# Help With Seiko Kinectic



## seiko follower (Mar 21, 2006)

I have a Seiko Kinetic, dial nos.: 5M62-A068 HR2 and caseback nos.: 5mG62-0A79. Th watch is nine years old and it very recently had its capacitor changed due to the second hand hitting 2 secs. at a time and rapid loss of reserve power when not worn. I only wear this watch occacasionally ...once every 6 to 8 weeks for about a week a time. I'm wearing other watches from my collection in the interim. How can this watch be stored to maintain its new capacitor? Is the new capacitor prone to early failure because I'm not wearing the watch everyday and keeping it charged? So, what can I do to preserve the capacitor, other than a winder, while this watch is not worn i.e. for 6-8 weeks at a time?

Thank you for your input.

Bruce


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

If the new capacitor is non faulty the power reserve should be 6 months when fully charged.

If it is far away from this it is faulty

It's really as simple as that


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## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

seiko follower said:


> I have a Seiko Kinetic, dial nos.: 5M62-A068 HR2 and caseback nos.: 5mG62-0A79. Th watch is nine years old and it very recently had its capacitor changed due to the second hand hitting 2 secs. at a time and rapid loss of reserve power when not worn. I only wear this watch occacasionally ...once every 6 to 8 weeks for about a week a time. I'm wearing other watches from my collection in the interim. How can this watch be stored to maintain its new capacitor? Is the new capacitor prone to early failure because I'm not wearing the watch everyday and keeping it charged? So, what can I do to preserve the capacitor, other than a winder, while this watch is not worn i.e. for 6-8 weeks at a time?
> 
> Thank you for your input.
> 
> Bruce


Hi There. If you have had the "capacitor" changed recently, then I think since about 2000, Seiko have not been re-fitting "capacitors" anyway. The current standard is a lithium-ion power cell - or in other words, a rechargeable battery.

Now, reading your post you are not actually reporting a problem, but just want some advice. Well - from my experience, if you are not frequently wearing it, you will need to ensure that it does actually get a full charge when you do - at least once anyway.

Does your watch read fully charged after you have worn it?

Again - in my experience - a 5M62 would need at least a continuous week of pretty active wear, to receive a charge capable of sustaining an extended (6 month) layover. So if you are only wearing it for desk work and then for only around 8 hours per day - it may never be getting it's maximum charge. Like any other battery - it will not perform well unless correctly charged. Just because it's a watch, does not change the manner in which battery cells work.

Thereafter, once fully charged, the 6 month reserve should last 6 months, if stored in a normal, ambient temperature.

To be honest, I would not bother with a auto-winder either - I have heard they are not particularly effective on Kinetics. Seiko themselves sell a so called "recharging device" for their service network, which in effect is a magnetically coupled "winder" so that watches can be fully charged after a service, to test cell capacity etc. They are not generally available, but sometimes pop up on ebay.

Otherwise, ask an independant watch fettler if they have a Kinetic "charger", and for a small fee I'm sure they would run it up to a full charge for you.

Hope this helps.


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## seiko follower (Mar 21, 2006)

I haven't worn it long enough to be sure it is fully charged; but I will now that the initial full charge is so important to the capacitor/battery's life expectancy. Thank you for your help. I will contact my watchmaker and make sure he will fully charge up the watch because I know he has a"winder" that is mechanical and one that is electro-magnetic. if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks again for your assistance.

Bruce


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## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

It is worth making sure it's fully charged.

They way I have seen 5M65's perform, after a week or so of wearing, it will start to show a full charge, but then after only a day or so of not wearing it, it will only show a 1 month charge.

This means it was not "fully" charged, but had only just indicated. Generally, after it first shows a full 6-month charge, you need to keep wearing it for a few days more to be really sure to make sure the cell is at optimum charge.

This may take a bit longer for you if it has never been fully charged - but it should be OK eventually with a new cell fitted. Just wear it normally for 2 to 3 weeks and I'm sure it will be fine.


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