Anything
that causes a loss of energy through the gear train to the pallet will
cause the pallet to impart less energy to the balance wheel, this will
make the balance lose amplitude. The loss of balance amplitude will mean
the balance wil take less time to complete one cycle, therefore the
watch will gain time.
Also
anything that causes the hairspring to become effectively shorter, such
as oil or magnetism that makes two or more coils to stick together will
increase the speed of the movement.
The
7s26/7S36 is a Seiko workhorse movement with excellent reliability and
used across the range of Seiko automatics. According to Seiko
Corporation, the 7s26 movement able to expect timekeeping accuracy to
+-15s/day. According to watch expert Mr. Ikuo Tokunaga, the 7s26
movement might get as far as +45 to -35 sec./day.
However
it has been known that this movement typically runs fast for a few
weeks when fresh from the factory. Also it keeps better time when worn
on the wrist all the time.
The 7S26/7S36 movement is a non-hacking movement that cannot be manually
wound. It beats at 21,600 beats per hour, so a tad slower than a
standard auto, which usually beats around 28,000 bph.
The fact that it cannot be manually wound is a drawback as it means if
you’re not wearing the watch for more than its 42 hour reserve, you’ll
have to rotate it to keep it going, or keep it on a winder, or reset the
date/time.
Some users report that the watch will "settle down" to a more reasonable
accuracy level after being worn for a couple of months. So, please let
the watch to settle down to a more accurate level.
A review by a Seiko customer:
Initially fast 7S26 Diver:
I have one as well. When I got it first it was about 16 seconds fast a
day, way too much for my liking. And gained further during night,
depending on storage position.Details follow:My day is approx 17 hours
long, wearing the watch whole day. I always take it off during sleeping,
sleep period being 7 hours.Deviation as follow daytime first seven
days: +15,+16,+11,+11,+14,+12 and +21 seconds. In adition came the night
storage (position): Dial up +3, Dial down +3, crown up +4, crown down
+8, crown left +11, crown right +1.As you see from numbers, daily gain
varies, and I have notised it goes up when I am more active. (but not
3-4 minutes in a night). on the other hand, I do not jogg or dance. But I
do swim and ski.
I tried to find a position to make the watch slow down during night with
no success, it was stable fast.After a month like this I opened the
watch and moved the lever slightly every day to make it slow down. Had
to do it 4 times (once a day) before I was happy. Now it stays within 2
seconds a day, and every night I check with my radio controlled alarm
clock. If Seiko is fast I place it dial up during night, it will loose 2
seconds. If it is 2 seconds slow, I place it crown down during night
and it will gain 2 seconds. Result: very accurate, has been the last 3
months since I slowed it down.You can also see from numbers above that
the fastest position is crown left (the position your hand would be
especially jogging or dancing, depending on the dance ofcourse. I
suggest to slow it down and then try to measure while jogging again. I
think that the faster it is the higher positional and activity errors
you get.