Can battery state effect timekeeping?
Discussion
I've had my Alfex everyday watch for a number of years and it's always kept perfect time.
I've never had a battery changed unless the watch has actually stopped.
Over the last two or three days the watch has started to lose a minute or two a day.
Could this just be a duff battery (it was replaced 4 months ago)
or is it time to get a new watch?
Waits for P.H. response: "Go spend £2.99 on a new battery you tight bu99er and see what happens"
.
I've never had a battery changed unless the watch has actually stopped.
Over the last two or three days the watch has started to lose a minute or two a day.
Could this just be a duff battery (it was replaced 4 months ago)
or is it time to get a new watch?
.Assuming this is a quartz watch, if the battery is running low, even if the crystal is vibrating at the correct frequency the battery won't have enough energy to move the mechanism for every vibration, so it will start to skip oscillations and can lose time.
Have had problems in the past with "fake" chinese batteries being crap, it's possible it could be a duff battery, did you get it done at a market stall/battery off eBay or similar?
Got nothing to lose by changing battery , or you could see it as a good excuse to treat yourself to a nice new watch! I'm sure the forum could give you some suggestions if you provide a budget
Have had problems in the past with "fake" chinese batteries being crap, it's possible it could be a duff battery, did you get it done at a market stall/battery off eBay or similar?
Got nothing to lose by changing battery , or you could see it as a good excuse to treat yourself to a nice new watch! I'm sure the forum could give you some suggestions if you provide a budget
Yes it can, for the reason Dan mentions - low power can make it "skip" seconds, which soon add up!
If the battery's good (which it should be after 4 months unless it's a cheap Chinese cell or was very out of date when fitted) then servicing or replacing their movements isn't a big problem. For at least 6 or 7 years they've been using Ronda movements which are decent quality, reasonably priced, and easily available
If the battery's good (which it should be after 4 months unless it's a cheap Chinese cell or was very out of date when fitted) then servicing or replacing their movements isn't a big problem. For at least 6 or 7 years they've been using Ronda movements which are decent quality, reasonably priced, and easily available
On Thursday afternoon I took the watch back to the shop that changed the battery and asked their opinion;
they took the battery out and pronounced it okay.
They cleaned the contacts and asked me to monitor the performance before going down the route of servicing the watch ....... at this moment it appears much better; it's a few seconds slow but that might have been inaccuracy when re-setting the time.
they took the battery out and pronounced it okay.
They cleaned the contacts and asked me to monitor the performance before going down the route of servicing the watch ....... at this moment it appears much better; it's a few seconds slow but that might have been inaccuracy when re-setting the time.
An update to this.
In April I bought myself a Skagen for everyday use and almost as soon as I got it,
the Alfex started behaving itself
and it's continued to behave itself until very recently.
I've done a little test and appears not to like cold weather.
Left near the Aga it keeps perfect time, but hung out in the garage it loses quite a lot.
I might try and find somewhere that can put a new Ronda movement in it
as it will be useful for wearing on track days, working on the car, log splitting etc. !
In April I bought myself a Skagen for everyday use and almost as soon as I got it,
the Alfex started behaving itself
and it's continued to behave itself until very recently.
I've done a little test and appears not to like cold weather
.Left near the Aga it keeps perfect time, but hung out in the garage it loses quite a lot.
I might try and find somewhere that can put a new Ronda movement in it
as it will be useful for wearing on track days, working on the car, log splitting etc. !
Elderly said:
An update to this.
In April I bought myself a Skagen for everyday use and almost as soon as I got it,
the Alfex started behaving itself
and it's continued to behave itself until very recently.
I've done a little test and appears not to like cold weather.
Left near the Aga it keeps perfect time, but hung out in the garage it loses quite a lot.
I might try and find somewhere that can put a new Ronda movement in it
as it will be useful for wearing on track days, working on the car, log splitting etc. !
That's a fairly classic symptom of the oil going sticky with age. Given that most Ronda movements are more economic to replace than service (although they're all good enough quality to repair if needed) you've got nothing to lose by trying the following:In April I bought myself a Skagen for everyday use and almost as soon as I got it,
the Alfex started behaving itself
and it's continued to behave itself until very recently.
I've done a little test and appears not to like cold weather
.Left near the Aga it keeps perfect time, but hung out in the garage it loses quite a lot.
I might try and find somewhere that can put a new Ronda movement in it
as it will be useful for wearing on track days, working on the car, log splitting etc. !
Remove the back and moisten (note: not "swamp"! the back plate of the movement with lighter fluid or petrol. Allow it to dry thoroughly before refitting the back.
Quite often that'll remove enough of the sticky oil to get them running properly for another battery or two.
Gassing Station | Watches | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff