P2...Worth fixing or not?

[Timecollector]

I noticed this ebay auction P2 was priced very well from what little experience i have watching Pulsars but has some issues with the read out. I have no experience with the module stuff and was wondering if it can be repaired or replaced. Thanks

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151145957347?ss ... 1423.l2649

[BENRUS]

I've been wearing this watch non-stop for a couple weeks since I got it back from Bruce, and it seems to work just fine if I keep it on my warm wrist, but if I take it off overnight, I wake to it with top row segments not lit up. It does lose about a minute every few days.
I have no idea what repairs have done inside. Watch did not work at all when I sent it to him.
I have not opened it up for inspection since I got it back.
Best regards,
Matt

[Timecollector]

Thanks for the details Matt. Never figured I would get the seller to describe the watch on here. I gather there are no warranties on the repairs you had done? Wish I had a spare module. Maybe a good job for Hanno. I hear he repairs stuff like this?

[BENRUS]

Thanks for the details Matt. Never figured I would get the seller to describe the watch on here. I gather there are no warranties on the repairs you had done? Wish I had a spare module. Maybe a good job for Hanno. I hear he repairs stuff like this?

No, no warranties.
Hanno has replacement-repair options available.
Best regards,
Matt

[Timecollector]

So have you ever searched out another repair guy to fix your modules? Seems your batting 0 for two with current repairman... How about PLT-1 or Hanno? I have two that need repaired and haven't decided which avenue to take, if any. I am not impressed with any alternatives so far.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mens-Pulsar-P3-LED-Digital-Watch-Bear-Japan-Band-Works-Repair-Video-/151169826395?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item23326c7e5b

[BENRUS]

I love the SASM replacements, they work great

[BENRUS]

I have had no troubles with Hanno, or his repair work. I love his SASM replacements

Best Regards,

[richard_uk]

@Benrus. Why all the secrecy? The information you posted earlier should have been left to serve as a warning to other members of the kind of 'service' they might receive if they send their watch/watches to the same place you did.

[BENRUS]

@Benrus. Why all the secrecy? The information you posted earlier should have been left to serve as a warning to other members of the kind of 'service' they might receive if they send their watch/watches to the same place you did.

True, No secrecy

So have you ever searched out another repair guy to fix your modules? Seems your batting 0 for two with current repairman... How about PLT-1 or Hanno? I have two that need repaired and haven't decided which avenue to take, if any. I am not impressed with any alternatives so far.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mens-Pu ... 23326c7e5b

I sent some trades (Pulsar Service case, P4 module non-working, and a few other parts) for exchange of diagnosis of my P3 (which did not work at all when I sent it to him), the repair of a P2 bracelet & possible fix of its module, and I had a P4 that didn't work...It came back as I sent it. My items were shipped back in two seperate shipments after litterally crying, and begging on the phone with him to return my watches. He had my watches from about February till October.

He did basically what I asked him to do for the trade, so I have no complaints on the work done...I was not hopeful for the watches from the get go. My main focus was to have insight on possible repairs if any could be done, and to have the watch band fixed on the P2.
What I am most displeased about is that it was like beating a dead horse to get my watches back.

I almost want to pry that display off the P3 just to see if repair attempts were made with conductive glue as an experiment on my watch. He told me he was out of silver solder durring the time of my repair work, and was not able to do ANY repairs...Not just mine.
Literally, just after getting my last watch (P3) back, he telling member to send him their watch for same similar type display repair work:
viewtopic.php?f=79&t=6798

What's a DISPLAY STICK? He get some of those somewhere recently?
I am not bashing anyones work, But be careful who you choose.
I have had no troubles with Hanno, or his repair work. I love his SASM replacements

[Phasar66]

Problematic modules behave in estrange ways, sometimes is an easy fix, QC, replacing or adjusting reed switches, cleaning contacts. sometime is not just one thing wrong with them, specially if they were expose to leaking batteries or the expel gases and damage is where you can't see it.

The easy fix might make it work for awhile then to die in a few days or give other symptoms like ghost segments, temperature sensitive, weak drivers or just logic chips behaving badly. in my short experience with Pulsars I have seen all this. I have some die in front of me and nothing in the world can revive them, after I replace a QC. blinking date, running seconds. I seen all this. no wonder there is only few individual that take the chance on touching other peoples watches for this reason, there is no guarantee how long is going to be running properly.

Bruce is a very skillful individual and does great work but doesn't do miracles even that sometime I think he does. He will do his best to keep your watch as original has possible, even when when He retrofits a oscillator chip He uses Pulsar ribbon wire, His soldering skills are the best I had seen. Besides He is an asset to this community. If you haven't learned anything from His post is because You haven't put attention, I devour them.

My Omega and P3 with SASM for me have the same value than the others, never a problem and keep amazing time and if something goes wrong Hanno can fix it. You need your Module to be repair, check how many people will do it. You want one that will work and comes with a warranty, You know who make them. Some respect for this People who do their best to keep our old watches working.

[Kasper]

Problematic modules behave in estrange ways, sometimes is an easy fix, QC, replacing or adjusting reed switches, cleaning contacts. sometime is not just one thing wrong with them, specially if they were expose to leaking batteries or the expel gases and damage is where you can't see it.

The easy fix might make it work for awhile then to die in a few days or give other symptoms like ghost segments, temperature sensitive, weak drivers or just logic chips behaving badly. in my short experience with Pulsars I have seen all this. I have some die in front of me and nothing in the world can revive them, after I replace a QC. blinking date, running seconds. I seen all this. no wonder there is only few individual that take the chance on touching other peoples watches for this reason, there is no guarantee how long is going to be running properly.

Bruce is a very skillful individual and does great work but doesn't do miracles even that sometime I think he does. He will do his best to keep your watch as original has possible, even when when He retrofits a oscillator chip He uses Pulsar ribbon wire, His soldering skills are the best I had seen. Besides He is an asset to this community. If you haven't learned anything from His post is because You haven't put attention, I devour them.

My Omega and P3 with SASM for me have the same value than the others, never a problem and keep amazing time and if something goes wrong Hanno can fix it. You need your Module to be repair, check how many people will do it. You want one that will work and comes with a warranty, You know who make them. Some respect for this People who do their best to keep our old watches working.

I'm with you on this one...all these incredible watches are more then 25 years old, so old electronics. We all want to make it working again like it was original. But sometimes age kicks in and there is nothing we can do about it.
Oogh god..i have several watches that i have given all my attention and even mouth to mouth resuscitation , but that doesn't mean nothing. Some still die a few days or months later. Reason unknown.

And we all do this for the love of these gems, mostly in our spare-time. I try to cut glass for friends in my spare time..it takes time...i have to chase the correct glass (thickness) then try to figure out how to cut it...sometimes i have to
cut several to get it right. But still..thats better then no glass.
So thanks to all the guys who try to help us..nothing make me more sad then seeing a perfect beautiful watch lying in a drawer gathering dust.

[bucko170]

Good communication is the key!

If things are going to take longer than originally discussed or something unexpected has occurred with the repair the correct course of action would be to communicate this with the owner of the watch, repairers should be aware that they are potentially handling some ones pride and joy or investment.

Just my two cents.

[richard_uk]

Thank you for re-posting your experience BENRUS, and thank you Phasar66 for posting your views too. This is how things should be in my opinion, open and honest views good or bad, so others can make an informed decision.

[BENRUS]

Thank you for re-posting your experience BENRUS, and thank you Phasar66 for posting your views too. This is how things should be in my opinion, open and honest views good or bad, so others can make an informed decision.

Right on
Again, It was only a quick diagnosis of the 3 watches that was to be done, and the fixing of a broken P2 bracelet.
I got what I agreed upon with him, and I have no complaints on the work done.
It stinks that the watches were not fully repairable, but I wasn't expecting them to come back working at all.
He did do a nice re-finish job on the P2, and he included I think a different timescreen to match the beutiful work he did on its case.
He was busy this Summer with the making of his wrenches, and most every time I called Bruce for an update...All I would get is a guy named "AL" on the phone??? I would leave message for Bruce to call me back, and that NEVER happened.
Ive spent countless hours on the phone hearing the gripes about Dennis, Gibs, or whomever else is under his skin at the time (when I do finally get ahold of him), and I always get weird excuses for reasons why my watches were still on the bench, and not being sent back yet. Bruce has only called me once in the whole time Ive known him, and it was because there was a transfer of funds to my bank for the purchase of a P1.
Bruce started with NO "Pulsar Service Cases" for his "Testing Machine"...he now owns 3 (all from me, and 2 have spacers for the P4 modules).
When I find these treasures on my hunts, I've always gone to Bruce with them. I'm done helping him.

Opinions are like @zzholes, everybody has one

My phone number is available by request, call me. Or, Send me a PM

Best Regards,
Matt

Your welcome Bruce.JPG

ServiceCases.JPG

[fronzelneekburm]

Not like I'm a fan of dirty laundry, but still thanks for being honest. Seems to be the curse of "hobbyist" watch repairs that they can take long. If you dig deep enough you can even find dirt being thrown at Hanno here (Some post like "is he a scammer, i havent heard from him since xx months")although he is the owner of these forums... I guess it just shows how liberal he is that you can still read this here...

I remember how long repairs or orders took by Roger Riehl, he was infamous for taking years to fulfill an order. When he died he had loads of unfinished orders left.

Not saying I'm an exception. Back in the days when I was younger i was offering repair services myself. Not as a real "joB" but "sometimes" on the weekend, like when i was really bored. Needless to mention that after a while i just pulled the emergency brake as repair work just kept stockpiling. And back then i had calmer hands... Well i prolly still have some repair patients that stayed with me (i.e. watches that were NOT returned to the customers). Shame on me. I just wasn't really organized in any way and if people didn't bother me long enough they eventually just gave up and were never heard from again in some cases. In a nutshell I am just glad I am not offering anything like that any more. Don't wanna defend Bruce or anyone here - free internet and your damn right to be honest, so kudos to you. just made me feel nostalgic to hear all that. Felt a bit like "been there, done that". I guess my main advantage was that i never gave out my phone number.

[BENRUS]

Now censored.

People have been contacting me, and sharing much of the same experiences I've had, and they have asked me to share what I know.

That's been clouding better judgment, and Ill let the sleeping dogs lie.

Best regards, and sorry everyone.

[abem]

Benrus,

Against my better judgement, I might share an observation. You may find that vintage digital watch collectors tend to include a disproportionate number of technically minded men who, as a demographic, are not known for being skilled in the nuances of human communication, interaction and social graces.

Also, to be fair, sometimes things just get away from us. I've also been guilty on occasion of not getting back to people as promptly as I should (ahem, Kasper, who was very gracious about it - thank you).

So, I guess my advice would be to try not to take it personally, it sort of goes with the demographic. If it makes you feel any better, the other week, I put Bruce in touch with P1 #10 and helped to arrange the deal, calling and reassuring the seller etc. and after it was done I didn't even receive so much as a brief thank you note. Sometimes little things like that are appreciated and in your case probably a little communication would have gone a long ways towards making you feel better about how things turned out.

-abe.

[Timecollector]

I will say both good and bad have been covered in this thread and both very accurate. I will also say he sells some very nice black battery spacers and some very handy case back tools. As with anything in life, things could be a whole lot different (better) with alittle more work/communication and courtesy. A very common theme on this thread and many other interactions both with this hobby and others.

[Ole Joe]

Well, since posters to this thread seem to think that it is good and healthy to be honest concerning the subject line of the thread, I'll add the experience I encountered with Bruce. Several months back a member was inquiring about a display problem. I responded with a post asking for pictures of the front and back of the display, as I might have the one he needed. The requesting poster didn't want to take a chance on getting the wrong display, said he had too much money invested, yadda, yadda, yadda. Bruce PM'd me and said he also needed displays for a couple of watches that had missing segments etc. I sent Bruce two different manufactures displays, along with the specification sheets, FREE GRATIS and at MY expense. Several weeks passed with NO word from Bruce. We only live about 85 miles apart and it normally only takes one day from me to him when using the standard postal service. I sent him two emails and a PM through this forum inquiring as to whether he had even received the displays. He didn't bother to respond to either email or PM and to this very day I haven't gotten as much as a thank you, kiss my ass or heard a word from him. Needless to say, my business dealings with Mr. Wegmann have forever ended.

Ole Joe

[morrison2951]

Sorry to hear all this about Bruce. He's on the other side of the country from me and over the years, slightly more than a decade now, I have enjoyed my phone conversations with him and have learned all about this crazy hobby of ours from him- chasing these horological dinosaurs of times past and trying to keep them running!

The man literally has likely forgotten more about these vintage Pulsars than most will ever know!