Hello,
I am replacing a battery in a friends Swiss Army watch (eta 0 jewel movement) and I seem to recall that the watch needs to be "Jump started" after replacing a battery. does anyone know the proper procedure?
I did it years ago but have since forgotten. Thank you.

Ray

Ray,
What ETA caliber are you putting the battery in?

Hello Scott,
I dont know what caliber it is but here is a pic if it helps. It is in a womens watch.

Ray,
Test the old battery. Then test the new battery to make sure it is good. Do not pick up the new battery with your tweezers. Put it in and put the case back on. I bet you it will run. Make sure the stem is in.

On some watches, there is a terminal marked AC, (all clear). If you were getting erroneous displays, you should take a wire and jump the watch from the positive battery terminal to the AC terminal. I do not think that this is the case with your watch.

Finally, If the battery is good, and the hands do not move, they may be stuck. If this is the case use your demagnetizer on it. You will see that the hands will spin around rapidly. (Never, Ever do this with and Accutrion). If the watch still does not run, look for things like hand interference. If it is not running at this point, you need to check the watch on a tester, or just order a new movt. from Casker or Borel. It will cost 7 or 8 dollars with a new battery. If you want to know which caliber it is, I will need to see what complications the watch has and where the date window is. It looks like a 803.114, sweep second and date at the 3.

Scott,
Thank you for the help. I think you are right on the caliber number. I checked the battery, demagnatized the movement but nothing. I will buy a new movement next time i'm in L.A.
This is the second time I have changed a battery for someone in a swiss army watch where they said that the local battery changer/jewelery store owner told them that they could not change the battery and it had to be sent in to have it changed. Any idea of why that might be?

Thanks again Scott,
Ray Hallenbeck

Ray,

Did the hands on the watch move at all when you hit it with the demagnetizer??
If the hands did move, you can be fairly sure that they and the gear train are not stuck and causing the problem.

Maybe you have some corrosion on the contacts that can be cleaned up.

In my experience with Swiss Army watches, I have had no problems. I even repaired coils in them. It is possible that most retailers send them back to the company to prevent any liability and damage to the case, but I don't think that they require anything special.

If you are going to be working with a lot of these quartz watches, I recommend getting a Horotec pulse. It will tell you if the electronics are working. They are inexpensive, but good.

Scott,
The hands did move when demagnatized and the battery checked ok (It was new). I dont see any corrosion so I think I will just replace the movement when I get into Los Angeles next week.
Thank you very much for your help. You wouldn't by any chance have a center wheel for an 18 size Elgin grade 240, class 91, 19 jewel BW Raymond you would part with?..It was no match for the bottom of my daughters shoe (Long story)..

Thank you,
Ray

Ray,
I don't have one, but I am going to be meeting with some "watch people" this weekend and will see if I can dig one up.