Great pictures, great work and great result 
5J22 Auto Relay Service
I've owned this watch from new, and wore it every day for many years. As you can see from the first pics it wasn't treated especially kindly but it always performed faultlessly, so I decided it deserved a service and buff up. I couldn't find much info online so here's some quick notes and pics of the process.
Seiko must have been pleased with the movement as the intro in the Tech Guide describes it as "epoch-making". It has 13 jewels and a 4 year power reserve, mine has always been accurate to within a minute per year. The power reserve is achieved by the 'Auto Relay' function - when you're not wearing the watch, the hands stop moving, but the electronics inside keep running. Then, when you pick up the watch again and give it a little shake, it wakes up and the hands spin round to the correct time.
The Technical Guide is really excellent and covers fault finding in detail as well as basic servicing, though my watch has never been opened and just needed cleaning and oiling, new crystal, capacitor, gaskets and springbars.
The crystal can't be removed without tools, it needs to be pressed out from inside the case, and worryingly, even more force is needed to press the new one in from the outside.
The hands are very flimsy and not as good quality as on automatics IMHO. It's easy to push the minute hand on a little to far, so it passes the point where it grips the centre wheel, it then uselessly swings freely around the pinion and has to be removed and refitted.
I was worried about refitting the train wheel bridge as there are lots of tiny components to line up, but it went straight on with no bother at all. The dial side gave some problems as the date advance mechanism has a very fiddly arrangement.
There are three coils, so great care is required when working on the movement as the smallest slip can spell disaster. One coil drives the second hand, the second coil has dual windings - one for the hour minute hand under normal use, and one for auto relay mode. The third coil is used in reverse (i.e. mechanical to electro) to charge the battery.
However, the best thing of all is that all the screws are the same size, so impossible to get muddled up.
Cheers, Sam.
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Seiko must have been pleased with the movement as the intro in the Tech Guide describes it as "epoch-making". It has 13 jewels and a 4 year power reserve, mine has always been accurate to within a minute per year. The power reserve is achieved by the 'Auto Relay' function - when you're not wearing the watch, the hands stop moving, but the electronics inside keep running. Then, when you pick up the watch again and give it a little shake, it wakes up and the hands spin round to the correct time.
The Technical Guide is really excellent and covers fault finding in detail as well as basic servicing, though my watch has never been opened and just needed cleaning and oiling, new crystal, capacitor, gaskets and springbars.
The crystal can't be removed without tools, it needs to be pressed out from inside the case, and worryingly, even more force is needed to press the new one in from the outside.
The hands are very flimsy and not as good quality as on automatics IMHO. It's easy to push the minute hand on a little to far, so it passes the point where it grips the centre wheel, it then uselessly swings freely around the pinion and has to be removed and refitted.
I was worried about refitting the train wheel bridge as there are lots of tiny components to line up, but it went straight on with no bother at all. The dial side gave some problems as the date advance mechanism has a very fiddly arrangement.
There are three coils, so great care is required when working on the movement as the smallest slip can spell disaster. One coil drives the second hand, the second coil has dual windings - one for the hour minute hand under normal use, and one for auto relay mode. The third coil is used in reverse (i.e. mechanical to electro) to charge the battery.
However, the best thing of all is that all the screws are the same size, so impossible to get muddled up.
Cheers, Sam.
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1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Wow great post. Thank you!
My perpetual with Auto Relay is fun to pick up after a few days of inactivity. The big date switches over at midnight every night even though the hands are not moving. Advancing the hands manually to adjust the time does not change the date going past midnight, indicating no mechanical linkage but rather microprocessor controlled.
Just got mine back from Seiko USA Service. 3 months old and acting up, not changing date on occasional date changes. Let's see if they got it right again.
My perpetual with Auto Relay is fun to pick up after a few days of inactivity. The big date switches over at midnight every night even though the hands are not moving. Advancing the hands manually to adjust the time does not change the date going past midnight, indicating no mechanical linkage but rather microprocessor controlled.
Just got mine back from Seiko USA Service. 3 months old and acting up, not changing date on occasional date changes. Let's see if they got it right again.
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I have a brand new bracelet for these - and as a bonus a watch comes with it (one of the ones with the rotating bezel)
I have always liked the blue dial that you have, mine is the grey one. I am in the process of taking mine down to change out the capacitor and gasket. I do not think I will be taking it down quite as far as you have, but I may look into replacing the rather beat up crystal.I have a brand new bracelet for these - and as a bonus a watch comes with it (one of the ones with the rotating bezel)
Here is a pic of one (I have two of the same model) of mine.
Ron
If not for that ugly nose, I'd like them (seriously, what's up with the silver dome?)
(seriously, what's up with the silver dome?)As far as I can tell, it's only purpose is to cover the center of the hands. I will admit, I really like this watch, if for nothing else, when the sun hits the watch, it does not cast a reflection like the ones with flat crystals. I know it is probably crazy, but while in the Marine Corps, we learned not to have anything that shined or rattled. Just a leftover from that era.If not for that ugly nose, I'd like them
I have ordered the parts I need for the old girl, and I found an SMA003 sales sample for sale on ebay today. There are no guts inside it, but the case and bracelet are all there. My plan is to put my guts and back cover on the new chassis. This way it will work and look like it did when I got it forever ago. I hope it was not one of the members here that I was bidding against.
New case front and back
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New case front and back
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Exactly What John Said ^^^Great pictures, great work and great result
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
