# Quartz - Keep Em Running Or Stop Them?



## philjopa (May 18, 2005)

Must admit that I'm not really into quartz - up until now the only quartz I had was a Casio Wave Ceptor, basically so that I always know exactly what time it is when I set my other watches. I recently picked up an Aqua Lung diver from Julian







- its a very well put together (BIG) piece of kit with (I believe) a Seiko quartz movement. It'll make a good beater, especially at that sort of price!

I'm going to leave the Casio "ticking" away but I'm not sure whether it's better to stop the Aqua until I wear it again. I know there's been similar threads about whether manuals & autos should be kept wound when not in use. I personally agree with the stance that it is better to only wind them when you're wearing them as this leads to less wear & tear.

But does the same apply for quartz?


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## Synchrohow (Nov 15, 2006)

philjopa said:


> Must admit that I'm not really into quartz - up until now the only quartz I had was a Casio Wave Ceptor, basically so that I always know exactly what time it is when I set my other watches. I recently picked up an Aqua Lung diver from Julian
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 NO it really does not matter,might as well let it move 32,768 times per second as this is the heart of timekeeping.A quarts will not wear from use any faster than sitting still.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

I keep all mine running all the time. One of the advantages of quartz is the "grab it and go" factor without the hassle of winding and time-setting.

Also, as most of them only "tick" once every second (or once every 20 seconds for those without a second hand) there's comparatively little wear on the few moving parts.

I'm not an electronics expert and it could just be my imagination or bad luck, but often I find that small electrical items (like watches/calculators) that I leave powered-off for very long periods of time don't work when I switch them on, whilst items that are in constant use with current flowing through the circuits work faultlessly for ages. It's as if the circuitry/components deteriorate over time when not in use. Is there really such a phenomenon I wonder?


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

just think how many clicks that stepper motor goes through in it's life!







but modern materials will last and last. My mum has a qtz clock that I bought her for a 25th wedding anni prezzie and it's still running perfectly 17 years later!

I tend to pull the crowns out on most of mine, purely to prolong the battery life as I can't be arsed to change them, the only 1 I leave running constantly is an eco drive for grab and go, I'm used to setting my mech's b4 I wear them so a qtz is no hardship.


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## murph (Aug 14, 2006)

rhaythorne said:


> I'm not an electronics expert and it could just be my imagination or bad luck, but often I find that small electrical items (like watches/calculators) that I leave powered-off for very long periods of time don't work when I switch them on, whilst items that are in constant use with current flowing through the circuits work faultlessly for ages. It's as if the circuitry/components deteriorate over time when not in use. Is there really such a phenomenon I wonder?


The switching on and off could certainly result in a spike stressing some components but in many cases this should be limited damage (not that this helps with some tiny modern circuits).


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

I had a quatz with a hibernate function (might have been the B1 ... can't remember) to save battery life. I used to enjoy reactivating it just to watch the hand whiz round and reset themselves









Little things


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

I only have one quartz the G10, I leave it running at I use it to set my others


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## grey (Apr 29, 2006)

rhaythorne said:


> I keep all mine running all the time. One of the advantages of quartz is the "grab it and go" factor without the hassle of winding and time-setting.
> 
> Also, as most of them only "tick" once every second (or once every 20 seconds for those without a second hand) there's comparatively little wear on the few moving parts.
> 
> I'm not an electronics expert and it could just be my imagination or bad luck, but often I find that small electrical items (like watches/calculators) that I leave powered-off for very long periods of time don't work when I switch them on, whilst items that are in constant use with current flowing through the circuits work faultlessly for ages. It's as if the circuitry/components deteriorate over time when not in use. Is there really such a phenomenon I wonder?


I agree. Tell me about leaving electric toothbrushes, and, latterly, kinetic watches at home when you go on holiday!

Cheers Graham


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

JoT said:


> I had a quatz with a hibernate function (might have been the B1 ... can't remember) to save battery life. I used to enjoy reactivating it just to watch the hand whiz round and reset themselves
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Can you hibernate the B1... cool.... I must check the books









Last year I dug out all my watches from the 80 and 90s and stuck new batteries in em and they all sprang to life. even the very well used (a few motobike crashes and lots of abuse fixing bikes up etc) Â£20 ani-digi I bought from Makro in 1984 and its still ticking away today







Luckily now of the batteries had leaked tho. Ive also bought a few 70's early Omega quartz's and these all seem to be ok with a new battery etc....

So I dont know really... theres not a lot of moving parts but those that do will have gummed up oil... hmmm... My mums 1986 Omega quartz died last year and a battery replacement wouldnt fix it so Omega Bienne had it for a fix - she moaned about the Â£300 cost but has a new watch again... I expect they just replaced the whole movt and refinished the watch tho.

I tend to agree that with quartz it would be the circuit boards that get killed with a battery swap spike rather than the usual gummy oil issue, although that might effect the clutches on the hands etc.

Id be interested if we can find a definitive... Roy?


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## Regal325 (Aug 5, 2005)

Be aware that in many cases, pulling the crown will "hack" the movement, but will not disconnect the battery!

Although current useage is reduced, it is not necessarily turned off completely.

Ken


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## lysanderxiii (Nov 10, 2006)

Regal325 said:


> Be aware that in many cases, pulling the crown will "hack" the movement, but will not disconnect the battery!
> 
> Although current useage is reduced, it is not necessarily turned off completely.
> 
> Ken


In the type of movement that hacking does not disconnect the current, the current draw is increased significantly. Stalling of an electric motor increases the amperage used as well as increases the loads on the gear train. It should not be done for longer than necessary.

But, this method of hacking a quartz movement is only found on lower end movements. Almost all jeweled quartz movements will disconnect the current when the stem is pulled.


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

even the cheapest qtz watches are stored these days with the crown out and a plastic clip to stop it being pushed in, so the battery doesn't go flat in storage. surely they wouldn't do that if it was drawing current?


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

> In the type of movement that hacking does not disconnect the current, the current draw is increased significantly. Stalling of an electric motor increases the amperage used as well as increases the loads on the gear train. It should not be done for longer than necessary.


In the vast majority, the "motor", actually a stepper motor, is not stalled but disconnected whilst leaving the processor running.

The current is certainly not increased in these cases ( I have the pico-amperage equipment to measure it).

The oscillator/processor in these cases, draws only a few pico-amps.....thus, Regal325 and PG Tips are quite correct.

There may well be variations on this theme,, but the vast majority that I have met have been the above type.

Roger


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Roger said:


> PG Tips ... quite correct.


don't often see that


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## lysanderxiii (Nov 10, 2006)

In the ETA/ESA 800 series and all the Chinese copies of it, pulling the stem applies pressure, via a lever, on the center wheel and stalls the motor. When "hacked" the second hand can be seen to wiggle every second but not move.

The instructions for these state not to store in the hacked position.


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## Synchrohow (Nov 15, 2006)

Synchrohow said:


> NO it really does not matter,might as well let it move 32,768 times per second as this is the heart of timekeeping.A quarts will not wear from use any faster than sitting still.


 OK I was refering of course to an electronic digital display type Quartz watch,which is a different ballgame than one with a movement.Must admit I have limited knowledge about Quartz movement type Quartz watches.Sorry about any confusion guys.Looks like the question was pretty well answered by experienced members.


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## KCR (Jan 28, 2007)

One of my quartz watches is dead because I did not leave it running when I did not use it. So, learn from my experience, leave quartz analogue watches running (even when not in use), and replace the batteries ASAP once they are dead.


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