Have my videos have helped you? why not support the channel in some way You can make a one off/ monthy donation here in only one click: www.buymeacoffee.com/MyRetroWatches If you would like to purchase any tools & equipment then please see my Amazon affiliate & eBay (I do earn a small commission from any sales.) Thank you. Link: Link: myretrowatches.co.uk/tool-sale-links/ If you would like to buy any of my T-Shirts then please look here: teespring.com/stores/my-retro-watches
Ever hear of a vintage Belforte (has a full plastic red face I imagine to be digital) The box says designed for beauty jeweled for excellence. Swiss case watch, had corrosion under the 2 batteries, so far no luck having replaced but the batteries, it otherwise looks clean....they were so old the lady threw them out despite my request to keep don't think she heard. She couldn't match the number but had a chart like the one you presented. Its so sad not seeing it work. What is the cost to repair such digital watches? Thanks
I've got a casio 31QR-29. Still working very well. They were so expensive when they came out in the mid 70s. Men's watches were smaller in the 70s and 80s compared to most today. A great watch.
Hi - I’m Dennis in Sheffield UK. Your series of watch instructions are really good. I don’t really collect old analogue and digital watches, but sort of give them a new home! Having said that I have 2 beautiful Bulova Accutrons in full working order, one is the DeapSea 666 with rotating bezel and the other is a Masonic 218. I’m 71 now and in the high risk category so my wife and I are isolating (I have chronic RA and on immunosuppressant injections). I’m trying to cheer my wife up. Before she retired she was a Senior Chief Geneticist (until she got Iritis) and then an IVF Scientist. She’s always going on about her pink Skips Crisps promotional digital watch which she used to time her experiments until the watch just fell to pieces after 30+ years! So I’m trying to resurrect one. I managed to get a yellow one off eBay, still sealed in plastic. I put a new battery in , it all lit up showing the normal 00:00 and the seconds started BUT then it just died. It looks like a very cheap movement but I can’t get it going again - it’s got a round shape with the rectangular window display. I’ve tried taking another similar digital movement that is working to replace the whole movement. The big problem is being 71 with RA - my hands are just twisted and painful stopping me doing fiddly stuff. Is it possible to send it to you to have a go at it please or any other advice you can give. Thanks, Dennis
Brilliant ! You are a very good instructor and I enjoyed learning more about digital watches from your tutorial. I have always had a soft spot for clocks and watches be they mechanical or quartz movements. My Father once had a clock repair and camera business around 1986-88 or so in a small town in the Midwestern United States. I enjoyed watching Him work and this brings back some fond memories for me. My Father always had a preference for digital watches and to this day owns a fairly simple Casio watch similar to what you are repairing in the video. -Blessings
I have 4 watchs 51QR, and it was very important to me fix the problems of some one and see it working. This video is very helpful, and I could use your information to restore my watches 51QR. Now they are all working fine. Thanks a lot for all help.
Great to see these watches are repairable. Watching this video in desperation. My own digital watch has just started to go faulty this week and too a turn for the worse today 21Aug2020. The LCD display seems to fade out and recover sporadically even few seconds and seems to be triggered as the seconds change on the display. Seems to not happen as bad when I go to the stopwatch not started. Once I start the stopwatch it blinks out again. I bought it with my 9th birthday money on Wednesday 8th June 1983 for 15.95 Irish pounds. With an exception of about 2 or 3 years I have wore it every day since then. It is a Q&Q with a Miyota (japan) board. It is well beaten up for the years of use, back-light broke when I dropped it perhaps 25years ago, third strap 20 batteries later but to my knowledge never got any significant water damage or the batteries never leaked. Update, I fixed it. Separated the board from the LCD. No sign of corrosion but a few bits of dirt on the zebra tracks. Cleaned up and with great difficulty reassembled. The module is kept together using clips into the four corners inside of screws. Difficult to align everything including the LCD components.
Robert M Duckworth thank you . It’s worth a try, I’ve only been tinkering with these a few months . Allot of fun and completely different to mechanical.
Wow. This is the orig. of the Casio A171 that I just bought. I bought an after market bracelet (Aliexpress) for it just like the one in your video (before having seen it). But the A171 has a short "indent" for the bracelet to fit in. A a nice watch but this one looks a little better.
Great job fixing it. I too had this problem with a 1970s Longines and I used that conductive paint to repair it after watching the video you spoke about. Your thicker paint seems to be easier to use, I used the thinner stuff but it was extremely hard because it was very runny. Unfortunately I knocked off about 10 wire bonds off the IC in the process, don't think there is any coming back from that.
I just bought a Casio TGW-10 TriGraph online to try and fix up. The ad said it had a dead battery and the crystal was scratched some,but I felt confident I had progressed in buffing them out. When I got it and changed the dead battery it came with(it could be the wrong battery all together)it still didn't work. The notch the battery hold down bar hooks on was missing but even when i hold it down manually it doesn’t work. It doesn't appear to have got wet(no rust or water spots I can see)and from everything I see not damaged by battery acid but I'm also not skilled enough yet to feel comfortable disassembling the module to look further. Right now I have a completely "for parts only" watch so the only place I can go from here is up. Tho it's not all THAT rare it is a lesser known watch that is pretty cool,might be worth fixing on the channel,but either way I'd just like it fixed
Thanks I have not thought about an oiler. I may try that. The brush was fine all the same other than removing any excess after drying to avoid touching any other tracks.
Seiko M 159. Thought it would be like the strip down you very well but it’s completely different inside any suggestions , the back fixes different no spring clips on the corners just clips on but I cannot get the back to clip into Place Can you help Any advice Rick. W
Great video! What did you use/do to clean the zebra strips? I'm rebuilding a Timex Atlantis steel cased model (uses CR2016) and I have a burnt segment like yours. The circuit board doesn't look damaged or corroded (the board was cleaned with IPL) and there's no sign of battery leakage either so I'm inclined to believe it is probably dirty zebra strips.
Ooh that is a tough one, digis can be problematic and I am far from an expert. its not always battery leakage that can cause damage , old age, dry solder joints, failed components. most can be diagnosed , quartz crystals like to fail but you need an oscilloscope to diagnose those which is not a cheap piece of equipment. To clean the zebra I just use IPA i tend to drop them in a bit of the solution and then wipe with a Q tip and leave to dry. Also pays to wipe the contacts on the screen also. Good luck
Hi : Nice work and explain . I have a question what is the voltage of the batterie i see on the movement market 3V is that the voltage tha use the watch? Thank you
I have to change glass/crystal on my Citizen 4-096657 LCD as paint/print has come off after cleaning, are they pressed in or glued and if so what glue would you advise. Thanks in advance.
hi on the citizen digital vintage 40 1030 number 2 4 5 digit look missing iv been asured by watch collects thats their dezign Is this true kind regards ian
hard to say really, they are a basic circuit so I would assume you could just unsolder your broken one and take another from a donor of the same manufacturer. I have never seen just the lamp for sale as a part.
Good evening. Thank you for such an informative video. I am dabbling in vintage LCD watch repair too and recently brought a Casio CA-901 back from the dead. Just that I am wondering how to refurbish scratched printing on the inside of watch crystal. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
@@MyRetroWatches So true! Only way would be is to find a broken vintage with a good watch crystal, which would take ages. Best to leave as is. Scratches and all. 😄
Hi there, I have a vintage Seiko digital watch that was so accurate I could Navigate at sea in total confidence with it. Unfortunately when I returned from sea one time, my then 16 year old daughter decided to help Dad out with the washing one day and my lovely Seiko A021 - 5000R ended up in the washing machine while I was tinkering with the car. Many years later I am still wondering if it can be fixed. I've even sent it back to Seiko who couldn't be bothered with it. Can you help ? Yours Faithfully. Jan Davey.
My guess it would be a total mess inside if you never removed the module and tried to dry it all out, plus remove the battery. The only way forwards would be to hunt for a donor watch. There are examples on eBay now but expect to pay £70+ for a working one. I think these were Seikos first alarm chronograph digital which then makes them more collectable...
Those am/pm settings are often a problem, it is often very hard to switch it off, you do not want children/american settings on your digital watch, you want a normal 00:00 to 00:00h setting, so you can actually see what time it is.., took me hours to get it right when I had to switch from winter-time to summer time, it accidentally move to this kids setting, really irritating..
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #1 НАЧАЛО ПУТЕШЕСТВИЯ [Новый сезон] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/380Q7gLWGvk/mqdefault.jpg)
Have my videos have helped you? why not support the channel in some way
You can make a one off/ monthy donation here in only one click: www.buymeacoffee.com/MyRetroWatches
If you would like to purchase any tools & equipment then please see my Amazon affiliate & eBay (I do earn a small commission from any sales.) Thank you.
Link: Link: myretrowatches.co.uk/tool-sale-links/
If you would like to buy any of my T-Shirts then please look here: teespring.com/stores/my-retro-watches
Ever hear of a vintage Belforte (has a full plastic red face I imagine to be digital) The box says designed for beauty jeweled for excellence. Swiss case watch, had corrosion under the 2 batteries, so far no luck having replaced but the batteries, it otherwise looks clean....they were so old the lady threw them out despite my request to keep don't think she heard. She couldn't match the number but had a chart like the one you presented. Its so sad not seeing it work. What is the cost to repair such digital watches? Thanks
Glad to see those old digital watches being restored en loved again.
I had this exact watch in 1976. My Italian grandmother bought it for me in Florence, Italy and I've been searching for one for years.
I've got a casio 31QR-29. Still working very well. They were so expensive when they came out in the mid 70s. Men's watches were smaller in the 70s and 80s compared to most today. A great watch.
Hi - I’m Dennis in Sheffield UK. Your series of watch instructions are really good. I don’t really collect old analogue and digital watches, but sort of give them a new home! Having said that I have 2 beautiful Bulova Accutrons in full working order, one is the DeapSea 666 with rotating bezel and the other is a Masonic 218. I’m 71 now and in the high risk category so my wife and I are isolating (I have chronic RA and on immunosuppressant injections). I’m trying to cheer my wife up. Before she retired she was a Senior Chief Geneticist (until she got Iritis) and then an IVF Scientist. She’s always going on about her pink Skips Crisps promotional digital watch which she used to time her experiments until the watch just fell to pieces after 30+ years! So I’m trying to resurrect one. I managed to get a yellow one off eBay, still sealed in plastic. I put a new battery in , it all lit up showing the normal 00:00 and the seconds started BUT then it just died. It looks like a very cheap movement but I can’t get it going again - it’s got a round shape with the rectangular window display. I’ve tried taking another similar digital movement that is working to replace the whole movement. The big problem is being 71 with RA - my hands are just twisted and painful stopping me doing fiddly stuff. Is it possible to send it to you to have a go at it please or any other advice you can give. Thanks, Dennis
Why not take it to a watch repair shop?
Brilliant ! You are a very good instructor and I enjoyed learning more about digital watches from your tutorial. I have always had a soft spot for clocks and watches be they mechanical or quartz movements. My Father once had a clock repair and camera business around 1986-88 or so in a small town in the Midwestern United States. I enjoyed watching Him work and this brings back some fond memories for me. My Father always had a preference for digital watches and to this day owns a fairly simple Casio watch similar to what you are repairing in the video.
-Blessings
Definitely a big fan of the Vintage Digital Watches channel.
I have 4 watchs 51QR, and it was very important to me fix the problems of some one and see it working. This video is very helpful, and I could use your information to restore my watches 51QR. Now they are all working fine. Thanks a lot for all help.
Great job. I have the same watch. Now I will try to clean it. Thanks
Frank
Good luck with yours sir. It’s rewarding when they fire into life again
Great to see these watches are repairable. Watching this video in desperation. My own digital watch has just started to go faulty this week and too a turn for the worse today 21Aug2020. The LCD display seems to fade out and recover sporadically even few seconds and seems to be triggered as the seconds change on the display. Seems to not happen as bad when I go to the stopwatch not started. Once I start the stopwatch it blinks out again.
I bought it with my 9th birthday money on Wednesday 8th June 1983 for 15.95 Irish pounds. With an exception of about 2 or 3 years I have wore it every day since then. It is a Q&Q with a Miyota (japan) board. It is well beaten up for the years of use, back-light broke when I dropped it perhaps 25years ago, third strap 20 batteries later but to my knowledge never got any significant water damage or the batteries never leaked.
Update, I fixed it. Separated the board from the LCD. No sign of corrosion but a few bits of dirt on the zebra tracks. Cleaned up and with great difficulty reassembled. The module is kept together using clips into the four corners inside of screws. Difficult to align everything including the LCD components.
Well done on fixing it. Sounds like it has a lot of history for you! dirt on the zebra strips is a common cause for screen issues.
Your clear explanation and enthusiasm made this video a pleasure to 'watch'.
freeatlast1963 thank you for your nice comment
Very enjoyable video, well explained, thanks for posting.
Bill A thank you kindly for your comment.
Thanks for the tips! Fixed my vintage Bulova I had since High School! It's running again! :D Appreciate the links and references too!
Andy B thank you for watching Andy. If any of my information helped you fix your watch then it’s all been worthwhile for me!
Well done!! Thanks. Maybe I will graduate one day to electronics.
Robert M Duckworth thank you . It’s worth a try, I’ve only been tinkering with these a few months . Allot of fun and completely different to mechanical.
Wow. This is the orig. of the Casio A171 that I just bought. I bought an after market bracelet (Aliexpress) for it just like the one in your video (before having seen it). But the A171 has a short "indent" for the bracelet to fit in. A a nice watch but this one looks a little better.
Great job fixing it. I too had this problem with a 1970s Longines and I used that conductive paint to repair it after watching the video you spoke about. Your thicker paint seems to be easier to use, I used the thinner stuff but it was extremely hard because it was very runny. Unfortunately I knocked off about 10 wire bonds off the IC in the process, don't think there is any coming back from that.
Love this video! I have 8 or 9 old digital watches which need work. This is super helpful. Thank you for making this.
Great video, would love to see more digital watch repair videos.
Keep up the good work.
Star Wars John love your name! Thanks I have a few LCD projects coming up , mainly just cleaning fixes but perhaps I will video them
thank you for you qualitatively video I'm from Françe
I have to say I missed this shot out, well better late than never: THANK YOU! :)
Will always support you pal!
Very interesting. Thanks
Fantastic 👍 thank you 🙏👍
Any videos on restoring the buttons, often I have trouble with old buttons. Not the board or contact related. Just the buttons specific function
Nice one!
Good job. A classic Casio.
super i like japan vintage casio watch
I just bought a Casio TGW-10 TriGraph online to try and fix up. The ad said it had a dead battery and the crystal was scratched some,but I felt confident I had progressed in buffing them out. When I got it and changed the dead battery it came with(it could be the wrong battery all together)it still didn't work. The notch the battery hold down bar hooks on was missing but even when i hold it down manually it doesn’t work. It doesn't appear to have got wet(no rust or water spots I can see)and from everything I see not damaged by battery acid but I'm also not skilled enough yet to feel comfortable disassembling the module to look further. Right now I have a completely "for parts only" watch so the only place I can go from here is up. Tho it's not all THAT rare it is a lesser known watch that is pretty cool,might be worth fixing on the channel,but either way I'd just like it fixed
Sorry I don’t take any work on especially digital watches. I do not have all the kit required to test components
Sissy....lol j/p
Any suggestions on who may? I also reached out to "vintage digital watches"
@@TechTokOffical I don’t know anyone. VDW does not take work on either. I know him quite well.
I would think you could have used an oiler and applied the paint to the circuit board similar to how you apply lume to watch hands. Nice work.
Thanks I have not thought about an oiler. I may try that. The brush was fine all the same other than removing any excess after drying to avoid touching any other tracks.
Genius!
I have my Fathers ❤️
Nice thanks
Really helpful video. Thanks
Bastien Iezzi thank you very much. Glad it helped you.
2:32 I do enjoy some IPA beer 👍
Seiko M 159. Thought it would be like the strip down you very well but it’s completely different inside any suggestions , the back fixes different no spring clips on the corners just clips on but I cannot get the back to clip into
Place
Can you help
Any advice
Rick. W
Great video with the info.
Thank you .
Have a TI 404 stainless. The guts are toast from battery leakage. Does anyone make or can you buy a similar internals? Thanks
Mike, on your tools page you don’t have a link to where you got the silver conductive paint, could you add one please?
I have a Seiko world time watch M158A I am working on. Will it destroy the LCD screen to carefully clean it?
Funnily enough I am making a video on the M158-5000
You just have to be really careful with screens. I would not submerge them in anything
I cant see the repair!
Great video! What did you use/do to clean the zebra strips? I'm rebuilding a Timex Atlantis steel cased model (uses CR2016) and I have a burnt segment like yours. The circuit board doesn't look damaged or corroded (the board was cleaned with IPL) and there's no sign of battery leakage either so I'm inclined to believe it is probably dirty zebra strips.
Ooh that is a tough one, digis can be problematic and I am far from an expert. its not always battery leakage that can cause damage , old age, dry solder joints, failed components. most can be diagnosed , quartz crystals like to fail but you need an oscilloscope to diagnose those which is not a cheap piece of equipment. To clean the zebra I just use IPA i tend to drop them in a bit of the solution and then wipe with a Q tip and leave to dry. Also pays to wipe the contacts on the screen also. Good luck
@@MyRetroWatches Many thanks! I've ordered silver conductive paste like in your video too, fingers crossed! Love these steel cased digitals.
Hi :
Nice work and explain . I have a question what is the voltage of the batterie i see on the movement market 3V is that the voltage tha use the watch?
Thank you
Xavier Chs thank you from memory it’s just a standard 1.5 volt
I have to change glass/crystal on my Citizen 4-096657 LCD as paint/print has come off after cleaning, are they pressed in or glued and if so what glue would you advise. Thanks in advance.
I honestly dont know.
Love it more please
hi on the citizen digital vintage 40 1030 number 2 4 5 digit look missing iv been asured by watch collects thats their dezign Is this true kind regards ian
Any idea where one might be able to get a replacement micro light for a watch like this? Btw, great vid !
hard to say really, they are a basic circuit so I would assume you could just unsolder your broken one and take another from a donor of the same manufacturer. I have never seen just the lamp for sale as a part.
You think its a good idea to remove batteries from vintage watches if not being used? Just storing as a collection! If they tend to leak?
It’s not a bad idea. Not something I put into practice but if you have any alkaline batteries inside then it’s a must! They leak at the drop of a hat.
@MyRetroWatches will they only leak if battery goes dead?
Good evening. Thank you for such an informative video. I am dabbling in vintage LCD watch repair too and recently brought a Casio CA-901 back from the dead. Just that I am wondering how to refurbish scratched printing on the inside of watch crystal. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Hi, thanks for watching. Sorry I cant help with the print. Sourcing new screens for Digi's is hard work as there is very little out there.
@@MyRetroWatches So true! Only way would be is to find a broken vintage with a good watch crystal, which would take ages. Best to leave as is. Scratches and all. 😄
Hi there, I have a vintage Seiko digital watch that was so accurate I could Navigate at sea in total confidence with it. Unfortunately when I returned from sea one time, my then 16 year old daughter decided to help Dad out with the washing one day and my lovely Seiko A021 - 5000R ended up in the washing machine while I was tinkering with the car. Many years later I am still wondering if it can be fixed. I've even sent it back to Seiko who couldn't be bothered with it. Can you help ? Yours Faithfully. Jan Davey.
My guess it would be a total mess inside if you never removed the module and tried to dry it all out, plus remove the battery. The only way forwards would be to hunt for a donor watch. There are examples on eBay now but expect to pay £70+ for a working one. I think these were Seikos first alarm chronograph digital which then makes them more collectable...
How can I fix my Casio hunting timer ..the get inside in it
Some times the electronic corrosion can be wiped off without damage if your lucky using a Q-tip swab and rubbing alcohol 🤔💷
Awesome repair, 👍🏻 I need to buy me a microscope.
Thank You
29:08 January 1, 1970 was not on a Sunday it was on a Thursday
Dear watch friends, remove your batteries for storage, assume dead watches have corrosive time bombs in them :)
Those am/pm settings are often a problem, it is often very hard to switch it off, you do not want children/american settings on your digital watch, you want a normal 00:00 to 00:00h setting, so you can actually see what time it is.., took me hours to get it right when I had to switch from winter-time to summer time, it accidentally move to this kids setting, really irritating..
can you make a living buying and repairing watches?