A 10-year battery and a accuracy trimmer screw in a $50 watch. Amazing.
How's this for battery life?
16
I purchased my one and only G-Shock brand new on January 12, 2000.
Warranty info filled out on the back of the instruction manual:
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They were on sale at Sports Authority for $50, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Granted, I don’t wear the watch too often, it usually does duty as my ‘time setting’ watch. I will synchronize it to atomic time and then use the G-Shock to set other watches or clocks that I own. I do use the countdown timer when bidding on f*bay and the chrono is used occasionally, too.
So today, while doing a battery replacement on my Levenger travel alarm, I decided it was high time to replace the battery in the G-Shock, too. The backlight was causing the display to fade out, but otherwise, if the backlight wasn’t used, the display and watch still worked. Oh, did I mention that this was the first battery replacement I have done on this watch? The battery is a common lithium, CR 2016.
Display looks fine when the watch is just sitting there:
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If the backlight is pressed, the display fades out. Time for a new battery:
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Yes, the original battery, while the watch has been in my possession, lasted nearly 10 years and three months. If you figure the battery was installed at the factory anywhere from six months to one year prior to my purchase, that means the battery lasted, for the sake of argument, 11 years! Spectacular!
I was quite impressed with the build quality of the G-Shock. There are six screws holding the rubber shroud to the case back and sides.
Nice quality screws (with hefty shoulders for the case back):
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Once these six screws are removed, the shroud and case back can be removed. The case back was also a heavy piece. Nice!
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There is a rubber shock pad that covers the entire movement inside the watch, underneath the case back. Kinda like those plastic engine covers on many new cars.
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With the shock pad removed, the old battery and battery holder can be seen. The manual that came with this watch actually provides detailed instructions on how to replace the battery, something that is not seen very often these days.
It was a bit tricky figuring out how to safely release the battery holder, but with enough gentle prodding, I successfully unhooked the holder’s hook style release and the holder popped up just enough to slide the old battery out.
I’m always leery of working on digital watches because it seems that many times, no matter how careful I am, the pushers never seem the same after a battery replacement, due to the movement moving around while working on it. Luckily, things turned out okay here.
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Here’s the old battery. Kudos to its 11 years of yeoman service!
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New battery installed. How long will this Sony battery last? My guess is not 11 years! I also did not perform the ‘AC’ short procedure, because all was working fine after the new battery was installed.
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Now to put everything back together. As the jargon in Haynes automotive manuals goes, ‘refitting is a reversal of removal.’
Case back gets positioned and re-secured with the rubber shroud.
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The display looks good. So does the backlight, now functioning properly!
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Well, that was a fairly straightforward battery replacement. If I only have to do it every 11 years, I’m good!
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
-Marc
Warranty info filled out on the back of the instruction manual:
They were on sale at Sports Authority for $50, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Granted, I don’t wear the watch too often, it usually does duty as my ‘time setting’ watch. I will synchronize it to atomic time and then use the G-Shock to set other watches or clocks that I own. I do use the countdown timer when bidding on f*bay and the chrono is used occasionally, too.
So today, while doing a battery replacement on my Levenger travel alarm, I decided it was high time to replace the battery in the G-Shock, too. The backlight was causing the display to fade out, but otherwise, if the backlight wasn’t used, the display and watch still worked. Oh, did I mention that this was the first battery replacement I have done on this watch? The battery is a common lithium, CR 2016.
Display looks fine when the watch is just sitting there:
If the backlight is pressed, the display fades out. Time for a new battery:
Yes, the original battery, while the watch has been in my possession, lasted nearly 10 years and three months. If you figure the battery was installed at the factory anywhere from six months to one year prior to my purchase, that means the battery lasted, for the sake of argument, 11 years! Spectacular!
I was quite impressed with the build quality of the G-Shock. There are six screws holding the rubber shroud to the case back and sides.
Nice quality screws (with hefty shoulders for the case back):
Once these six screws are removed, the shroud and case back can be removed. The case back was also a heavy piece. Nice!
There is a rubber shock pad that covers the entire movement inside the watch, underneath the case back. Kinda like those plastic engine covers on many new cars.
With the shock pad removed, the old battery and battery holder can be seen. The manual that came with this watch actually provides detailed instructions on how to replace the battery, something that is not seen very often these days.
It was a bit tricky figuring out how to safely release the battery holder, but with enough gentle prodding, I successfully unhooked the holder’s hook style release and the holder popped up just enough to slide the old battery out.
I’m always leery of working on digital watches because it seems that many times, no matter how careful I am, the pushers never seem the same after a battery replacement, due to the movement moving around while working on it. Luckily, things turned out okay here.
Here’s the old battery. Kudos to its 11 years of yeoman service!
New battery installed. How long will this Sony battery last? My guess is not 11 years! I also did not perform the ‘AC’ short procedure, because all was working fine after the new battery was installed.
Now to put everything back together. As the jargon in Haynes automotive manuals goes, ‘refitting is a reversal of removal.’
Case back gets positioned and re-secured with the rubber shroud.
The display looks good. So does the backlight, now functioning properly!
Well, that was a fairly straightforward battery replacement. If I only have to do it every 11 years, I’m good!
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
-Marc
