Indicator Refurbishing

[EmilioG]

One of my Compac indicators was acting strange so I decided to try my hand.
It is not an easy task. It required a new hairspring/pinion assembly. These are tiny delicate parts.
Many careful steps and a new crystal. Works like new! The new hairpspring came with a protective disc which the original did not have.
The indicator will now not be susceptible to damage with the updated part.

 

[brino]

where did you get parts?
was the price reasonable?
-brino

 

[EmilioG]

I bought the parts from LIIS, 3 generations of Swiss gage experts. Parts lists are on LIIS website. www.longislandindicator.com
Parts are not cheap. Very small, very delicate, very expensive. (some are reasonable). One tiny screw can cost $1.80
These are Swiss imported parts.
This is not easy work. It took me 3 days and I had to buy a bunch of tools.
I did it for fun. Not something I will do all the time. You need the patience of a Saint.
Rene at LIIS will be doing all of my repairs. I was being curious. Eben with his repair books, you really need hands on guidance.
Luckily, I live 30 min. away from LIIS. Total Pro's. Awesome workshop. He gave me another tour and tons of info.

 

[mikey]

Very cool, Emilio. It's neat to try your hand, even if its hard. At least you know what you know about this, which is more than most.

 

[EmilioG]

The Compac 245a is very tricky. Just finished refurbishing a Compac 214GA. Works like new now, silky smooth(er). Just cleaned and lubed. Complete disassembly. I didn't have to take the movement apart. Nothing was broken, thankfully.
You should see how small these parts are. A spring the size of a grain of rice.
I have to grind a screwdriver to mimic the Tesa $500 special bearing tool in case I want to tighten the bearings.(rare). I will only go so far with this for now. There's a lot more to this than I realized. Indicators are relatively simple compared to a Rolex watch e.g., but still. Not easy when you get to the nitty gritty details. LIIS does a complete disassembly. Everything.

Specialists use micrometer jewel presses, tiny broaches, staking sets and gages for checking your work. Thousands of dollars, not to mention the large inventory of parts one has to buy for business. Attached is a photo of Rene's very expensive special Tesa bearing wrench, my 245a. and My meager little starters work bench.

The Swiss workmanship of these gages are incredible. Compacs are built to last. The Best Test are very delicate and can't take much abuse.