Interesting Quartz Problem

[clockboy]

Interesting quartz fault. A friend of my wives asked if I could look at her quartz watch a while back because it had started to loose about 5 mins a day.This watch is a real cheap job with a Miyota movement (I call then scrappers). However when I put a compass next to it the dial moved. A HA 

Now I have read many,many articles that state a quartz watch cannot be magnetised but this one was for sure was. I removed the battery and gave the watch a couple of zaps with my de-magnetiser and when I re-installed battery it burst into life and ran spot on time. Job done I thought.

 

However yesterday the watch reappeared as she said the fault had returned. When I made further enquiries she said the problem appeared when she started wearing a "bio bracelet" which is basically a magnet strap that is supposed to get rid of aches and pains. Use oldens are a laugh we full for this every time, still thats another story.

 

However I have suggested that wearing the band on her other wrist because again it was without doubt the watch on test was magnetised. Perhaps the metal case is getting magnetised.

To be absolutely honest  I just don,t know all I know this one defies the experts who say it can,t happen but de-magnetising it sorts the problem.

[Geo]

First time for everything. At least you found the cause and solution, and more importantly passed on your findings. That's another little nugget of knowledge filed away.

[clockboy]

No payment for this one but the possibility of a snog under the mistletoe  :thumbsu:  Don,t tell her in doors

Edited December 23, 2014 by clockboy

[Marc]

Did you check out the time keeping before you demaged it. It's quite possible that the watch would run slow when on the owners wrist next to the magnetic bracelet but would run correctly when the external magnetic field was removed, without any other intervention.

I used to work in a metal fabrication shop and it was taken as red that you had to remove your watch whenever using the spot welders as they would mess with your time keeping, quartz or mechanical.

If you think about it the heart of a quartz movement is a stepper motor with a magnetized rotor (stator?). It makes sense that the presence of an external magnetic field could influence the operation of the movement.

[clockboy]

Marc, You could have cracked it.

I really don,t know all I know it was running after the battery removal etc. To be perfectly honest is such a real cheap one the replacement movement is only £3.99 + fee postage.