Owners Manual for L&R Vari-matic / Varimatic Automatic Watch Cleaning Machines. This includes a variety of older automatic machines, including the Model C. Also included are specific instructions for repairing the hydraulic system. Installation and schematics for the ultrasonic model 204 are also included. These appear to be similar, but not identical, to the model UU. A parts list is at the end.
L&R Varimatic Owners Manual
L&R Varimatic Owners Manual
Here are some notes on various repairs I've done to my machine. Some of this might be helpful to other people.
Inner column U seal replacement notes
The top bushing was a very tight friction fit, and the shims and c-clip were sitting above the groove for the c-clip. I used one of the paint can openers with the hook on the end to lift the brass bushing. Next time, I might use 2 of them back to back. Put a vise-grip on the loop end, and hit upward on the pliers. This left some slight damage that I cleaned up on the lathe. You can add a little piece of rubber on the top/back to protect the inside of the bushing.
I turned the OD of the bushing down slightly, so it was a slip fit in the column. I don’t think the shims would do anything if the bushing was a tight fit. I think this is important.
I saw that there is a set called a ‘motorcycle bearing puller’, that goes from 9-30mm. This might work. The smallest size would be close, but it might have to be modified to work. The brass bushing is fairly deep, and the cutout on the 9mm size might need to be lengthened to work. I didn’t try this. Now that the OD is reduced, this won’t be necessary.
The U seal is generic. The column piston is 3/8”, and the OD of the U-seal is a little over ¾”. Part # 6226-05, Buna-N 70 material.
The factory shims, according to my old price list, were available in .020”, .010”, and .006”. The shims are commercially available, and are called ‘arbor shims’. The ½” arbor shim has an OD of ¾” (which is the correct size). On my unit, I reduced the OD of the shims slightly because they were sticky going in and tended to hang up in the groove for the c-clip. I used a flexshaft 3/4” drum sander accessory to hold the shims on the ID, and then put them in the lathe. I used a diamond stone to reduce the OD. They don’t have to be perfectly concentric, they just have to sit under the c-clip. It looked to me like the factory shims OD were turned down. Precision Brand #25127 is .006” – they have every size.
To add shims, I found it best to stop the machine with the column up just about 1” or so (any more and the bushing will come out completely). When you remove the c-clip, the bushing wants to float upward from oil pressure. I lifted the column piston so that it created a little vacuum and pulled the bushing back down (enough so you can see the groove for the c-clip). Add your shims, then put the c-clip in the column. It won’t go down quite far enough to engage fully with the groove. You can run the machine so the column piston is all the way down, the bottom of the knurled bushing nut will press the c-clip and the shims down and get them into the groove. (This didn’t blow out the top bushing as the piston was travelling up, but it looked like it was pretty close to doing so.) You can probably tap it lightly with a hammer. You can use a socket to seat the c-clip as well. Best to test the socket OD before adding any shims.
It might be just as easy to remove the piston before changing the shims. Use the socket, and tap it with a 1 ½” rawhide hammer. It should take a few taps to seat the c-clip. If the c-clip goes in too easily, it will probably leak.
You just want to balance the number of shims, with no leaks, and a smooth operating action up and down. If it judders, there are too many shims in place.
I had problems with it juddering on the way up no matter how I shimmed it. I eventually found that exchanging the U-seal with a different one solved the problem.
The horizontal hole in the inner column piston is there for bleeding. It connects to the center hole. When you follow the bleeding instructions, this hole probably ends up just below the U seal. This area will fill up with oil when you bleed the system. Be sure to clean this channel before checking for leaks.
The manual appears to call the lock ring under the knurled bushing nut a ‘national ring’. Mine is a square profile thing that looks homemade to me. I don’t know what a national ring is, it might just be a simple round profile thing. I tried a 3/8” E-clip, but the OD of the clip was too big (.66”) to fit into the ID of the knurled nut (.565”). I think maybe a 5/16” or ¼” e-clip might work, if I opened it up on the lathe.
The micro switches are commonly available. Part numbers RV-1C25, V-16-1C25, or Honeywell V3-15 all appear to be about the same (that Honeywell switch looks like an exact match). I’ve replaced the switch on the timer motor probably twice. That might be a common problem. If the switch fails, the timer motor might not run at all.
I opened my transducer, and found about a teaspoon of dirty liquid inside of it. I’m assuming cleaning solution got in there. I replaced both gaskets on the transducer. Both are O-rings: 11/16” ID, 7/8” OD, 3/32” thick & 2 ½” ID, 2 7/8” OD 3/16” thick.
Spoke with Don at timemachinerepair.com. He was very helpful.
To test the ultrasonic function, he suggested to just remove the head/motor completely, put it in water, and hook it up. When it runs, you should see cavitation in the water. You don’t want the motor to run, since it stirs up the water.
He said he doesn’t pay too much attention to the brightness of the bulb, as a few factors can influence that (even the condition of the bulb itself).
I think the three capacitors at the base of the tube are most likely to fail. The older units don’t have a fan in the ultrasonic generator, the newer versions do have the fan (as shown in the schematic). Apparently, the fan helps keep the components at the base of the tube cool.
The tubes are usually what fails. He said the Chinese tubes work fine. I found some on aliexpress and ebay.
He said the top seal is the one that is most likely to leak. That needs to be shimmed so that it seals properly. He suggested to clean around the top completely, and then put the head back on, and then check for an oil leak after 1-3 days. You need the weight of the head to check for leaks. You can add shims to eliminate leaks. If you add too many shims, the head will judder as it moves up and down. He uses a socket to reseat the c-clip.
You can also clean around the bottom to check for leaks around the bottom 2 o-rings. He said those rarely leak, though.
He uses jack oil from Autozone for the hydraulic system.
Inner column U seal replacement notes
The top bushing was a very tight friction fit, and the shims and c-clip were sitting above the groove for the c-clip. I used one of the paint can openers with the hook on the end to lift the brass bushing. Next time, I might use 2 of them back to back. Put a vise-grip on the loop end, and hit upward on the pliers. This left some slight damage that I cleaned up on the lathe. You can add a little piece of rubber on the top/back to protect the inside of the bushing.
I turned the OD of the bushing down slightly, so it was a slip fit in the column. I don’t think the shims would do anything if the bushing was a tight fit. I think this is important.
I saw that there is a set called a ‘motorcycle bearing puller’, that goes from 9-30mm. This might work. The smallest size would be close, but it might have to be modified to work. The brass bushing is fairly deep, and the cutout on the 9mm size might need to be lengthened to work. I didn’t try this. Now that the OD is reduced, this won’t be necessary.
The U seal is generic. The column piston is 3/8”, and the OD of the U-seal is a little over ¾”. Part # 6226-05, Buna-N 70 material.
The factory shims, according to my old price list, were available in .020”, .010”, and .006”. The shims are commercially available, and are called ‘arbor shims’. The ½” arbor shim has an OD of ¾” (which is the correct size). On my unit, I reduced the OD of the shims slightly because they were sticky going in and tended to hang up in the groove for the c-clip. I used a flexshaft 3/4” drum sander accessory to hold the shims on the ID, and then put them in the lathe. I used a diamond stone to reduce the OD. They don’t have to be perfectly concentric, they just have to sit under the c-clip. It looked to me like the factory shims OD were turned down. Precision Brand #25127 is .006” – they have every size.
To add shims, I found it best to stop the machine with the column up just about 1” or so (any more and the bushing will come out completely). When you remove the c-clip, the bushing wants to float upward from oil pressure. I lifted the column piston so that it created a little vacuum and pulled the bushing back down (enough so you can see the groove for the c-clip). Add your shims, then put the c-clip in the column. It won’t go down quite far enough to engage fully with the groove. You can run the machine so the column piston is all the way down, the bottom of the knurled bushing nut will press the c-clip and the shims down and get them into the groove. (This didn’t blow out the top bushing as the piston was travelling up, but it looked like it was pretty close to doing so.) You can probably tap it lightly with a hammer. You can use a socket to seat the c-clip as well. Best to test the socket OD before adding any shims.
It might be just as easy to remove the piston before changing the shims. Use the socket, and tap it with a 1 ½” rawhide hammer. It should take a few taps to seat the c-clip. If the c-clip goes in too easily, it will probably leak.
You just want to balance the number of shims, with no leaks, and a smooth operating action up and down. If it judders, there are too many shims in place.
I had problems with it juddering on the way up no matter how I shimmed it. I eventually found that exchanging the U-seal with a different one solved the problem.
The horizontal hole in the inner column piston is there for bleeding. It connects to the center hole. When you follow the bleeding instructions, this hole probably ends up just below the U seal. This area will fill up with oil when you bleed the system. Be sure to clean this channel before checking for leaks.
The manual appears to call the lock ring under the knurled bushing nut a ‘national ring’. Mine is a square profile thing that looks homemade to me. I don’t know what a national ring is, it might just be a simple round profile thing. I tried a 3/8” E-clip, but the OD of the clip was too big (.66”) to fit into the ID of the knurled nut (.565”). I think maybe a 5/16” or ¼” e-clip might work, if I opened it up on the lathe.
The micro switches are commonly available. Part numbers RV-1C25, V-16-1C25, or Honeywell V3-15 all appear to be about the same (that Honeywell switch looks like an exact match). I’ve replaced the switch on the timer motor probably twice. That might be a common problem. If the switch fails, the timer motor might not run at all.
I opened my transducer, and found about a teaspoon of dirty liquid inside of it. I’m assuming cleaning solution got in there. I replaced both gaskets on the transducer. Both are O-rings: 11/16” ID, 7/8” OD, 3/32” thick & 2 ½” ID, 2 7/8” OD 3/16” thick.
Spoke with Don at timemachinerepair.com. He was very helpful.
To test the ultrasonic function, he suggested to just remove the head/motor completely, put it in water, and hook it up. When it runs, you should see cavitation in the water. You don’t want the motor to run, since it stirs up the water.
He said he doesn’t pay too much attention to the brightness of the bulb, as a few factors can influence that (even the condition of the bulb itself).
I think the three capacitors at the base of the tube are most likely to fail. The older units don’t have a fan in the ultrasonic generator, the newer versions do have the fan (as shown in the schematic). Apparently, the fan helps keep the components at the base of the tube cool.
The tubes are usually what fails. He said the Chinese tubes work fine. I found some on aliexpress and ebay.
He said the top seal is the one that is most likely to leak. That needs to be shimmed so that it seals properly. He suggested to clean around the top completely, and then put the head back on, and then check for an oil leak after 1-3 days. You need the weight of the head to check for leaks. You can add shims to eliminate leaks. If you add too many shims, the head will judder as it moves up and down. He uses a socket to reseat the c-clip.
You can also clean around the bottom to check for leaks around the bottom 2 o-rings. He said those rarely leak, though.
He uses jack oil from Autozone for the hydraulic system.