Seiko Watches - Page 3 - Recent Questions, Troubleshooting & Support

This is one of several photographs taken with Macro detail to help anyone wanting to install a capacitor in a Seiko Kinetic watch. When I first started there was very little guidance, save for some hasty videos that assumed too much prior knowledge, or photos that made little sense. So, with the basics: 1) The all important peg. The Mylar Insulator has a hole which slips over this peg... doing that initially and correctly will save you frustration galore. I will post another photo later about the orientation of the Mylar Insulator, as it absolutely must be, so that it does cover what it needs to cover, and yet does not block transmission of a charge where it shouldn't. A tricky little piece of dexterity that caused some cursing occasionally. 2) A specific little square notch that is only for the Left Hand contact of the Capacitor. If you start with the Capacitor "upside down" (with the shiny side face down" unlike other watch batteries, and slide it tipped downwards initially, as shown in the photo, then it will slip under the little lip that is has to hide under, which is at 12 o'clock in the photo 3) This is a little detail most videos never mention: There is a tiny foot on the end of the Right Contact. That foot absolutely must be in contact with the tiny piece of materiel as shown in the photo. If it is not, the capacitor won't work. 4) A piece that touches one of the coils, as it is supposed to. Caveats: 1) Do not use metal tweezers 2) Do not Short the Bridge Plate and the foot's resting materiel area 3) There is a gold toned metal spring retainer...be certain the Capacitor is fully inside that spring, and not merely laying on top of it. (I like to envision the foot as the bottom of the number "9", and in that manner the gold toned spring is at the top of the "9")

When I started replacing the Capacitors (rechargeable batteries) in Seiko Kinetic watches 10 years ago the most difficult part for me was getting the darn case back off the watch. I struggled and cursed and busted my knuckles and strained a thumb and lost those tiny tiny (and expensive) screws in the carpet and so on. So I want to save others the same frustrations. I have 2 ways now that I use to remove the screw-back case backs from Seiko Kinetics. This is one method. I will document the other method in a later post. You will need: A Nut appropriate for the size of your Seiko's case back Krazy Glue or something similar Acetone A wrench or some kind 1. You will clean the case back to remove oils and such that inhibit the Krazy Glue from making a firm seal 2. Glue the nut onto the case back 3. Let the glue set. I use baking soda to expedite that process. 4. Don't get impatient. 5. When the Krazy Glue has set just turn the nut with a wrench and the case back will easily turn off. 6. Then simply soak the case back with the nut glued onto it in a capful of acetone 7. The acetone will dissolve the Krazy Glue and the nut will separate from the case back. 8. The case back is now free from the watch, and you have access to the inside of the watch to replace the Capacitor. Voila. Finished There are other methods touted all over the Internet. Trust me, over the years I tried them all. The biggest scam I think is the sticky rubber ball they sell. You are supposed to be able to just buy that rubber ball and press it against the case back and turn it and the case back will come off. Hogwash. Dozens of the Kinetics I have worked on are over 20 years old and have never been serviced, but have been worn daily and are simply horrible to work with. The gaskets ("O-ring") is usually dried out and shrunken and adhesive. There is grime and dirt and skin oils that have degenerated and more and more. Don't waste money on a rubber ball. I will post the other method soon. Let me know if you have any questions about Seiko Kinetics.

I frequently am sent Seiko Kinetics and the User says "this watch stopped and I tried to put a capacitor in it but it still didn't work. I know the capacitor was good because it was new and I checked it with a battery checker." A Seiko Capacitor (battery) must NEVER be checked with a battery charge measuring device of any kind. The inexpensive battery checkers that are sold on eBay or Amazon will deplete a capacitor immediately and fully. And when the "new" capacitor is placed into the watch the watch will not run. It cannot run because it has not power to run because it has a depleted capacitor. And that capacitor will NOT recharge. The battery/capacitor is DOA. Dead. DNR. ##### (Another frequent mistake is to use metal tweezers when installing the capacitor instead of plastic tweezers. Or making contact with either the + pole or the negative pole. Or not correctly installing the mylar insulator in EXACTLY the same position it was when the battery was removed. It is tricky, and it trips up a lot of battery replacement attempts. And occasionally I receive a watch that the User installed the battery upside down. A Seiko capacitor does not go into the battery well like most watches; it goes in "upside down", with the Positive side DOWN, and the negative side facing you when it is in the well. But the most common reason a new capacitor placement does not make the Seiko Kinetic run is that when the rotor assembly was removed the User pressed down, even the slightest bit, when removing the screw that holds the rotor. That downward pressure pushes the second hand into the watch crystal, and it is now simply a dead watch. The slot in the Rotor screw is the thinnest slot I have ever encountered, and I have several expensive screwdrivers that are truly precision. But I have to use a whetstone to carefully grind down a precision screwdriver to an razor thin tip, before I can safely remove that Rotor screw. I often break a single edge razor in half, and just use the razor blade, because it is thin enough enter into the slot of the screw.

When replacing the capacitor/battery of a Seiko Kinetic watch it is necessary to remove the pendulum that swings to create the electricity to charge the rechargeable capacitor. The pendulum is fixed by a screw with a very thin slot. If that screw is pressed down while it is being removed it will push the hands of the watch into the crystal, and the watch will be ruined. It is vital to only turn the screw, and not apply pressure downward. The slot of the screw too thin for most screwdrivers, and I either use a knife sharpening stone to shave off the sides of a precision screwdriver ( I like Wera brand screwdrivers ) or I use a razor blade.