Facts About Bulova's Accutron 214 Movement UPDATED 8/20/20
Dec 26, 2017 9:11:54 GMT -8
Post by Accutronitis on Dec 26, 2017 9:11:54 GMT -8
Here are Some Amazing Facts About The Bulova Accutron 214 Movement that You May Not Have Known !
UPDATED 10/21/2020
The wire used for the coils was drawn by Bulova because no outside source could make it
The wire used for the coils is one-fifth the thickness of a single human hair
The coil wire is .015 (15 microns) thick
There are 8000 turns of wire used to make the coils
If unspooled the wire used is 90 meters long or 350 feet
The specialized copper wire used for the coils was drawn through findly drilled eyes of diamonds until it was .0005" in diameter
The indexing wheel at the heart of the Accutron 214 is 2.4mm in diameter and .04mm thick Or 0.095 in. in diameter and 0.0015 in. thick
The indexing wheel has 300 perfect ratchet teeth, the straight sides of which are 1/100mm (10 microns) 0.0004 in. tall x 0.0008 in. long
The index wheels for the consumer market are made of a alloy called Beryllium Copper and Paliney 7 for the marine and aerospace markets
The Paliney 7 index wheels were made of a Palladium, silver age-hardenable alloy that in addition contains 10% gold and 10% platinum
The square index & pawl jewels are made of synthetic ruby 0.007 x 0.007 x 0.002 in. and are polished on all six sides
The index & pawl jewel spring fingers are about 1/8 in. long and are made of spring material 0.0006 in. thick x 0.005 in. wide
The index ratchet wheel and the index & paw jewels ran in normal operation without any lubrication for the service life of the movement
In one year the indexing wheel turns 38 million times
The tuning fork vibrates 360 times a second or 360Hz
The tuning fork vibrating at 360Hz is equal to a "beat rate" of 2,592,000vph of a balance wheel movement
The tuning fork vibrates 31,104,000 times each 24 hours
The tuning fork vibrates 11 billion times a year
The tuning forks are made of a precipitation hardened alloy called NiSpan-C
The maximum sustained torque of a 214 on a 1.35V cell is 0.07 oz-in, while maintaining timekeeping accuracy
It can be driven to up to 0.42 oz-in sustained, for non-timekeeping applications
The 214 stall torque is 0.75 oz-in
The Accutron 214 movement is one the most efficient synchronous motors ever constructed with an efficiency of 24%
as compared to other small synchronous motors from the 1960's which had an efficiency of about 0.1% to 0.2%
The power consumed by an Accutron 214 movement is only eight one millionths of a watt
The micro-soldering operation within the electronic module was done by hand
Bulova's marine & aerospace clocks, timers and switches based on the 214 movement were designed and manufactured in a division of
the Bulova Watch Company known as the Bulova Timer Laboratory at Bulova Park, Flushing, N.Y.
The Bulova Accutron Marine Navigators which used three 214 movements orientated 120 degrees apart had a deviation rate of far less that a second a day in any position
Bulova's marine & aerospace clocks, timers and switches based on the 214 movement used a high-performance lubricant called Dupont Krytox High Vacuum Grease
On all self-powered long-duration Accutron timers "beat rating" precision testing was performed
NASA used an Accutron 214 based clock with a 60-hour dial in the Project Apollo's moon-landing craft
Every completed Accutron sat on a tray with other completed watches for a six-day shelf reading test to determine accuracy
All these facts have been relearned through countless hours of online searching and pouring over mountains of Bulova documentation to find the needles in the proverbial haystacks!
Like these...
And there you have it, Amazing Facts About The Bulova Accutron 214 Movement that You May Not Have Known !
UPDATED 10/21/2020
The wire used for the coils was drawn by Bulova because no outside source could make it
The wire used for the coils is one-fifth the thickness of a single human hair
The coil wire is .015 (15 microns) thick
There are 8000 turns of wire used to make the coils
If unspooled the wire used is 90 meters long or 350 feet
The specialized copper wire used for the coils was drawn through findly drilled eyes of diamonds until it was .0005" in diameter
The indexing wheel at the heart of the Accutron 214 is 2.4mm in diameter and .04mm thick Or 0.095 in. in diameter and 0.0015 in. thick
The indexing wheel has 300 perfect ratchet teeth, the straight sides of which are 1/100mm (10 microns) 0.0004 in. tall x 0.0008 in. long
The index wheels for the consumer market are made of a alloy called Beryllium Copper and Paliney 7 for the marine and aerospace markets
The Paliney 7 index wheels were made of a Palladium, silver age-hardenable alloy that in addition contains 10% gold and 10% platinum
The square index & pawl jewels are made of synthetic ruby 0.007 x 0.007 x 0.002 in. and are polished on all six sides
The index & pawl jewel spring fingers are about 1/8 in. long and are made of spring material 0.0006 in. thick x 0.005 in. wide
The index ratchet wheel and the index & paw jewels ran in normal operation without any lubrication for the service life of the movement
In one year the indexing wheel turns 38 million times
The tuning fork vibrates 360 times a second or 360Hz
The tuning fork vibrating at 360Hz is equal to a "beat rate" of 2,592,000vph of a balance wheel movement
The tuning fork vibrates 31,104,000 times each 24 hours
The tuning fork vibrates 11 billion times a year
The tuning forks are made of a precipitation hardened alloy called NiSpan-C
The maximum sustained torque of a 214 on a 1.35V cell is 0.07 oz-in, while maintaining timekeeping accuracy
It can be driven to up to 0.42 oz-in sustained, for non-timekeeping applications
The 214 stall torque is 0.75 oz-in
The Accutron 214 movement is one the most efficient synchronous motors ever constructed with an efficiency of 24%
as compared to other small synchronous motors from the 1960's which had an efficiency of about 0.1% to 0.2%
The power consumed by an Accutron 214 movement is only eight one millionths of a watt
The micro-soldering operation within the electronic module was done by hand
Bulova's marine & aerospace clocks, timers and switches based on the 214 movement were designed and manufactured in a division of
the Bulova Watch Company known as the Bulova Timer Laboratory at Bulova Park, Flushing, N.Y.
The Bulova Accutron Marine Navigators which used three 214 movements orientated 120 degrees apart had a deviation rate of far less that a second a day in any position
Bulova's marine & aerospace clocks, timers and switches based on the 214 movement used a high-performance lubricant called Dupont Krytox High Vacuum Grease
On all self-powered long-duration Accutron timers "beat rating" precision testing was performed
NASA used an Accutron 214 based clock with a 60-hour dial in the Project Apollo's moon-landing craft
Every completed Accutron sat on a tray with other completed watches for a six-day shelf reading test to determine accuracy
All these facts have been relearned through countless hours of online searching and pouring over mountains of Bulova documentation to find the needles in the proverbial haystacks!
Like these...
And there you have it, Amazing Facts About The Bulova Accutron 214 Movement that You May Not Have Known !