I have a Eco drive watch and have not used it in a few years...It was sitting in a draw and was not exposed to light at all..at it sits now it will not restart back up...what ideas or techniques should i do to get it running.
The Citizen Eco Drive watches use special recharchable batteries.
I started collecting a couple of watches and I noticed sometimes a jeweler replaces them with an ordinary battery. The watch will work and at the same time it will try to recharge this one until it explodes! In newer models they made it harder to use the non-rechargable ones by adding a special connector or clip to the rechargable battery types.
Okay,you stored your watch in a drawer as many people do? It may have lost the charge over time. First thing to try is to leave it on the window sill so the dial is in the sun. It will start ticking, but please leave it out there for 3 days to a week. The seconds hand will tick irregularly in steps of one and two seconds, to show you it wants you to readjust the time, as it knows it has lost time. Adjust the time and it should run smoothly.
The seconds hand should run in single second steps, if it takes steps regularly, but every 3 seconds or so, it tries to tell you that its power level is going down. It will be able to continue for one or two days, but you should get it into the sun more often.
Charging the battery under a lamp is possible, however this heats up the watch and this may reduce battery life.
If you need to know more about the Eco Drive, look for detail tech manuals for all types here: http://www.citizenwatch.com/downloads/tech/tech.htm
Those are great watches as long as you remember it needs light to charge.
Be sure to ask the watch repair man if he knows the eco drive uses special battery, if not sure, find another watch repair man before he kills your watch ;)
This watch uses a photocell to charge a power cell. The power cell runs the circuit which then sends pulses to the coil. After the circuit the watch is similar to most quartz watches. I woud try leaving it in a bright spot,not direct sunlight, for a few days. MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T GET HOT. If this doesn't fix it a watchmaker will test the photocell and the power cell if these are good the the movement should be tested with a power supply to see if it runs.
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Put the watch in any form of light for some time. Sun is best but not necessary. When the second hand stops running, it is a sign that the capacitor is low. The eco drive is a solar powered watch. When exposed to light, it converts the energy from the light and stores it in an internal capacitor which is really a battery that will last about 20 years.
Eco-Drive powered watches can be finicky. They need a LOT of sun to initially charge the power cell, and then some strong light each day to maintain them charged.
Put the watch in the window for a few days to see if it comes to life, if it does not the power cell may need replacement.
Some of the earlier Eco-Drives used a capacitor that does not like to be run down from not being exposed to enough light, and will fail sooner than the newer power cells.
The ECO series of Citizen's do not require battery replacement, as they are solar powered. If the watch stops due to a long period of non-use, there is a procedure in the manual as well as the Citizen website on how to get it running again. You will have to expose it to light for several hours (but not with lots of heat such as a car dash) to get it running. If you continue to have trouble, you may have a problem with the watch. I bought my wife a ladies ECO drive about 8 years ago and bought one for myself about 2 years ago and have not had a bit of problems with either. They are extremely good watches and it is nice not to have to worry about "when will the battery die?"
Your watch capacitor is unable to recharge to the needed voltage. Try to put in on window sill in sunlight or under the bright lamp and leave it for a few days. If it will not restart after doing thet, you will need to find your nearest watch repair shop and ask for capacitor replacement. Don't forget to rate, please.
You need to expose this watch to sunlight for about 8 hours to let it recharge it's solar cell. Make sure that sunlight is shining directly on the face and not just "kind of" shining on the face. I put it in a window ledge where the sun beats down to make sure it gets the most sunlight possible.
Repeat this for a few days to make sure it's fully charged.
Since it's eco-drive you can just wear it for a few hours and it should self-wind. The problem is that when it sits still for more than a few days it winds down. It gets its power from the natural movement of your wrist as you walk around.
Once it starts ticking again you'll just have to set the time correctly.
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