While I was away, dear old @Davey P (Hey!...less of the 'old', I hear you cry! :laughing2dw: ) posted that he had received a package of watches from his B-I-L and kindly offered them up on here. I was lucky enough to be sent one... a Casio Illuminator which looked very interesting. So you can imagine my delight when as soon as I got home yesterday, there was a nice padded envelope sitting on top of my pile of mail, with 'Roger the Dodger' emblazoned across the top. Inside was a carefully wrapped box containing the watch. It looked lovely...typical vintage (probably 20 years +) Casio, and hardly any marks on it and although a bit tight on my stupidly large 8" wrist, I could get the clasp fastened. However, as I had been travelling all day, and feeling a little 'cream crackered', I put it aside until this morning...when the fun started. (I will move this thread to the watchmaking section later)
The watch, and Dave's kind note...
Dave had asked me if I wanted him to change the battery, as the watch was, to all intents and purposes, dead, but as he had already made such a generous gesture, I didn't think it fair to impose any more. I set about removing the caseback.
Once open, it was clear this wasn't the normal 1.5v button cell, but a 3v lithium one.
Luckily, there was no leakage from the old cell and everything looked clean. The cell was a CR 2025 and a rummage through my battery box found a spare one.
BTW, a little bit of useless info if you didn't already know. The code on a Lithium cell refers to its physical size. The first two digits are the diameter in mm, and the second two are the depth or thickness in 10ths of a mm. So a 2025 cell is 20mm in diameter and 25 10ths of a mm (or by moving the decimal point one place to the left, 2.5mm) thick.
The +ve of the battery was shorted to the AC terminal....
The rubber gasket was greased and the back screwed on...
....and now for the moment of truth...will it fire up?????
Yes!!!!! Gettin! Not what I was expecting, but a rather unusual reverse LCD display.
As is usual with Casio modules, it was pretty easy to set the time and date etc. Once I knew it was working, I went to town cosmetically. The bracelet went through the ultrasound machine, and the crystal was polished with Polywatch to remove the faintest of lines and make it shine. The bracelet was brushed with a Scotchbrite and reassembled.
Finally, some posing shots of this lovely little watch...
Oh, and I forgot to mention the subtle green backlight that comes on when the 'Light' button is pressed...There is also the usual countdown timer, stopwatch and alarm, which not only beeps, but vibrates, too.
And of course, the wrist shot.
Many, many thanks, Dave... I owe you one, mate. I know you were as excited as me to see if this still worked, so I hope you are pleased with the result, too.
Davey, being the generous chap he is, wouldn't take any remuneration for this watch so a donation towards the forum upkeep has been made in his name.
The watch, and Dave's kind note...
Dave had asked me if I wanted him to change the battery, as the watch was, to all intents and purposes, dead, but as he had already made such a generous gesture, I didn't think it fair to impose any more. I set about removing the caseback.
Once open, it was clear this wasn't the normal 1.5v button cell, but a 3v lithium one.
Luckily, there was no leakage from the old cell and everything looked clean. The cell was a CR 2025 and a rummage through my battery box found a spare one.
BTW, a little bit of useless info if you didn't already know. The code on a Lithium cell refers to its physical size. The first two digits are the diameter in mm, and the second two are the depth or thickness in 10ths of a mm. So a 2025 cell is 20mm in diameter and 25 10ths of a mm (or by moving the decimal point one place to the left, 2.5mm) thick.
The +ve of the battery was shorted to the AC terminal....
The rubber gasket was greased and the back screwed on...
....and now for the moment of truth...will it fire up?????
Yes!!!!! Gettin! Not what I was expecting, but a rather unusual reverse LCD display.
As is usual with Casio modules, it was pretty easy to set the time and date etc. Once I knew it was working, I went to town cosmetically. The bracelet went through the ultrasound machine, and the crystal was polished with Polywatch to remove the faintest of lines and make it shine. The bracelet was brushed with a Scotchbrite and reassembled.
Finally, some posing shots of this lovely little watch...
Oh, and I forgot to mention the subtle green backlight that comes on when the 'Light' button is pressed...There is also the usual countdown timer, stopwatch and alarm, which not only beeps, but vibrates, too.
And of course, the wrist shot.
Many, many thanks, Dave... I owe you one, mate. I know you were as excited as me to see if this still worked, so I hope you are pleased with the result, too.
Davey, being the generous chap he is, wouldn't take any remuneration for this watch so a donation towards the forum upkeep has been made in his name.