Advice Wanted :)

[MrBeat]

Hi folks, i was going through my personal collection when i came across one of my favourites which i had not seen in quite some time. Sadly the battery/capacitor is kaput and since i don't touch quartz watches i was wondering if any of you fine folks know of a reputable watchmaker within the UK who could give her a oil change  , so to speak  :D

 

Actually whilst searching my collection i found a whole bunch of ETA movements new and old that i had long forgotten, which was a bonus, yay !

 

1993 Junghans Radio Controlled Mega Solar

 

 

I can not adjust the time ( cant find manual anywhere for this model :( ) and even after a good charge she just splutters with hands all jittery.

 

I don't even know why this watch is such a favourite but i does luv her so :)

 

Ps I hope all you fine folk are doing well :)

[Geo]

I can see why you like it. :)

If it is radio controlled, I would have thought that it would just whir into action and set itself if all was well.

[MrBeat]

In direct sunlight it does spring to life but i can not make heads nor tails to adjust it :(  It should adjust to correct time automatically, my other Junghans Mega which was sat with it has sprung to life and set it self exactly correct time.

 

This is why i love mechanical watches, why oh why did i fall in love with these German quartz's lol

 

 

Could it require a good long charge in daylight ?? ( i only gave it 5 minutes )

[Geo]

I would leave it for an hour or two and see if it sorts itself out. I know my radio controlled clock in the kitchen takes a while to correct itself when I change the battery.

[MrBeat]

I shall leave her to sunbath tomorrow :D hopefully that will kick her into gear :)

[Maurice]

Never seen one before. Its going to pee down all day tomorrow in Herts, have you got a daylight desk lamp or a UV lamp? would the toothbrush charger trick work on one of those it must have a coil...... not much help really am I? :D  

[MrBeat]

My desk lamp is very bright ( daylight LED 80+ ) but not enough or maybe the right kind of light to kick it into gear. Whilst i was out in the garden earlier it had plenty of energy so i assume it must need sunlight rather than synthetic light sources. I had a Casio solar powered watch that had same issue until i left it in sun all day, it ran fine after that. Please please please just need a charge up oh god of watches   :bow:

 

Well i hope it don't pee down :( i only need a few hours of sunbeams to find out....

[ro63rto]

I presume its still on the original strap? Reason being the antenna was mounted inside.

[MrBeat]

Yes it has original strap which houses the antenna wires, the models after this one had internal antennas i believe.

[MrBeat]

Well i have left the watch out in daylight all day and no change. I decided to open her up and see the type of battery/capacitor it takes and find that it is soldered in place :(

 

The battery itself is a cheap VL2020 but it is soldered to the circuit and also the battery is hard soldered to the contact arms, see below

 

 

After 20 years service i think the poor battery has had it, but how on earth am i gonna get this changed ??

 

Any ideas or help will be greatly appreciated 

[Marc]

If you "google VL2020 with solder tags" you get a number of options to buy from about £3 upwards.

Then you need a soldering iron with a fine tip. Just un-solder the old one, trim and bend the tags on the new one to fit, and then solder it in (check the polarity). You may find that some de-soldering braid or a de-soldering pump helps although I would be inclined to just lift the tag clear of the board using tweezers as soon as the solder melts.

It shouldn't be a difficult job if you are reasonably practised with a soldering iron. If you're new to electrical soldering then you might want to have a play around with something that doesn't matter first, then try to put as little heat into the job as you can get away with when you do the battery change.

[MrBeat]

If you "google VL2020 with solder tags" you get a number of options to buy from about £3 upwards.

Then you need a soldering iron with a fine tip. Just un-solder the old one, trim and bend the tags on the new one to fit, and then solder it in (check the polarity). You may find that some de-soldering braid or a de-soldering pump helps although I would be inclined to just lift the tag clear of the board using tweezers as soon as the solder melts.

It shouldn't be a difficult job if you are reasonably practised with a soldering iron. If you're new to electrical soldering then you might want to have a play around with something that doesn't matter first, then try to put as little heat into the job as you can get away with when you do the battery change.

 

Thanks Marc, i have actually found an exact replacement that just requires a small modification to one of the legs. I have a soldering iron, though i have not soldered anything for a good while i do know not to allow heat build up on such sensitive areas. I think with just a little bit of care i can do a straight swap :)

 

Still the battery did well for such a long time :)

[MrBeat]

Well today i finally got the new capacitor and without much fuss fitted it into the mega. She came back to life with no problem at all.....until.......i find the minute hand had come loose in storage and was blocked by the hour hand.

 

Now i know why the time would never set correctly as the minute hand was loose, but now im stuck as to how i set the correct time without a stem. The watch is supposed to automatically sync with radio signal and set correct time but every time i try to auto sync it displays wrong time ( as of course it will ). The time is out by around +1hr+20min ( ish ) each sync.

 

So am i right in thinking i have to auto sync first then refit hands to correct time positions ?

 

( this is why i stay away from quartz/electric watches lol )

[MrBeat]

Just to conclude i have now finished the watch and it is now running as it once was. The hands were loose so i have carefully refitted them and the watch is now running at the correct time. Hopefully it will last another 15 years :D