Seiko Kinetic 5M42-OE39

[CharlieO]

I have a Seiko Kinetic 5M42-0E39 purchased in the mid 90's, wore it everyday, had it serviced in the early 2000's by the Sekio service center(new capacitor, band & crystal) in Mahwa NJ. When I received it back the max charge was onlt 20 sec no matter how long I wore it. After a few years the charge wouldn't last through the night so I stopped wearing it. I really like the watch and would like to get it refurbushed, My question is where?

I've contacted a few places I've found on-line but have not received any reply's from them (probably old websites). Local jewlers don't seem to want to do it (I'm in the Indianapolis area). And I'm not thrilled to sent it back to Seiko in NJ.

So looking for some suggestions and/or advise.

Charlie

[yankeedog]

Have you looked into a replacement capacitor?

[CharlieO]

Yes I have and watched the videos on how to replace the capacitor. Doing that with the tools and skills I have would be a stretch. However I have a feeling it would need more, like a good cleaning and lube. Plus if it needs any further repair, like a rotor, that would be beyond what I would want to attempt.

[yankeedog]

Well at least you are honest about it.And if you have never attempted this kind of thing before you are wise not to touch it. I live in Eastern North Carolina.The only guy I know of that might do such work has a store in the Mac Arthur mall in Norfolk. A few years ago he replaced a crystal for me and quoted me a price  to clean and lubricate a mechanical Elgin watch I had.his price was a bit steep and was the primary motivation for me to learn how to do it myself.I suppose you could look him up.an older Japanese man..I don't recall the name of the place and I can't tell you how good the work is.but it might be a place to start.

[WatchMaker]

I've read you've already searched online for a repair service but with no luck on response so maybe revisit this option since, if you don't want to do the work yourself, you'll need to find a specialist. This isn't general watch repair work and is a little specialist so I'm not surprised that your local jewelers have declined. A quick search online, for instance, brings up http://www.kineticrepair.com/ who specialise in Seiko kinetic watch repairs in the US. This does seem a current service (you mention 'old websites') since they're advertising 20% off until 9th October. I know nothing about this service and have no affiliation with it so do your own research but it does look genuine and professional.

[JohnR725]

one of the alternatives to servicing is movement swap?

http://www.startimesupply.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=S5M42&Store_Code=1

2 hours ago, WatchMaker said:

http://www.kineticrepair.com/

I find the website rather strange to navigate but if you take the time you can get the server so page. Then scrolling down the page you actually shows what he does for the upper in servicing..  Then if you pay attention to all the equipment  looks like he has the right equipment to do the job. Plus he seems to grasp what needs to be done replacing the capacitor/lithium battery  isn't always going to fix the problem if the watch needs to be serviced..

http://www.kineticrepair.com/Kinetic_Service_Levels.html