My synchronar blog

[CompuChron2]

Hi guys,

I've just receive my synchronar this morning and wanted to share with you the restoration from now until the day it will work again(maybe).My aim is to try to make a battery replacement.

So here are the pic of my non working synchronar:





the model is certainly a MK III (from what Howard told me)

As you can see it's full of scratches and I'll begin in the next days by the easiest , a case and "module"polishing.I think I'll use a sand sponge and steel wool for the finishing.


But first I need to take it apart.
How? By just taking of the band?The module will come out?

Before doing anything , I'll put it in the sunlight for a few days , who knows?

See you in a few days then

[RaWatch]

The watches uses conventional spring bars that slip through the band and attchch to the case. Be careful. If you push too hard with something sharp you can break off the corner of the Lexan modual that is close to the band.

When the spring bars are out, the Lexan modual should come right out of the metal case. Becareful that the small springs and magnets on the switches do not fall off and get lost.

[Led-Time]

I'am looking forward to seeing the insides of one of these watches.

If the case is solid stainless steel it would look fantastic mirror polished.

Good luck with your project.

[CompuChron2]

Hi,

Still no sign of life tonight after 20 hours in the sun light , not surprising

I began to investigate on the way to polish the case and module:
For the module I tried some Displex , it looks to work fine , but for the case I tried a 180 sand sponge , it may buff out the dings but it looses the mirror finish look , I'll need something else , maybe I'll use my dremmel with the polishing tool?
What's the best for the mirror look on a SS watch?

[gjlelec]

If your 100% sure that the finish is stainless and not a chrome or similar plate, try rubbing down (in 1x direction preferably) with 2000 grade wet and dry paper (proper car paint suppliers keep it) then polish the dull finish with Autosol metal polish. The wet and dry will take any initial scratches out Be careful if you decide to use a Dremel, they can be too fast causing the metal to heat up and create temper flaring (colouring) of the metal. Always better to do the job by hand if possible, hope this helps

[CompuChron2]

Thanks for your answer but I think I'll try with some jeweler's rouge that I've ordered.
It seems to be what is needed for SS watches.

[digibloke]

If you're going to use jewellers rouge and a dremel then make sure that you do it somewhere you can make a mess and wear some old clothes. If you use it in an apartment/house you'll be wiping red dust from everything you own for weeks.

Personally I'd go for the ultra fine wet and dry paper and finish with metal polish and lots of elbow grease. It'll take a while but it's a lot less messy.

[CompuChron2]

Hi,
here is the update.
I've opened it with an exacto knife , it took some time , wasn't esay , broke the module on the side on few mm.
I tried with a 3v power source and......
NOTHING

So I don't know what to do now...
Open a museum with dead LED watches?
Anyway if it's behind a glass , nobody will know they are all dead?

[retroleds]

For a rarer piece, a dead one is better than none at all.

[Synchroserious]

Compuchron did you Hook negative to the rear solder pad and positive to either sides reed switches center post or did you simply contact + and - according to where you removed the battery? Sometimes the oil on your fingers or chemicals in a cleaning agent will temporarily cause no display because the X-tal is not ready to osc until you wait 20 min while under a warm light.
As for dead or alive the kind lady from the muesuem that visited me in June told me it made no difference wether my donation worked or not,I should have right then swapped it with a non working MKI

[CompuChron2]

Here is an update,
my synchronar module is in Italy for examination by someone who has more skills and who will tell skifully that it's dead!

let's wait...