Clock oiling question

[cazclocker]

I just got a set of the Bergeon 30102S dip oilers, and I like them a lot for dropping a controlled amount of oil. Now I’m looking at the Bergeon oil cups – the ones that come in different colors. What’s the difference between the different colors? With the dip oilers I know the difference is the size of the tips – but are there any real difference between the different colors of the oil cups?
Thanks…
…Doug

[david pierce]

Doug,
I have a set of the Bergeon 6885 oil cups in red, blue, green, black and yellow. The colors represent different sizes of cups red being the smallest and yellow the largest. The Bergeon oilers are also color coded acording to size to go with the matching cups. The oil basins are all red glass encased in colored plastic bases with the same color lids and cost about $20.00 each.
david

[cazclocker]

@david pierce wrote:

Doug,
I have a set of the Bergeon 6885 oil cups in red, blue, green, black and yellow. The colors represent different sizes of cups red being the smallest and yellow the largest. The Bergeon oilers are also color coded acording to size to go with the matching cups. The oil basins are all red glass encased in colored plastic bases with the same color lids and cost about $20.00 each.
david

Thanks for that, David. Out of curiosity, what is specifically different between the colors of the oil cups? Is it the depth of the oil well? And also, do you find that you use one more than the others?
…Doug

[chris mabbott]

That’s right Doug.

I have a newer set of Bergeron pots that have a little indent for a certain amount of oil and another older set that do not.
Because I take time between oiling jobs I just dip out the bottle as I only use one type of oil, synthetic, for the train gears.

The color coding helps so a person doesn’t become confused if they use various grades of oils.

[david pierce]

Doug,
Pocket watches and clocks have a forgiveness factor that does not exist in wrist watches. A little too much oil in a smaller movement will screw up the works. This is also true with a pocket watch movement but a little less critical. The general idea behind the oil cups and the oilers is to not get too much oil on the on the oiler blade and then transfer the excess oil to the watch parts. With this idea in mind the oilers come in different blade widths and the oil cups are made with different sump depths. This is helpful when dipping the oiler into the cup to load it. The red oilers have the smallest blade width and the red cup has the most shallow depth. This is used for applications where an extremely small amount of lubricant is required such as escape wheel teeth. The black oiler is a little larger than the red oiler and is used for general wrist watch lubrication applications such a pivot jewels. The green oiler is larger and is called a general use pocket watch oiler. This is not used much in wrist watches. The yellow oiler is the largest and is used lubricate mainsprings if you oil them that way. Larger pocket watch mainspriings can and probably should be lubricated with grease but I use oil for wrist watch mainsprings. The white oiler is used to apply grease to certain areas where two plates can rub against each other.
The watch oils come in different viscosities and have names like MOBIUS SYNTALUBE 9010, MOBIUS 8141, MOBIUS D-5, MOBIUS 8217,GLISSALUBE 20, PML GREASE, SILCON 7 and so on and so on. And boy, are they expensive!
The good news in all of this is you can get by with fewer lubricants and tools for the larger mechanisms. The general thought behind this is Low Speed/High Load (high viscosity), High Speed/Low Load (low viscosity).
david

[cazclocker]

OK, now I get it! Thanks guys, I really appreciate your explanations. So the different colors use a different “sump depth”. So far I only work on clocks, so I’m guessing I’ll just use the larger sizes of the oil cups.
Thanks again!
…Doug

[arutha]

Hi Doug, I use the cheap indian oil pots, all the same colour but I just write on the lids in marker pen what is in there. Not as posh as the bergeon stuff but then £21 against £2 for an indian one which holds the oil and doesn’t leak seems to be a no brainer
https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/oil-pots-single-cups-indian
Paul.

[bernie weishapl]

I bought 2 that have 3 oil cups in one. Cost $7 ea and work well for me.

[david pierce]

To the best of my knowledge Bergeon does not actually make anything. I believe they contract the products out and then serve as a distribution company. I have seen many products such as an automatic watch winding machine and a watch hand insertion tool that have to be the same products made in the same factory in China. In many cases the cost difference is a factor of 20X for the same product. The winding machine sold by Bergeon is around $1000.00 and the one directly from China is around $70.00. I don’t know who makes their oil cups but I am reasonably sure that Bergeon does not.
david

[arutha]

David,
you are quite correct about Bergeon, Daryn’s brother is currently doing the Wostep watchmaking course, I think he is doing work experience with Jaeger or a company like that in London at the moment, and he has it on good authority that a lot of Bergeon stuff is now made in China. There is nothing wrong with that of course if a quality product is being produced but it does make me wonder how much we are paying for the name, the oil pots being a case in point?
Paul.

[bernie weishapl]

Yes Paul I think Bergeon makes a boat load of money. A friend of mine was over in China about a year ago. He is a watchmaker I have known for 20 yrs on another forum. He said they had oil cups over there that looked identical to the ones Bergeon sells for $128 and $285. He said one sold for $18 that was die cast with ceramic cups and $28 for one with agate cups and silver base for them. He said he hadn’t seen them on the market here in the USA yet. So he said Bergeon is probably buying them for less than that so you know they are making big bucks and the bucks is all for the Bergeon name IMHO.

[daryn]

Very costly those yellow cardboard boxes!

[arutha]

There are certain things they market that are just of better quality but I can service a clock just as well as the next man and I don’t use a single Bergeon tool along the way. I am sure the tools I use will last as long as anything Bergeon produce and do the job as well as anything Bergeon produce. I just can’t justify spending £200 on a set of Bergeon screwdrivers, I am aware that a few of you use them and think they are great but at the end of the day guess what, they un-do an do up screws. I have a set of AF swiss screwdrivers that are less than a quater of the price, and do exactly the same job. Don’t get me wrong, I am not having a dig at anyone, we use what we feel happy using but charging us so much more than is fair does not make me a fan of the company, if anything, because of their prices, I would look everywhere for an alternative rather than give them my money (and breathe 😡 )
Sorry for the rant, I am off for a cup of tea and a sit down

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