# Bulova Apollo 15 - chronograph alignment problem



## FloridaPhil941

Hi all,

I'm a (very) long time lurker here on WUS and have learned a lot. This is however my first official posting!

I just picked up an Apollo 15 homage watch and really like it but have one small problem that is a major problem to me because of my horological OCD.

The Bulova manual describes how to reset the alignment of the chrono seconds hand and the 1/10 subdial. However, the alignment on the minute subdial on my watch is off and there is no description of how to reset that.

When the chrono is reset, the minute subdial resets to the 59 minute position and it's not until an entire minute of running the chrono that the minute subdial is aligned to the vertical position.

Can anyone suggest a solution for this? I have Googled this to death and button pressed every combination I can think of but cannot fix it.

Incidentally, the hands were aligned when I first got the watch so I am not sure what has happened.

Thanks in advance.


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## Kilovolt

In this watch the minutes sub-dial hand is mechanically connected with the chrono's seconds hand and for this reason the user can not adjust the two independently. 

To solve your problem you have to perform the alignment reset again but letting the seconds hand turn for a complete round until the small one points to zero. In your case you have to push the A button 60 times. I am not sure about the 60 times though, let's say you push it until both hands point to zero.


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## FloridaPhil941

Kilovolt said:


> In this watch the minutes sub-dial hand is mechanically connected with the chrono's seconds hand and for this reason the user can not adjust the two independently.
> 
> To solve your problem you have to perform the alignment reset again but letting the seconds hand turn for a complete round until the small one points to zero. In your case you have to push the A button 60 times. I am not sure about the 60 times though, let's say you push it until both hands point to zero.


Thanks for the suggestion. I gave that a try but as soon as the chrono is reset to zero, the minute hands go straight back to 59 :-( Bulova said to send it in for repair, I think I'll just return it to the seller and get another one.


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## Kilovolt

Yesterday night I did the thing myself in order to fully understand how it works.

I pulled out the crown to the second stop and pushed the upper button. The chrono hand needs 4 or 5 pushes per second so you can adjust its zero position very precisely. If you keep it pushed the hand turns quickly. I made it turn for 5 complete rounds then adjusted it to zero while the minutes subdial indicated 5 elapsed minutes. Then pushed the crown in.

I ran the chrono again for a few seconds then reset it and both hands went back to zero. The small minutes hand resets like the one of a mechanical chrono i.e. it has not its own tiny motor but just a gear that becomes connected to the chrono seconds hand with a 1/60 ratio and is reset by a lever. In this way they saved one motor. Clever.


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## FloridaPhil941

I ran the chrono again last night and stopped it after 20 minutes or so. When I pressed the lower reset button, the minutes subdial reset to an even earlier point on the dial i.e. instead of resetting at the 59, it reset at the 50 mark. A subsequent running of the chrono resulted in the minute subdial resetting at the 45 mark. Bulova did respond to my support enquiry and suggested I send it in for repair. Since it still has the plastic on the metal band and has not been resized, I'm just returning it to the seller and will order another.


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## odd_and_vintage_fan

Bummer. Definitely sounds like you got a lemon.

Hope the new one serves you well! I very much enjoy mine.

Welcome to the forum, by the way.


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## FloridaPhil941

So, I returned the watch and received a second one. I just returned it too - the 1/10 second subdial hand was installed off-axis and traveled in an elliptical orbit when running - 



 (



)

On ordering my third copy, the AD told me that Bulova knows there is an issue with some of the production run. He personally checked the watch before mailing it to me so I am hopeful that third time will be the charm.


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## Habu968

Great info, thanks


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## how2collect

FloridaPhil941 said:


> So, I returned the watch and received a second one. I just returned it too - the 1/10 second subdial hand was installed off-axis and traveled in an elliptical orbit when running -
> 
> 
> 
> (
> 
> 
> 
> )
> 
> On ordering my third copy, the AD told me that Bulova knows there is an issue with some of the production run. He personally checked the watch before mailing it to me so I am hopeful that third time will be the charm.


This is sad to hear since I am considering one but at least now I know what to look for if I get one too.
Any other known issues other than problems with the subdial?


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## FloridaPhil941

how2collect said:


> This is sad to hear since I am considering one but at least now I know what to look for if I get one too.
> Any other known issues other than problems with the subdial?


Not that I have heard. In fact, I haven't seen any other reports of issues with this watch, other than mine. Figures. My third sample is perfect. Don't let my experience stop you from ordering - it's a really nice watch.


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## how2collect

FloridaPhil941 said:


> Not that I have heard. In fact, I haven't seen any other reports of issues with this watch, other than mine. Figures. My third sample is perfect. Don't let my experience stop you from ordering - it's a really nice watch.


Great to hear that you got a working watch. I purchased mine last week and really enjoyed it this past weekend.

Quick question... when your seconds chrono hand is at the top is it lined up with the 60-mark for the Tachymeter?
I don't know if the Tachymeter is supposed to be aligned that way, but it looks like the Tachymeter bezel is a little off-center.


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## odd_and_vintage_fan

how2collect said:


> Great to hear that you got a working watch. I purchased mine last week and really enjoyed it this past weekend.
> 
> Quick question... when your seconds chrono hand is at the top is it lined up with the 60-mark for the Tachymeter?
> I don't know if the Tachymeter is supposed to be aligned that way, but it looks like the Tachymeter bezel is a little off-center.


Mine has an optical illusion that makes it look 1/5 of a second off. Looking at it straight on (to my eye, at least), the 60 mark is just barely to the right of the 12:00 hash, lining up with the first 1/5 second mark. But when I look at the 120 mark at the bottom, it's off the same amount to the RIGHT as well. I thought the whole thing was mis-printed just slightly to the right, but the marks for 80 at 9:00 and the mark for 240 at 3:00 are evenly spaced from the interior edge of the ring.

Then I just stopped caring.

Realized the official press photo from Bulova themselves has a wonky Tachymeter scale.


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## how2collect

odd_and_vintage_fan said:


> Mine has an optical illusion that makes it look 1/5 of a second off. Looking at it straight on (to my eye, at least), the 60 mark is just barely to the right of the 12:00 hash, lining up with the first 1/5 second mark. But when I look at the 120 mark at the bottom, it's off the same amount to the RIGHT as well. I thought the whole thing was mis-printed just slightly to the right, but the marks for 80 at 9:00 and the mark for 240 at 3:00 are evenly spaced from the interior edge of the ring.
> 
> Then I just stopped caring.
> 
> Realized the official press photo from Bulova themselves has a wonky Tachymeter scale.
> 
> View attachment 8285794


I thought mine was slightly misaligned to the right as well.
I probably spent a solid hour this weekend looking at my watch, Bulova's marketing materials, other user's photos -- then I decided to give up and just enjoy the watch.


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## FloridaPhil941

That last picture looks way off. Mine is ever-so-slightly off to the left on the 120 mark. The top appears to be dead accurate.


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## how2collect

I think I found another problem with the moon watch -- the chronograph start/stop button.

When you press start, it will always start, but if you press too lightly to stop the timer, it's possible to feel the 'click' but the chronograph will still continue to run.


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## Kilovolt

how2collect said:


> I think I found another problem with the moon watch -- the chronograph start/stop button.
> 
> When you press start, it will always start, but if you press too lightly to stop the timer, it's possible to feel the 'click' but the chronograph will still continue to run.


I just checked mine and found a similar problem: when the chrono hand is running and I stop it it does not restart with a timid press, it needs a definite one.

My understanding is that while in a mechanical chrono the click comes from the actual lever action in an electrical one there's a clicking device separate from the actual switch.


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## how2collect

Kilovolt said:


> I just checked mine and found a similar problem: when the chrono hand is running and I stop it it does not restart with a timid press, it needs a definite one.
> 
> My understanding is that while in a mechanical chrono the click comes from the actual lever action in an electrical one there's a clicking device separate from the actual switch.


I think you might be right, it sounds like that might be why timid presses don't work.
I don't have this problem with the chronograph on my Citizen Blue Angels though... I wonder if it's because the chronograph buttons on that watch are actual buttons? On the moon watch, they seem to operate more like levers rather than a direct button.


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## Minabird

FloridaPhil941 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm a (very) long time lurker here on WUS and have learned a lot. This is however my first official posting!
> 
> I just picked up an Apollo 15 homage watch and really like it but have one small problem that is a major problem to me because of my horological OCD.
> 
> The Bulova manual describes how to reset the alignment of the chrono seconds hand and the 1/10 subdial. However, the alignment on the minute subdial on my watch is off and there is no description of how to reset that.
> 
> When the chrono is reset, the minute subdial resets to the 59 minute position and it's not until an entire minute of running the chrono that the minute subdial is aligned to the vertical position.
> 
> Can anyone suggest a solution for this? I have Googled this to death and button pressed every combination I can think of but cannot fix it.
> 
> Incidentally, the hands were aligned when I first got the watch so I am not sure what has happened.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


Thanks for the chat - not sure how I found it but it helped me figure out how to align the chrono hands - thanks again


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