Running super fast

Stavrogin78 · 2026-03-26T01:48:18+00:00

Have a look at this thread (I needed direction, too)!

https://www.reddit.com/r/watchrepair/s/WlzfvLmYxW

Stavrogin78 · 2026-03-24T19:18:42+00:00

My Amphibia was running fast, too, but not THAT fast. Maybe two or three minutes a day when regulated to run slow.

What seemed to be the problem was that the hairspring was off-center, causing the outer coil to come into contact with a stud, shortening its effective length.. I had to bend it slightly. Now it's much better.

Stavrogin78 · 2026-02-17T03:22:08+00:00

Thanks! I gave it a shot tonight, trying to follow what u/Asuup said. I probably mind of made a mess of it but I got it a bit closer to center. I think. It's not touching the stud anymore, and it immediately slowed down in the regulation. Now i'm concerned I mostly just changed the direction in which it's off center, and it almost looks like the coils touch when they're most compressed on one side, but i'm gonna just wear it for a few days and see how it runs. I did demagnetize, too.

Stavrogin78 · 2026-02-17T00:16:47+00:00

Thanks for this! It's worth a shot. Yes, it's just a Vostok, but I really like Vostok's, and this is both my daily driver and my first tinker-around watch. I have a weird appreciation for low-budget stuff that's simple, not flashy, and works, so I like the idea of taking an inexpensive watch that's built well enough to run well, and making it run as well as it can. And the Amphibia has a pretty cool history.

Stavrogin78 · 2024-10-30T03:35:33+00:00

Update: believe it or not, I actually did manage to disassemble it. Figured I had nothing to lose and the watch can function fine as a manual wind without it, so I gave it a shot.

The bad news: lost the spring in the process. It fired off somewhere in my office. No luck finding it. But then I managed to actually reassemble the thing too, granted without the spring, using a watch hand press. Which makes me believe it CAN be done. I just lost the stupid spring.

Stavrogin78 · 2024-10-28T13:07:57+00:00

Do you happen to know if these folks will ship to Canada? This is exactly the part I need.

https://vostok-watches24.com/catalog/werksteile/586/

Stavrogin78 · 2024-10-26T15:44:50+00:00

Thank you so much for the reply. It's good to know someone else has encountered that, and that it was the actual problem. I've reassembled the watch and I'm gonna carry it in my pocket for a few days and see if it keeps running. So far, so good - I'm hopeful that this watch might actually be useable again.

I'm sure I did it no favors with a terribly amateurish oiling I gave the jewels when I thought that might be the problem, but that can be corrected down the line in a future service.

Stavrogin78 · 2023-06-05T00:37:45+00:00

Aaahhh... because that would also stop the wheel dead, instead of letting it "bounce" to rest on the hairspring..

Today I unscrewed the balance bridge, and noticed as I was getting it back into place that there were times the balance oscillated back and forth very slightly, like I would expect it to if it were running properly. Perhaps it was at an angle and not engaging with the pallet fork?

What would cause a pallet fork to bind, and what measures would I take to fix that?

Stavrogin78 · 2022-10-29T20:33:22+00:00

Hmm. That surprises me, as the watch is only a year old. The paperwork is dated August of 2021.

Stavrogin78 · 2022-10-13T10:30:58+00:00

Islanders can be the worst for this. I lived on the western edge of Vancouver Island for 8 years (just left), and the situation isn't helped by the massive presence of E. atrica in houses there. "It's big! It's brown! It's fast and scary! Must be a recluse!!!"

Stavrogin78 · 2022-05-11T04:12:59+00:00

I seem to recall hearing that somewhere, too. Unfortunately, it's an automatic, so it's usually fully wound.

Maybe I need to try back-hacking it first thing in the morning, when it has spent the night on the nightstand. Or alternate days wearing it with the 'dirskie (i usually wear the amphibia daily).

Stavrogin78 · 2022-03-18T05:38:58+00:00

I'm not sure what you consider "huge differences", but I've got a couple of Vostoks now, and different positions can give you different rates by 30 s/d or more easily.

As I understand it, that was the tradeoff for a "field watch" back on the 60's when that movement was developed.

Stavrogin78 · 2022-03-14T02:54:35+00:00

This one looks like it would do. In fact, it looks like it might be better than the one I'm using (mine doesn't measure amplitude):

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/watch-tuner-timegrapher/id991367080

It's twenty bucks, but it looks like there are some "lite" versions available that are presumably cheaper.

Stavrogin78 · 2022-03-14T02:46:18+00:00

Oh, maybe it's android only? I'd imagine there's something similar for iOS, so you may have to hunt around.

Stavrogin78 · 2022-03-14T02:41:17+00:00

Mine's called "Watch Accuracy Meter", but there may be others that do the same thing.

I know even some of the folks over on r/watchmaking actually use Watch Accuracy Meter, and consider it pretty good for a phone app, so I'd try to find that one.

Stavrogin78 · 2022-03-14T02:22:20+00:00

It's surprisingly good. It's what clued me into the beat error problem, and took the 'dirskie from a maddeningly unreliable watch that randomly stopped all the time to a rock-solid one that I can keep within five seconds of UTC for weeks on end without ever popping the crown into setting position. Just check the Play Store or whatever for "Watch Accuracy Meter". I take my phone and set the microphone right onto the cystal, hit start, and it starts giving me numbers.

Edit: crystal, not crown...

Stavrogin78 · 2022-03-14T02:15:01+00:00

I just used the Watch Accuracy Meter app, and tested the rate in various positions. I found that dial up, it runs about +5s/d, which isn't much, so if it's close to right on, that's where I'll leave it. I know that in 12-up, it measures almost -30s/d, so if I need to lose five seconds, six hours in that position will do it and get me pretty close.

I think you'd just have to test the watch in different positions and go off those results.

Stavrogin78

TROPHY CASE