a bit more resistance to self start than normal. A gentle few rotations on a flat plane should help shake the system to start.
Thanks for the detailed response...
It has been a full 24 hours since I took it out of the safe and wound it. The watch is running perfectly, the movement must have gotten stuck. Too bad I didn't realize this early, it set unworn for about a year!
I feel you!
The Lange I gifted my mother hasn't been touched for years. Enjoy your Datograph! It's happy to get some wear!
Had a different issue with mine a few months back.
The chrono minute hand was not engaging correctly - sometimes missing a minute movement at the 60 second mark. I noticed that the balance wheel was banking, the watch gaining time and on checking discovered it was heavily magnetized. A few runs through my electrical demagnetizer had everything running perfectly again. Not sure how I managed to get it so heavily magnetized but a lesson learned!
This is a helpful point to consider, thank you.
Is there a way or tool to test for magnetization?
You’re welcome.
I use an app called Lepsi which runs on iOS. Not sure if it’s still available - uses the magnetometer in the iPhone. You can also use a compass - see if the needle spins when placed over the watch.
I didn’t consider the fact these phones have a magnetometer!
I don’t see Lepsi any longer, but there is some other app. Still, I like the idea of the compass too!
Thank you very much.🙏🏽
ow
That is not a good senario.
Good you received good advice.
I read some posts about many reasons why a watch do not run after a long break.
Oil old, magnetism, temperature changes, wet conditions.
I have also some watches that sleep a lot. After some time i take them out for some wrist time to keep them fit.
Good you received good advice.
I read some posts about many reasons why a watch do not run after a long break.
Oil old, magnetism, temperature changes, wet conditions.
I have also some watches that sleep a lot. After some time i take them out for some wrist time to keep them fit.
Well, after 48 hours....
There is definitely nothing wrong with this watch. It's running perfectly. Thanks for all of the helpful responses!
Tony
Tony
That's some fine German engineering.
Lange makes the best serially produced timepieces in the world. IMHO.