I have been trying to find out how this German ww2 timer was used to “hunt submarines”. I do not own the timer, just very curious about the markings. I’ve asked on a couple different military watch forums. I’ve received some useful feedback, but no one seems to really know, including the. There can be multiple reasons why the hands don't reset to zero. Although chronograph hands typically are a tight fit, it is possible that they have loosened up. Inside there are heart shaped cams that reset the hands to zero, it is possible that they or the levers are gummed up, or there are other mechanical problems. There is not one set answer, and I would recomend that someone having. The Elgin Timer is not really a stop watch in the standard sense. Stop watches stop and start the train and escapement, whereas the Elgin Timer's train and escapement run as long as it's wound. The stopping and starting of the hands is accomplished using what is essentially column wheel chronograph works under the dial. Recently acquired an Elgin stopwatch I have never seen before. The way the dial is marked it for timing a 5 mile run at between 120 and 500 miles an hour ?? It reaches the 30 mark (times 10=300) on the dial in 1 minute which as it states on the dial if you did a 5 mile run in one minute you. It's an Elgin grade 582 'Jitterbug' timer. Made in 1943, in this case. It's not really a stopwatch in the standard sense. It runs as long as there's power in the mainspring. It uses what are essentially chronograph works to connect the hands to the train. It should be running at 30 bps, so that the hand, if it were there, would go around in 10 seconds, and the minute register hand ticks over. The timer was also used as an instrument/tool while firing ordinance. By watching down-range, and knowing the muzzle velocity of the ordinance being fired, accurate distance and site adjustment can be calculated based on elapsed time determined to within fractions of a second. This is a minute timer with a 30 minute register. I don't have this specific model to compare but have a similar 10 second model with a 6 minute register with the Mini balance wheel. When the detent stem is pushed the hands lock but the movement keeps running then on the second push the hands will return to 0 Most hack watches have a wire lever that pushes against the balance wheel that is. I just acquired another MEYLAN stopwatch at a small antique mall in Ferdinand, IN for five bucks, just seemed like to good of a deal to pass up. It was wound “tight” and did not want to tick, but I purchased it anyway as I thought to myself, “Self, since the American Olympic trials in swimming. You have a Waltham Model 11609 , Type A, No. 105 timer/stopwatch. The large hand measures seconds in 1/5 sec. increments and the small hand measures minutes up to 30 min. This is one of many stop watch variations made by Waltham. Info from Military Timepieces by Whitney. As to exactly what it was used for, no idea. The purpose of the gear train is to convert the slow rotation of the main wheel into the faster rotation needed to tell the time. Each wheel in the train turns faster than the previous one. Left to its own devices, the gear train would whiz along like a buzz saw, and would run down in a few seconds. What regulates its speed instead is called the escapement. The escapement has two parts. The.