Vintage quartz seiko help please

Hi all.
I mistakenly allowed myself to get caught in the rain with my King Quartz yesterday - oops!
I noticed condensation behind the dial and the second hand just moving one second back and forth a couple of hours later. Since then I’ve removed the battery, popped off the caseback and let it dry out overnight/today but annoyingly I just put the battery back (still dismantled) and it’s still doing it.

Is it buggered?
I’m conflicted now as I only paid £160 for the watch and my other quartz Seiko (7a28) cost me the same for a service! I like this one (dial is immaculate and case has lovely gentle patina) but I do need a watch to handle rain if not full immersion!

Tips/suggestions welcomed please (and thank you!)


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I would persevere with the drying out and try a fresh battery, the fact it’s trying to move is a good sign.

As Jason said pop a decent fresh battery in 1st call

Same advice here , it's a good sign that you have movement in the hands. A new crystal might be in order for future rain storms !!!!

Balls. I just put it all back together and now nothing - not a hint of motion.

New battery ordered… fingers crossed!!!


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The movement needs stripping and cleaning, that's a job for a repairer.

The problem with Seikos is the fact that they're cheap, so owners are reluctant to spend on them. I've lost count of the number of times I`ve been asked to fix Seikos for peanuts, I work at well below commercial rates and even I aren`t cheap enough for (most) Seiko owners. Cheekiest one of all was a guy on here a few years back, I`d given him lots of advice on buying an Omega SMP 2254, he then asked me to service an old Seiko 7S26 and he tried to chip me down below £40 for a full stripdown and service....needless to say it didn`t happen.

I can sort it out, PM me if you're interested, but if you want it fixing for peanuts ask a monkey! The truth is that you trusted the seals on an old watch and the watch has let water in, it happened to me many years ago with a vintage Omega when I got cought in a rain shower, the only way to keep water out is to get the watch checked and get the seals replaced. Just like the Who, I didn`t get fooled again and I`ve always sorted the seals out on any watch I`ve bought. In some cases, where corrosion has occurred, it's v. difficult to get any degree of water resistance, but (literally) splashproof is a whole lot better than zero.

Water ingress is always a potential hazard, I`ve currently got a watch on my bench that's under warranty and it ended up with water ingress. when I tested the watch with the crown scewed in it was fine to 6 bar......I think the conclusion is obvious!

Looking at it, I assume it's a a 5856? If it isn't the battery, it's most likely an insulating patina has developed somewhere. With later quartz you can usually remove the electronics module and give all the contacts a polish. However, I'm pretty sure these are a bit tricky. I bet there are manuals floating around, but I'd be very careful without one, especially with the little rods... Still, it's well worth giving the battery connectors a bit of a shine first.

Edit: blind as a bat, that's Sewa not Dani, so a 4823. Slightly less tricky if you are feeling confident.

Good luck with the new battery.

If it doesn't work you could always upgrade to the Grand Quartz on SC... :friendly_wink:

Concluding this thread…

I sent it off the Guy at Rexworthwatches for a look and fix. No evidence of water damage but the coil needed repair. No idea how that happened… perhaps I damaged it trying to dry it??
It looks very tidy inside, but apparently something in the second picture needed soldering. It’s had a full dismantle, clean and service, new gaskets and it’s running absolutely beautifully now.
Lovely [emoji1305]

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Result! Very smart.

Sounds like one of the connections to the coil got damaged, unless you’re careful this can happen. You’ve been fortunate to find a repairer who can fix this problem, I wouldn’t attempt it. Expensive test equipment us required to check the circuitry and correctly diagnose the fault, although it may have been obvious by close inspection.

Does the watch now have sufficient water resistance for everyday wear? I hope so.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by walkerwek1958

Sounds like one of the connections to the coil got damaged, unless you’re careful this can happen. You’ve been fortunate to find a repairer who can fix this problem, I wouldn’t attempt it. Expensive test equipment us required to check the circuitry and correctly diagnose the fault, although it may have been obvious by close inspection.

Does the watch now have sufficient water resistance for everyday wear? I hope so.

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Certainly hope so! I won’t be showering in it, but hopefully if I get caught in the rain it will survive [emoji1787]

Guy is a pro. Highly recommended for vintage quartz repairs.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by chrisgillett

Certainly hope so! I won’t be showering in it, but hopefully if I get caught in the rain it will survive [emoji1787]

Guy is a pro. Highly recommended for vintage quartz repairs.


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I place a high priority on restoring the water resistance to a practical (splashproof) standard, it might be worth discussing this with the guy who fixed it. Generally it’s not too difficult but original seals on a watch this age will invariably need replacing. Crown seal’s the tricky one but there are usually ways and means.

Watches get splashed easily whilst washing hands etc, v. difficult to keep them totally dry.