Is this the 3861 movement issue?

[sportsfan0704]

Just picked up a pre owned Speedmaster 3861 with warranty dated December 2021. Love the watch. I assume it had been sitting at the dealer for a while without winding/use. Anyhow, I wound it up a bit and watch keeps phenomenal time. However, twice in the last 48 hours when engaging the chrono, the chrono seconds hand stops after about a minute and the watch freezes. As soon as I disengage the chrono, the watch runs again. I then wind the watch more, and when I engage the chrono it runs fine no issues (for at least an hour, I haven't checked longer). Is this indicative of just low power reserve from me not winding it enough (I'm new to the resistance of this manual wind) vs the well documented 3861 issues that the early references had with the brushing/lube? Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

[alllexandru]

You should talk with your dealer and get it serviced, still under warranty.
Probably it will take a while for you to receive it back but worth the wait to fix any issue for your peace of mind.

[EEpro]

That's broke. Warranty time.

[Gebbeth]

Sounds like a clutch failure.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by sportsfan0704

Just picked up a pre owned Speedmaster 3861 with warranty dated December 2021. Love the watch. I assume it had been sitting at the dealer for a while without winding/use. Anyhow, I wound it up a bit and watch keeps phenomenal time. However, twice in the last 48 hours when engaging the chrono, the chrono seconds hand stops after about a minute and the watch freezes. As soon as I disengage the chrono, the watch runs again. I then wind the watch more, and when I engage the chrono it runs fine no issues (for at least an hour, I haven't checked longer). Is this indicative of just low power reserve from me not winding it enough (I'm new to the resistance of this manual wind) vs the well documented 3861 issues that the early references had with the brushing/lube? Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

It sounds like the issue that's reported with the 3861.
Warranty is your only solution if you intend to use the chrono function going forward.
By all the reports i've seen, Omega has it under control now and it will come back running as intended

[sportsfan0704]

Brought it into Omega today. They looked at it, wound the watch until it wouldn't wind anymore, and the chrono has been running for 9 hours since with no issues...

Does this indicate that my issue was solely because I didn't wind enough or is it still possible it was the 3861 bushing issue? For the people that had the bushing issue fixed by omega under warranty, were they ever able to get 9 hours of chrono use?

[gnuyork]

I think that is a warranty issue. I have ran my chrono overnight (by mistake) several times with no issue. I will say that every now and then when I engage the chrono, it hesitates for the first split second but then catches right up... it doesn't happen every time, or even often, but it doesn't seem right. I'll eventually take it in, but it's not a big deal at the moment. I've had mine since Feb '21 when they were first available. No other issues to note. Stellar time keeping, +0.4 spd last I checked, which was quite a while ago.

[AEC]

Originally Posted by sportsfan0704

Brought it into Omega today. They looked at it, wound the watch until it wouldn't wind anymore, and the chrono has been running for 9 hours since with no issues...

Does this indicate that my issue was solely because I didn't wind enough or is it still possible it was the 3861 bushing issue? For the people that had the bushing issue fixed by omega under warranty, were they ever able to get 9 hours of chrono use?

Wind your Speedmaster until the crown won't turn any more and do this each morning. Use your chronograph for the things you would normally use it for. Use your watch this way and see how it goes. I'll bet your watch is fine.

[D007]

I had that issue and sent it in to be fixed on june 22nd and it was covered under warranty. Just got it back today.

My issue was more pronounced where the movement would stop / seize 2 seconds after the start pusher was pressed.

[Dirt]

Let us know how you get along with it.
If it works out that it was simply a matter of not winding the watch up enough. What do you attribute that to?
It is probably best wound fully once a day

[Doc Olives]

Can’t tell entirely from the OP but as described that’s entirely consistent with the watch being low on power (wind) at the time the chronograph is engaged. For a Speedy movement, using the chronograph doesn’t deplete additional power, but it does require additional power to be charged (wound) for the chronograph to run.

A simple way to see if the issue with this watch is just not being fully wound is the following. Wind the watch until fully wound (a hard stop, probably around 50 winds, you will feel it not be able to turn further) and time how long until it stops. For a 3861, that should be around 64 hours (+/- 4-5 hours). Then try the same experiment with the chronograph running the entire time. The watch will stop short of 64 hours. Stop the chronograph. The watch should start running; measure how long it continues to run. Add those two times together, they should equal how long the watch ran with the chronograph never engaged. If they are the same, it just means you need to fully wind the watch. If they are materially off from each other, take the watch in for warranty service.

[sportsfan0704]

Originally Posted by Doc Olives

Can’t tell entirely from the OP but as described that’s entirely consistent with the watch being low on power (wind) at the time the chronograph is engaged. For a Speedy movement, using the chronograph doesn’t deplete additional power, but it does require additional power to be charged (wound) for the chronograph to run.

A simple way to see if the issue with this watch is just not being fully wound is the following. Wind the watch until fully wound (a hard stop, probably around 50 winds, you will feel it not be able to turn further) and time how long until it stops. For a 3861, that should be around 64 hours (+/- 4-5 hours). Then try the same experiment with the chronograph running the entire time. The watch will stop short of 64 hours. Stop the chronograph. The watch should start running; measure how long it continues to run. Add those two times together, they should equal how long the watch ran with the chronograph never engaged. If they are the same, it just means you need to fully wind the watch. If they are materially off from each other, take the watch in for warranty service.

Wow thank you for this. I got 64.5 hours fully wound without any use of the chrono. What would you expect with running the chrono the whole time? how many less hours?

[Doc Olives]

Originally Posted by sportsfan0704

Wow thank you for this. I got 64.5 hours fully wound without any use of the chrono. What would you expect with running the chrono the whole time? how many less hours?

It’s surprisingly variable. Should be at least 50, but could even be 60+. What matters is that once the watch stops, press the 2:00 pusher to disengage the chronograph. The watch should start running again, and the amount of time it runs for added to the amount of time it already ran should equal 64.5 hours.

But, if after a full wind, or still in the first 24 hours after a full wind, engaging the chronograph causes the watch to stop - that’s a problem (and what happened to some of the first several months of the 3861 production before the bushing update).

[7enderbender]

That’s disappointing and would drive me nuts as I would always expect this to happen again. Good that it under warranty but even then it appears to be a flawed design somehow.
If it was me I’d return the watch and pick up an older Speedy reference that is time tested.

[sportsfan0704]

Originally Posted by Doc Olives

It’s surprisingly variable. Should be at least 50, but could even be 60+. What matters is that once the watch stops, press the 2:00 pusher to disengage the chronograph. The watch should start running again, and the amount of time it runs for added to the amount of time it already ran should equal 64.5 hours.

But, if after a full wind, or still in the first 24 hours after a full wind, engaging the chronograph causes the watch to stop - that’s a problem (and what happened to some of the first several months of the 3861 production before the bushing update).

I previously ran the chrono after around 38 hours since last full wind and it ran fine at that point, so is that an indicator all is good?

I'm in the process of running it from a full wind chrono engaged the entire time to see how it runs