I have a working Sunwatch!

[Sully008]

Sort of. It's been "Frankensteined" to death. I recently purchased a working Mk II Synchronar from a member on the forum. Upon inspection, the display lit up, but no power from the SC. Great. Looking at the gel inside, I couldn't determine if I could take out the board without damage. So I had to break the top cover in order to keep everything intact.

Replaced the SC and everything worked fine. Because I had spare Sunwatch tops I decided to use one of those. Put the module in, heard a little "crack". Pulled the module out, determined that I broke the back left reed switch. Thankfully, I had a bunch of those too. Replaced the reed switch and put it back in the case.

For the life of me I couldn't get the necessary depth for the v80s to fit with the red bottom snug. There is about ~1/32" gap that I had to fill in, so the module is slightly thicker.

Also. I couldn't recharge the right slider magnet enough to activate both reed switches when I slid it. I could only get one or the other to work. The left one works fine.

So, after all's said and done, I have a Sunwatch with a MkII module, and a right slider that only shows time. Was it worth it???




































Yup.

I've never been so frustrated in my life working on something, but to see those LEDs light up makes me happy. It's certainly not the greatest restore, in fact, it's down right ugly.

A couple of notes:

If you haven't seen them together, the black sliders are different than the red sliders. The black slders are slightly larger, but use a smaller magnet. In my Sunwatch, the left slider is the red one and the right slider is the black one. I couldn't get the red one to move far enough front or back to activate the switches. But, because the switch used a smaller magnet, I had to grind out a larger hole to accomodate the magnet from the red slider. Even with this mod, I can't get the front switch to show the date.

The Mk I/II module will not fit the black bottoms without completely gutting the bottom. The display is bigger on the Mk I/II. Also, the QC is in a slightly different spot, which will hit parts of the casing.

I'm not going to show pics of this because it certainly doesn't do justice to a Synchronar/Sunwatch. But, I've learned a lot of information through this whole ordeal that I'm going to try again. I've got stuff on the way to me as we speak, and I'm going to get a couple more MkI/II modules to ressurect. I've got 2 Synchronar cases to fill.

Also, I may have found a source for smaller v60 batteries, that might help in the space issue. But I won't know for sure until they show up.

[Synchroserious]

Hi Mike,

The black sliders contained smaller magnets for a few years like 1979-82.In fact both sizes were used durring these years.It was later determined that the larger magnets were better and since 1983 the small ones have been discontinued.I mentioned the two different sizes on a post a while back.Also this means the reed switches inside are of different sensitivity.In other words you can't use big magnets on a module constructed for small ones or small ones on one constructed for large.

The confusion sets in when a brother of mine assembles a non worker for sale with small magnets when it really calls for larger.Since the supply of larger ones is low he just puts in some small magnet sliders.Then of course there is the issue of the magnet possibly being too weak.

As to why you had trouble fitting the batteries in.

The Sunwatch tops do not alow the MK I MK II Circuit boards to fit unless you carefully remove a 45 degree ridge in the back underside of the top and a little bit of Lexan on back underside corners.This is also true for the New Synchronar tops.It is difficult to do with tiny router bit without putting a hole in the top or scratching it.
For this reaon when I sell a new top I include a free top that has a previously drilled hole in it where the potting plug used to go.The free top is for practice.
Also if you do not have a tab welded on the batteries as ALL production modules have then the batteries would be too thick and not fit in.

[Sully008]

Hi Mike,

The black sliders contained smaller magnets for a few years like 1979-82.In fact both sizes were used durring these years.It was later determined that the larger magnets were better and since 1983 the small ones have been discontinued.I mentioned the two different sizes on a post a while back.Also this means the reed switches inside are of different sensitivity.In other words you can't use big magnets on a module constructed for small ones or small ones on one constructed for large.

Welcome back, Synchroserious. Thank you for that info, at least I know I wasn't losing my mind.

As to why you had trouble fitting the batteries in.

The Sunwatch tops do not alow the MK I MK II Circuit boards to fit unless you carefully remove a 45 degree ridge in the back underside of the top and a little bit of Lexan on back underside corners.This is also true for the New Synchronar tops.It is difficult to do with tiny router bit without putting a hole in the top or scratching it.
For this reaon when I sell a new top I include a free top that has a previously drilled hole in it where the potting plug used to go.The free top is for practice.
Also if you do not have a tab welded on the batteries as ALL production modules have then the batteries would be too thick and not fit in.

Yes, I completely forgot that I had to do some "massaging" of the top to make the board fit. As for the tab, no, I don't have one, but I'll see if there is a company locally that can do it. (We don't have a Batteries+ in Canada)