Citizen Eco drive help!

[erict46]

Hey guys, I am looking for some help with my eco drive. It's the Blue Angel chronograph and it truly is a beautiful watch. I need to get it up and running again so that I can enjoy it. I hadn't worn it in about a year and because it sat in the dark it lost its charge. All atempts to recharge it have failed. I've researched it a little bit online but dont know where to start. I am sure I can send it back to Citizen and they will replace it but I am looking for a cheaper route to go.

Is it possible to change the Capacitor(I think thats what it's called) by myself? If so are there any links too instructions on how to do it?

If I do decide to send it back, any idea on what they will charge me? My waranty has expired.

Also it has some scratches on the band, any way to polish these out? Should I even attempt this by myself?

Any help would be apreciated. I think the answer is going to be to just send it off to Citizen, but money is tight right now and I am just trying to save a buck or two. Thanks in advanced!

 

[Prince]

Are you trying to charge it using incandescent lights or sunlight? I know mine charges much faster in actual sunlight.

 

[erict46]

I tried both!

 

[little Big feather]

Here's the truth, told to me by a Seiko dealer.....All the solar and kinetic watches have a capacitor (think battery)
Even though they say.."Never needs a battery". What they don't say is "The capacitor needs replacing every few years."
It happened to my brother.....Gotta get a new capacitor! My advice...Get the Flux Capacitor.....Not only tells
time but allows you to travel thru it!!....

 

[Mike H]

I had to replace the capacitor last year, the local jeweler charged me $60.

 

[RondeB]

For time travel the watch needs to attain 88mph and the Flux capacitor needs to be charged with 1.21 gigawatts.

 

[Doc4]

... capacitor needs to be charged with 1.21 gigawatts.

And the only available source of that much power is a lightening strike, but no one can predict where or when lightening will strike.

 

[erict46]

Alright I'm going to take it too a jewler and see what they say. Meanwhile I'm going to look to buy a DeLorean because I'm interested in this time travel idea you guys speak of, and I heard that that is the perfect time travel vehicle.

 

[OldSaw]

How's your calendar working? I just got mine back from Citizen today. It took a couple of weeks to turn around, but they reprogrammed it for free and even paid for shipping, both ways. My Skyhawk is well out of the normal warranty period, but the calendar malfunction was covered as it was a programming glitch.

Also, thanks for the tip on not keeping my Eco-Drive watch in a drawer for an extended period. It was nice to wear my Hamilton automatic for a few weeks though.

 

[syngent]

Alright I'm going to take it too a jewler and see what they say. Meanwhile I'm going to look to buy a DeLorean because I'm interested in this time travel idea you guys speak of, and I heard that that is the perfect time travel vehicle.

I think getting into a deLorean qualifies as time travel all in itself,... maybe you can go back and have them make a more realistic car for its time period and save them lol

And I would let the jeweler take care of it, if its a quiet place maybe he will show you how so you can do it yourself next time you need to have this done

 

[erict46]

I took it to a local jewler and they told me to send it to citizen. So that's what I'm going to do. Thanks for all the input. In all seriousness how fun would a DeLorean be to have?

 

[litespeedone]

God those cars were fantastic in their time. Didn't end well for John Z though.
I saw Johnny Carson driving his on the freeway once...a lonnngggg time ago....

 

[little Big feather]

On the Delorean kick...You can still buy a new one....A guy in Houston bought everything in parts and is hand assembling them in a warehouse.
He even has the rights to register it as a DeLorean.

 

[joshgambit]

Alright I'm going to take it too a jewler and see what they say. Meanwhile I'm going to look to buy a DeLorean because I'm interested in this time travel idea you guys speak of, and I heard that that is the perfect time travel vehicle.

Well, if you're going to time travel, you might as well do it in style!

 

[Doc4]

Well, if you're going to time travel, you might as well do it in style!

... and since this is the Haberdashery ... take off that darned life preserver while you are at it.

 

[rajagra]

Silly question - does the watch have a reset function? Most Eco Drives at least let you zero the hand positions, you may need to do that to get it started.

P.S. it is not a capacitor. It is a rechargeable battery. That's why it's a bad idea to let it go into deep discharge.
Beware jewellers who fit a standard battery by mistake. It may work for a while, but the charging can make the battery leak, wrecking the watch.

I just bought a new Eco Drive, the improved battery life is amazing*, though I had no complaints about my old one. If Citizen repair yours, maybe you'll get an upgraded battery?

*Edit> Apparently not, see below.

 

[Toonr]

Curious about the capacitor/battery - I've had my Eco Drive watch for 8 or 9 years now, and haven't had a problem yet. How often might the capacitor/battery need to be replaced?

My watch did stop once a couple years ago. I had it in a drawer for a month while I was waiting for a replacement band to arrive in the mail from Citizen.

 

[rajagra]

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.

Ridiculously long lasting if they don't fail. At that rate they'd still have 50% capacity after 60 years.

I'm a bit surprised though. My old one (left) is specced to keep time for 5 years on a full charge. My new one only manages 7 months. Different power saving modes must be the reason.

 

[Toonr]

Thanks - that is pretty amazing. I suspect that I'll be replacing mine at some point due to availability of the watch band - which is is made of rubber, and I'm currently on the 3rd band. The last two were about $30 each, and seems that the only way to get them is direct from Citizen.

Ridiculously long lasting if they don't fail. At that rate they'd still have 50% capacity after 60 years....

 

[joshgambit]

How does the eco drive work? Is it kinetics or solar or something?