New watch batteries keep running out - throw watch away.

Chomeur

I've got a watch that I bought about 20 years ago for £100. Whenever I put a new battery in the battery runs out within a few hours. I guess there must be some sort of short-circuit. Time to dispose of the watch and get a new one? Or could it be that I'm somehow short-circuiting the battery when I insert it?

Thanks for your help.

meritaten

I would have it looked at by a watch repairer. there may be a simple thing wrong and it could be worth putting right. and a watch costing a £100 all those years ago - look up its current value! you may be surprised because some watches become extremely valuable.

good_advice

Hiya, may I ask where you are buying the battery from? not that I realy need to know. It is just that cheap batteries have only a little power.

Try buying a battery that costs more and will last longer.

Good wishes

Chomeur

good_advice wrote: »

Hiya, may I ask where you are buying the battery from? not that I realy need to know. It is just that cheap batteries have only a little power.

Try buying a battery that costs more and will last longer.

Good wishes

The batteries are renata 321 and I bought them from babz on ebay two years ago. They look alright from the packaging although I can see that I have got through seven of them in two years which is clearly not quite right. Hard to know if it's the watch or the batteries. I suppose I could try some Duracell ones.

meritaten

what make is the watch?

Chomeur

meritaten wrote: »

what make is the watch?

Rotary. Someone sold one on eBay for £50 so it's not worth that much. First picture here

meritaten

its nice - clear dial, easy to read, classic look. ok, if its not worth repair at this time try doing this. take the back off and battery out and puff air over it. could be a speck of dust in the battery case. or try a different make of battery. I find some last longer than others. shame to just bin it.

Chomeur

meritaten wrote: »

its nice - clear dial, easy to read, classic look. ok, if its not worth repair at this time try doing this. take the back off and battery out and puff air over it. could be a speck of dust in the battery case. or try a different make of battery. I find some last longer than others. shame to just bin it.

Most recent battery has now lasted a day and still going well. I think it might be something to do with the button on the side - I was having some difficulty reinserting this fully and when it's fully out the watch stops altogether by design. Now it's gone back in fully and the battery has lasted better. I'll keep an eye on it but will bear your advice in mind should there be any further problems.

Chomeur

Stopped working altogether now. I do have an airblower for a camera and have tried that but to no avail. I think I'll take it down to the repair shop and see if they can do anything.

[Deleted User]

I had a new watch battery in Hinds once, when he brought it out he said that the battery clip was broken, so it might not last long. I pointed out that it must be them who have broken it.

Sure enough, a couple of weeks later it stopped:
"Oh no no, it's not broken, it's just a faulty battery."

A short while later it stopped again:
"No, it's not broken, it's worn out."

When it stopped again I decided I'd had enough, so I made myself a key to unscrew the back with. It turned out that it wasn't a faulty battery, it wasn't a broken battery clip, and the battery clip wasn't worn out either.

The reason the watch kept stopping was that the battery was popping out of place because some idle idiot had bent the battery clip out of the way rather than get a screwdriver and unscrew it. The watch has worked fine for several years since I straightened the clip.

Moral of the tale: same as always, if you want a job done properly, do it yourself.

Joe_Horner

Renata batteries are fine - I've been using them professionally for nearly 20 years, fitting 10 or more per day and bad ones just don't happen.

Depending on the movement, many have a thin plastic insulator that's fitted below the lower battery contact. It's basically a thin disk of plastic about the thickness of a piece of paper. The general rule is, if the battey "bay" is metal then there should be an insulator. They often get lost even by so-called professionals, who then tell you your watch is broken

If yours has a metal battery holder but no insulator then it'll short circuit every battery you put in there. usually it'll stop the watch dead but sometimes they'll run for a while, shorting intermittently and giving a very short life.

The quick fix if that's the case is to cut a disk from the plastic bubble pack that the new battery comes in that will just fit into the battery holder, and slip that in underneath the bottom battery contact.

If it's a plastic holder then the above doesn't apply.