Is your Seiko Kinetic watch battery or capacitor not charging as it should?
Does your Seiko Kinetic watch stop during the night? Does your power reserve indicator only show '5' or '10' seconds of charge, no matter how much you 'shake' or 'swing' the watch to charge the capacitor?
Is your second hand 'stepping' in two-second increments indicating a low charge?
Have you already had your Seiko Kinetic watch repaired by a 'hack artist' on the web only to have the original problem come back in a few weeks or months?
Were you told your Seiko Kinetic watch needed an expensive, new movement?
The partial movement and component part in this photo came from a watch which had been serviced by a competitor three months earlier. All that was done to this watch was a replacement of the capacitor with a new Lithium Ion Energy Storage Unit at a cost of $54.95 (with free estimate & free shipping!). The owner sent the watch back for warranty service and was told he had "failed to keep the watch charged up, damaged the 'battery,' and voided his warranty." He was then told he could spend another $125 for a 'new movement' to correct the 'problem.' This customer was misled and ripped off. Let's examine why this is so.
The new 'battery' in this customer's watch did truly fail within three months, but NOT because the owner failed to 'keep it charged' or to 'condition' the new lithium 'battery.'
On the contrary, the new Lithium Ion Energy Storage Unit (LI ESU) in this watch failed because the 'hack' who worked on this watch failed to diagnose the REAL problem - HIGH CONSUMPTION caused by OLD, DRIED GREASE. The consumption was so high that the owner could not possibly generate enough kinetic energy to keep the LI ESU charged. High consumption is just one of reasons why a Kinetic watch may not be running OR charging properly.
Old, dried grease creates high levels of friction that your watch's integrated circuit continuously tries to overcome by requesting MORE power from the capacitor or energy storage unit.
Many 'watchmakers' are either unaware or choose to ignore this problem, and simply install a new 'battery.' Your watch WILL run again, but only for a few weeks or months before the new 'battery' is drained by HIGH consumption, and your second hand starts to 'step' in two-second increments, or your watch STOPS completely. When you send the watch back to these 'watchmakers' they may then try to 'spray clean' your assembled movement. But you can't spray clean this thick dried, old grease. You will then be told that your watch needs a 'new movement' that YOU will be asked to pay MORE for. YOU ARE BEING RIPPED OFF!