Timex Waterbury Regulator 61, Instruction Manual

4

At the Shop – Cleaning it up 
 

The first step in restoring the movement was obviously to remove it from both the dial 
and the metal box that encased it.  To achieve this, the taper pins that held the dial to the 
box and the screws affixing the movement to the box were all removed.  In addition, the 

hands were removed to take the dial off.  After the 
movement was taken out, several observations 
were made concerning the general state of the 
movement.  It had indeed, been restored 
previously.  It was obvious that it had been bushed 
(discussed later) in some places that were not 
entirely necessary and not bushed in places where 
it would have been more helpful.  It was also 
painfully obvious why the piece kept bad time, or 
more likely 

no

 time.  Several pivot holes were 

worn, the pendulum was badly adjusted with the 
beat adjuster set far to the left, the escapement had 

far too much entrance drop and little to no exit drop, and it was probably set up 
incorrectly.  All of the problems with performance are easily taken care of with no cost to 
the school, yet there is an aesthetic scar on the 
escape pallet arm placed there purposely by an 
unknown repairman.  Unfortunately, it serves no 
cause for good or ill but to mar the otherwise 
gorgeous workings of a Waterbury Regulator 61, 
and it is irreparable.  Apparently, someone took 
a punch and a hammer and beat consistently 16 
times on the edge of the steel pallet arms.  

Again, it is 
senseless, useless, 
and obscene, so of 
course I’d like to point it out as a previous injury and not a 
recent one.  Everything else seems to be in order and original, 
making for a beautiful timepiece.  Having made these 
observations and taken pictures, the movement was then off 
to the ultrasonics to be cleaned.  An ultrasonic tank is used 

because the ultrasonics agitate the liquid, causing small implosions, and knock off more 
dirt and grease than is possible any other way.  First the 
movement was placed in an ultrasonic tank filled with 
ammoniated clock cleaning solution to remove the grease 
and dirt, as well as to brighten the brass.  Then, it was 
rinsed in water to take off the ammonia solution and 
placed in an ultrasonic rinse solution of 50% xylene, 50% 
mineral spirits to bond with and remove the water.  
Finally, it was put in the dryer for several minutes at 
about 125

o

 F to evaporate the rinse solution.  When it was 

finished, it was photographed again and ready to be 
disassembled.

Removing the Dial Pins