# Quartz Second Hand Runs Backwards???



## DBis (Aug 8, 2008)

I am working on a Luminox quartz watch and at times when i remove the battery and reinstall the second hand runs backwards. If I pull the crown out and move the hands then reset it starts going the right direction. Any ideas on what could be happening? Is this normal???
The Movement is a Harley Ronda 715 -LI (Lithium). Thanks for the help


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## AbslomRob (Jun 13, 2009)

Doesn't sound normal to me. I thought it might be a "low power" thing, but there's nothing in Ronda's technical documents to suggest that it should behave like that:
http://www.ronda.ch/pdf/ba775.pdf

My guess is that you need to pull the crown out to disengage the battery from the motor before replacing the battery; you might be damaging the electronics if you don't.


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## nick farley (May 13, 2009)

This is a fairly common problem, especially on movements like the mens size Rondas, that have a long stator plate. If the watch has been dropped or the battery has been changed the wrong way (unlikely in this case) then the stator plate can easily be bent, as it's just soft iron. Depending on how badly it's bent, the movement might run backwards all the time or run in either direction like yours does. It can be quite tricky to put things right as the amount of bend is very difficult to see and often requires a bit of experimentation to correct. It's usually necessary to dismantle the movement to rectify the problem, but if you don't want to do that, then a replacement movement is probably the easiest answer.


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## DBis (Aug 8, 2008)

Do you have any diagrams that might help me? Before I just replace the movement i would like to see if I can adjust the stator plate.


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## nick farley (May 13, 2009)

I don't know of any diagrams that would help - they would just show the position of the stator plate, and they aren't supposed to be adjustable.

However: - The stator plate is the long piece of metal that the coil sits on and through which the rotor is mounted. If you remove the train wheel bridge and the train wheels and rotor you will be able to see the whole length of the stator plate. The lower edge runs parallel to the hole cut in the main plate to accommodate the coil. The stator plate must be _exactly_ parallel to this cut-out through it's entire length. Additionally, the circular hole in the stator plate which surrounds the rotor must be exactly centered so that the distance between the rotor magnet and the plate is equal in all directions. All of these adjustments are critical for the movement to work correctly and the smallest variation will cause problems. This is one of those jobs that calls for a great deal of patience!

Good luck.


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## DBis (Aug 8, 2008)

Patience indeed!
I finally did it and figured it out. I replaced the stator and rotor and things are spot on again. I had to go back to my electrician days but got it to work. The hardest part was that in order to remove the stator plate I had to disassemble the gears/cannon pinion on this movement. Took me some time to get things working again but now I know. Thanks for the help.



nick farley said:


> I don't know of any diagrams that would help - they would just show the position of the stator plate, and they aren't supposed to be adjustable.
> 
> However: - The stator plate is the long piece of metal that the coil sits on and through which the rotor is mounted. If you remove the train wheel bridge and the train wheels and rotor you will be able to see the whole length of the stator plate. The lower edge runs parallel to the hole cut in the main plate to accommodate the coil. The stator plate must be _exactly_ parallel to this cut-out through it's entire length. Additionally, the circular hole in the stator plate which surrounds the rotor must be exactly centered so that the distance between the rotor magnet and the plate is equal in all directions. All of these adjustments are critical for the movement to work correctly and the smallest variation will cause problems. This is one of those jobs that calls for a great deal of patience!
> 
> Good luck.


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