I have a presidental perpetual that quits during the night. when I put in on in the morning it works fine. How long should it run when dormant

What a great watch! It has a super-fine piezo-electronic motor to move the date wheel! Very cool. Its quite a show to go through the date/leap-year check, and then observe the watch catch back up to the correct time afterwards. Battery lasts ~five years.
I downloaded the manual (your model number on watch back) after a short search online (beware of trojans/viruses).
Setting after a battery replacement requires shorting certain pins inside the watch to set the leap-year, and date. The back unscrews, and may require the special watch-wrench, available online. I unscrewed mine VERY CAREFULLY with fine pliers, confirming that I was doing this in a clean, dust-free location. The instructions are quite specific, must be followed carefully to set up correctly. Have a fine wire jumper to set the leap-year. I learned this because I did not want to pay an inexperienced jeweler $100 to replace the battery.

The watch needs to be serviced. Its a great watch and the service wont be cheap but you will get it back in wonderful shape. A good repair shop can do this work, try a yelp search in your area.

Your watch has a perpetual calendar which can only be set from inside the watch using the touchpads around the edge of the movement.
This link is for the instructions
http://www.seikousa.com/support/ib/pdf/SEIKO_4F32_8F32_8F33.pdf

Does your watch have a date change?

The date usually changes about this time and it could be this that is stopping it working. Having it serviced could solve the problem, it it hasn't had any attention for a long time.

Thank you for contacting FixYa.<br /> You will have to contact Seiko on this one. I would tell you to just change the date to the day before and then forward the time, but I think I would just contact them as it is such a delicate timepiece.<br /> <a href="http://www.seikowatches.com/technology/kinetic/index.html">http://www.seikowatches.com/technology/kinetic/index.html</a><br /> Best regards.

http://support.tissot.ch/

Omega claim that your watch will run for 40 or more hours, so stopping overnight should not happen. I doubt if you need to be particularly active to wind up the watch, otherwise this would make the problem quite common. My one experience of owning an automatic did not raise this sort of problem.

Discuss your problem with your supplier and describe your use. As you correctly say, having to hand wind i defeats the point of buying an autoamtic. (It could be that you have been sold two duff watches, however unlikely this may seem, it could happen).

That does sound like a peculiar problem. Without looking at it it's difficult to say. It possible the date change - stopping situation is co-incidental. All mechanical watches, particularly high quality one such as this should be serviced every two to three years to ensure optimal performance and preserve their value. I recommend you take it to a qualified repairer. Good luck.

Dude, of course it stops during the night - it's a perpetual motion / kinetic watch. It doesn't have a conventional battery. When you move your arm (while wearing it), the natural motion of your arm will 'automagically' wind the watch. There's nothing wrong with it - these types of watches always have to be re-set in the morning if you don't wear it to bed (or you don't toss and turn in bed).

Kristy,
Stress won't affect your watch's timekeeping ability, but position will. When you lay the watch down at night, in which position is it? Also, during the day, is your arm in a static position for long periods of time? A Rolex chronometer (like the Datejust) should run approx. 36 hours after being fully wound -- without any movement. If the watch stops dead, then there is a problem with the movement and/or rotor. If it losses time, I'd bet on a static position problem. Let me know the answers to those questions and I'll try to help you get to the bottom of the problem.