# 'kinetic' , 'eco-drive' Have A Battery ?



## Nesima (Jul 10, 2005)

There must be a battery in there somewhere, it can't last forever or can it ?

Can they be replaced if they wear out ?


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## USEDMODEL (Mar 26, 2005)

Nesima said:


> There must be a battery in there somewhere, it can't last forever or can it ?
> 
> Can they be replaced if they wear out ?
> 
> ...


Kinetic, battery-less watches work

Battery-less watches are powered by the movement of the wearer's arm. That movement causes a weight to move back an forth, which sets a micro-generator spinning which produces electrical energy. The electricity is stored in a capacitor (analogous (same as) to a battery in a battery-powered watch).

From this point on, the battery-less watch functions as a normal quartz watch does.

How long do they last, how long is a piece of string........truthfully.

You either get a good one that lasts years and years or, as I found out, you can get a bad one that doesn't last as long as the guarantee.

Eco drive watches, use light to generate the electricity and a lithium-ion rechargeable battery to store it.

Hope this goes some way to answering your question.

Roy


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Nesima said:


> There must be a battery in there somewhere, it can't last forever or can it ?
> 
> Can they be replaced if they wear out ?
> 
> ...


Forum member "Andy" has experience in these watches, perhaps you could e-mail him?


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## Nesima (Jul 10, 2005)

USEDMODEL, thanks for your informative answers to my questions.


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## USEDMODEL (Mar 26, 2005)

JoT said:


> Nesima said:
> 
> 
> > There must be a battery in there somewhere, it can't last forever or can it ?
> ...


I know about them but, the capitor that failed that, I had changed by Seiko but it is possible to do it yourself, apparently. As for the eco-drive, no idea at all.

Roy


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

the early seiko Kenetics had a bit of a reputation for dodgey capacitors wether it was earnt or not is anyones guess. The latest ones are fine.

The rechargeable battery in my eco is tiny but the watch hasn't stopped yet (over a year since I got it 2nd hand) so it must be big enough.


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

> I had changed by Seiko but it is possible to do it yourself, apparently


Its possible, even I managed it


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## USEDMODEL (Mar 26, 2005)

Just for info

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/citize...ve_watch_review

A explaination of how the solar cell and battery on an eco-drive watch works.

Roy


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## Bareges (Aug 18, 2005)

> ([email protected] Sept 09.06pm)
> 
> Eco drive watches, use light to generate the electricity and a lithium-ion rechargeable battery to store it.


Interesting - I have a citizen WR200 Eco-Drive and great play has been made of the battery life being in the region of 20Yrs - Looks like Litium-ion in its current state of development struggles to break 5Yrs life.

Have to have a look and see what Citizen themselves have to say on the subject.


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## Bareges (Aug 18, 2005)

Having hunted around the net a bit Citizen Singapore in their FAQ say:



> Q. What are the life spans of solar cells and secondary batteries?
> 
> A. According to the experimental data, both will last more than 10 years.It is also considered to loose up to around 20 % of their initial capacities in 20 years, however, we speculate, that won't cause trouble for the use of the watch.


So I suppose you pays your money ..................................!!


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## Sargon (Feb 24, 2003)

Mine is now not working as it should. Ticks every two seconds. Mine is an early one however. Can I change it or do I send it to someone?


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

It depends on how confident/handy you are Sargon, its a _bit_ like changeing a battery, but it is harder, there are some fiddly bits to do.....


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

Jase,

where did you source the parts?

I recently changed a storage element in a very early Seiko AGS...the changed from capacitors to recharhable Li-ion ages ago. Mostly seem to use Maxell TC920S cells....I tried Maxell but they will only supply in 1000 batches.

Roger


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

I think I got the capacitor from Roy......


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## Roy (Feb 23, 2003)

Yes I can supply these.


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

> Yes I can supply these


Roy,

the older capictors or the later rechargeable cells?

Roger


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## Roy (Feb 23, 2003)

Which one do you need, there are quite a few different ones. Part number or movement number will do.


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

It was just for future reference, Roy....in case I run across another


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## Roy (Feb 23, 2003)

I see , no problem. My supplier lists more than a dozen different Seiko ones.


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