Ducati white face veglia question

[Rick]

I got that screw out and the bezel turned off easily by hand. Take my advice- clean your workbench before starting and don't be in a hurry, you'll probably only get one chance to get it out without buggering the slot- I had to file a screwdriver tip to fit and felt like I was disabling a bomb- one slip from disaster.

small screw.jpg

Rick

[machten]

I felt the same way, Rick, and lost my courage. I dropped mine off at a local instrument place who had done some excellent work on some other Ducati gauges for a friend. The guy on the desk looked at it and says "Jeez, a 4 to 1 white face Veglia. I'm suprised any of those are still running. They were c%$p. We used to take them off anything that came in with them and throw them in the bin."

I asked him if he'd emptied his bins recently...

After he said he had emptied his bins and there were none around, I told him what he could get for one and to be careful with this one. That left him shaking his head.

Kev

[JasonB]

As I am a Instrument repairer, I am surprised at what this Tacho's go for.
Beside the drama of removing the little lock screw on the bezel, the biggest drama is the hair spring rusting and causing calibration problem.
My suggestion to anyone who pulls theres apart, lightly grease or oil the hairspring to preventing from rusting, as these are very hard to find, due to the size.
But apart from that they are a good instrument, as far as any mechanical tacho, a chronometric would of been nice from Ducati.

JasonB

[machten]

Disappointingly, I got a call back from the "pros" on Thursday. They couldn't even release the bezel. On the up side, they didn't force it. Back to the drawing board.

Kev

[Jordan]

Something that worked for me, with a Smiths speedo that had a screwed on bezel that was stuck:
Cut a strip of inner tube rubber and wash/dry it to remove any slippery powder. Wrap it around the bezel, and tighten a worm drive hose clamp around it.
The speedo was mounted to a bracket, clamped in a vise. Tapping on the head of the hose clamp brought it loose.
With your tacho, it might also help to heat up and expand the aluminium bezel.
Reminder to remove the locking screw!

Jordan

[Rick]

If the guy who couldn't get the bezel off is the same guy who throws them away, you're lucky to get it back- professionals often bail out early if they think the job will take so long that the customer will be unhappy with the bill. Jordan's rubber and hose clamp suggestion is worth a try- I don't know much about what's inside a tach, so I'd be reluctant to strike the clamp, but using the leverage idea from a plumber's 'strap clamp' might let you apply a nice even pressure to twist it off. I tried a strap clamp. but they're designed for plumbing, and it was too big and clumsy for the tach- next time I'll modify the strap clamp and use a hose clamp to secure the band to the bezel.
Rick

[machten]

Thanks for the tip Jordan. I'll give it a go once I pick it up.

Kev

[JasonB]

I have never come across a Bezel that I couldn't remove, As Jordan has suggested, I too use piece of rubber from an inner tube, I also spray some lube (WD40) around the edge of the Bezel. My last resort is to carefully apply some heat on the bezel, with a small butane blow torch which always seems to work, sometimes I break the glass but you can get these cut...

Regards
JasonB