The trick to owning a kinetic is to wear it 3 weeks straight, morning, noon and night when you first get it. This will give it a really good, full 6 month charge. Then wear it whenever you go for a jog or walk or while working out. 1/2 hour a day should do it . If you also wear it one day a week as part of your weekly watch rotation, you should never have a problem keeping the watch always at full charge. These are terrific watches-robust as a G-shock, more accurate than a Rolex, They do require a little extra TLC as far as keeping them charged, but will amply repay you by being maintenance free for 20 years or more.
I have Seiko Kinetic Auto Relay and had it serviced once in 25+ years. Left it unattended for a week so it stopped. Picked it up and shook it. After a few shakes the hands started and date and time caught up. In that time it was 1 second out when compared to my Seiko Solar GPS. A brilliant watch that just keeps going and so accurate. With that in mind I recently also bought a new Seiko Kinetic dress watch which is also keeps super accurate time. In the past I had a Seiko Automatic. Looked okay but keeping accurate time was not a strong point. For a watch that just keeps going and going a Seiko Kinetic Auto Relay or Seiko Kinetic cannot be beaten and are also more affordable. I feel very lucky to have an Kinetic Auto Relay and would recommend any Seiko Kinetic as a good buy.
As I say Graeme if you wear them most of the time there great you shouldn't have any problems there good watches in that way , Its a little like a car battery dive it all the time or leave it for a week or two and its ok but leave it for a few months of longer and you may have a problem do that a few times and the battery is going to be dead and will need replacing ,
Sorry to say but this video contains some misinformation. Mine was in the draw for about 5 years (I forgot where I put it). When I found it, I gave it 50 horizontal shakes back and forth as I would with any Seiko auto. Wore it for a day and gave it 50 more and continued to wear it for 9 days and it was fully charged and has remained so.
If any type of solar or kinetic watch has not been kept charged for a long period of time the internal capacitor/battery can degrade. Over some years the capacitor/battery may have to be eventually changed. The rated lifespan of the capacitor/battery can be in the range of 15 to 20 years. In Canada the replacement with most watch types is in the range of $80 to $100 CDN.
So, how much of that degradation would you say could be attributed to improper storage? I’d be willing to bet that if the watches are kept away from extreme humidity/cold, and/or drastic temperature changes…. This would be a lot less likely to occur. Both, my solar and kinetic systems, have been recharged after more than half a decade of negligence…. And both keeping incredibly precise time. Both of them were stored in an airtight clear plastic bin, inside of a felt lined box, thrown under my bed and away from any light. Of course my house is almost always temperature controlled… so that is probably the case. They both took a long time to charge up. The kinetic has not lost ANY TIME. The solar is behind just under a full second, because I haven’t been wearing it. And that seems quite expensive. I’m gonna check with my local watchmakers… how much that is over here in the states.
@@GasGotti With any type of battery technology it is best to keep the battery charged. If left discharged, then over time the chemicals making up the battery will usually degrade. It is possible to have a battery unit that takes longer than normal to degrade. As for keeping time, electronic watches keep time by frequency using a quartz crystal oscillator. The time keeping for a watch will not be critical for battery level. It is critical for frequency of the oscillator that is using a quartz crystal reference. I have a number of solar watches. I keep them in a location where they can get light during the day hours. Some of these are more than 8 years old and are still going okay. I had one watch where its battery would no longer charge. I brought the watch to a jeweller. He ordered and changed the chargeable battery for me.
Shaking it by hand for 10-15 minutes (no need to go wild) is all that's needed to go from zero to fully charged. If the watch won't hold a charge, the capacitor is dead. I have several kinetic watches in my collection and as long as you charge them up to full once every 2 to 3 months, they are fine. If you don't like shaking the watch for 10 minutes, you can buy an AC charger for them (but these were for dealers, so can be hard to find - I've never needed one).
Shake it vigorously like it's a baby rattle for 15 minutes, this will give it a full charge. But, just like you already said, these need to be worn every day. Once the capacitor sits idle with no charging it gets a memory issue and will not hold a full charge for very long. These bracelets are very comfortable and have very smooth edges compared to other Seiko bracelets within this same price range. If you want to make it run correctly as new replace the capacitor.
I am a watch collector....When you checked the watch battery , and it showed five seconds, meaning one to seven days capacity, that is good !, because , for instance if you wore it another two weeks steady it may go to ten seconds which is excellent. When the capacitor goes bad it will not even charge to five seconds, then it is time to replace it at "Seiko Service Center". As time goes on, (years later) with Kinetics, they rarely stay at the 30 second mark for battery test. Ask for a maintenance on the watch and they will check and lube certain parts of the movement and change the capacitor . I had my Seiko Divers "SQ" from 1978, in new condition as I purchased it, from my "Seiko Line" of watches collection, fully serviced for the first time and it came back with not a mark on the watch as I sent it, regulated to -2 seconds a month ! They are the best place to service any Seiko ,and, if you have the higher end models, they can, in most cases be repaired, but some have to go back to Seiko Japan for certain repairs from my experiences. Seiko has made kinetics up to 2021 so sometimes they can replace certain parts of the watches that are sent in with no problem.
I left the watch winding for many hours with no joy So I ended up replacing the capacitor myself and all good. I can fully strip one down now and service it if needed
According to Seiko, the maximum per day should not exceed between 400-500 winds because of the extra stress on the movement and charge on the capacitor which could shorten the life of both.
Thats not great if you have a very active lifestyle. One down side with quartz movements is there is no adjustment for the movement so if you have a model which is say +10s a month you can't regulate it the only thing you could do is maybe use a little thicker oil to try and slow it down, if it runs slow there is nothing you can do.
With the cheaper quartz watches there is no adjustment, with the higher end movements like the 7 jewel 7C46A, there is two adjustments that Seiko can adjust with special electronics. I have one older 7C46B in one of my dive watches that is from 2007 and this movement has no adjustments, but, the battery life is 13 years per change and it gains 7 seconds a month if unworn, if I wear it , it loses nothing per day, until I take it off. Alot of people don't know about that and assume the 7C46A is better because of the adjustments. When the 7C46A is adjusted it can be within a few seconds a month, but, the battery change averages 10 years which is not as good as the "B", but still not bad.
@@visitor4253 I have a SBBN007 with the 7C46A I really like the watch I get around 5/7 years between battery changes, I recently changed the battery and it started gaining 2.83 seconds a month. I don't believe Seiko offer adjustment any more but GS do with the 9F but they are about £500+ just for the movement, Not Even ETA955 offer it
I have a kinetic seiko and have had all the problems everyone is complaining about. I removed the capacitor and replaced it with a conventional watch battery, 371, and it runs perfect with a full charge. I also removed the winding wheel and little gear that powers the watch. Very simple procedure and now it shows a full 30 second charge all the time. When the battery dies in a year or two, I'll just replace it. I did it all with a very tiny screwdriver; no more capacitor headaches for me.😁
I've got a 371 and another Kinetic Seiko. I don't wear them often enough to keep them fully charged, so I bought the Seiko charger. The good news is it will charge the watches in a few hours. The bad news is, it costs as much as the watch.
I have heard some toothbrush charges can charge them but not sure which , The Seiko charger is pretty rear I'm not sure if you can even buy it anymore , It maybe worth even more than you paid for it now
The watch is indicating that due to lack of movement the charge in that capacitor is almost out. The watch is designed to indicate this by moving the second hand in two second increments. The watch just needs to be worn for half an hour - and maybe the capacitor changing. Its all explained in the user manual. Plus - rotating in opposite directions will achieve very little - the mass weight is geared to create energy whichever direction the weight rotates. The whole point of a kinetik watch is to be worn - not wound. My Seiko 5m63 has been happily serving since I bought it in 1999. Like everything in life - look after it and it will look after you.
I lost mine in 1982 , Then after my divorce it fell out my wife's twat !.. still in perfect order and fully charged . I guess I was right about her seeing more action than a Dunkirk beach 🤬
@@rodrigovotisch If you look for seiko 5m62 kinetic movement there are many other Seiko watches with it in on Ebay and it would be possible to swap them over
I think mine is now 10 years old and I wear it 24/7. The rubber bands only last like 2 years, the ring around the watch lost half its printing but it is still spot on and if I press the switch the seconds hjand still goes all the way. I am not a watch expert (I'm an EE) but if I understand it right they have versions that use a supercap and there are (newer ?) versions using a rechargeable battery. In general Caps can last a lot longer as batteries.
I believe if you wear them 24/7 like yourself there shouldn’t be any problems, I think the problem is when you leave them to power down for months at a time, but you have a far better understanding then me a dare self with your background
@@ClickSpringReview Rechargeable batteries do not like it if they are used until the last bit of charge is gone, and that probably happens if you do not use the watch. (There will probably be some charge left if the voltage drops to low for the watch to run, but the cells also loose charge through internal and externa leakage over time) It is a chemical process. The only caps that age if not used are electrolytic caps, but I do not think these are used in watches. (to big). The basic cap is made by two (or more) metal plates separated by a insulator. They last for ever if not misused (like to high a voltage or mechanical forces, or heat). The only thing that can happen in a safe environment like a watch, is degrading over time depending the used insulator or oxidation of the plates. But I am not into watches, I do not know the type of cap they use. I was just curious how a kinetic watch works. I love everything that has to do with mechanical and electronic tinkering. But I never worked on a watch other then batteries or wristband replacement). I would love to learn that (mechanical watches) but I will need a lot of expensive tools for that and a lot of spareparts (like I have for electronics, because I do that for a living) and dead watches :-)
If there are warn parts on your watch you can send it to the authorized service to have warn parts replaced. When I have any issues with my watches I send them for service.
All you need to do is shake the watch for upwards of a minute to give it a good starting charge if it it doesn’t work then there is a problem with either the capacitor or the coil I’ve experienced this with me being a watchmaker no need for a drill or any power tools to be involved and kinetic watches are only made to hold a charge up to 72-80 hours
I ended up replacing the capacitor the following week plus now I'm just over 1 into a 3 year full time watchmaking course at University , I'm now working as a watchmaker at a vintage Rolex place in Birmingham Jewellery Quarter in the UK
I have a 100m from 2013… forget the model… it’s got a brushed SS silver bracelet, black dial with red accents. I just shook the absolute crap out of it a few hundred times for 2 days and now it’s working like i just bought it. I hadn’t even touched the watch for over 5 years and it’s completely fine. Didn’t even have to mess with the power reserve.
@@ClickSpringReview I guess it is pretty fortuitous. I actually thought it was completely screwed, because the second hand kept ticking all weird, and kept stopping on my wrist. I just kept at it, shaking away. I’m sure some models & years, have been known to withstand more negligence & abuse.
The kinetik "winds" (charges) by sharper movements of the hand. Thats why has that weird sound. Slow and steady rotation doesnt work well even on a new capacitor. Kinetic is my favourite type of watches. It feels completely like mechanical but you dont have to wind it after left for few days. Assuming the capacitor is good. And is also pretty accurate
Hi Georgi , Just the movement of your wrist should be enough to charge it , the older capacitor were know for leaking and needed about 800 turns of the watch to charge it to its maximum reserve of 3 days , 6 months on the other hand requires at least 24,000 Once I had replaced the capacitor in the follow up video the watch started working again
Use a soccer sock,drop the watch down into the toe , roll up the sock and secure by turning the sock's neck over the "watch sandwich" put it in a clothes dryer on cool and time it for approx half and set dryer going. When finished take watch sock out and unwrap watch, should be good for a full charge.
Just use the watch for a few days, you can rest the watch uptimes to 3-4 months. I occasionally (once in about 8 months) take my 5M22 kinetic out to wear. I've had it since 1996. And it still has the original 7-day capacitor! it's due for change (It's June 2021 now) and drops power as fast as a normal 40-hour automatic. And it arises out after a few twirls. I wear it on my right hand when i first put it on because I move my right hand more as my master hand. By midday, it's half charges to the 15 mins level.
Wow your one of the lucky ones sir my friends one was no way near that old before it needed replacing , I like your idea about wearing on your right hand
Well I have Seiko kinetic watches . I cant see what the problem with picking up the watch once a week and just giving the watch a few turn to spin the rota like I would an automatic watch and for a new capacitor I know of a watch maker in harrow who can replace one for about £20
My 2 cents..... to remove the spent battery ASAP before green corrosion leaks and destroys the watch circuitry..... Take care of the watch properly and it'll perform.... I bought mine since 2009, it is still running good and holding the charge in original battery as of today, it can be charged wirelessly like a smart phone by putting it on the docking pad of the Braun/Oral electric tooth brush charger. Look for the Seiko kinetic battery replacement kit with a Panasonic MT920 Lithium/Titanium button battery to replace the old one, the new one has 5mAh vs 3.5mAh old one, charge it properly the watcher will last another 15 years before another battery service. Verify the expiration date when looking for a replacement battery kit.
Hi LB I believe if you keep it always charged so on your wrist you won't have a problem but its when you leave it to power down for a long period of time thats when the problem starts I replaced with the MT920S unit I did try a few didn't wireless charging stations but had no joy myself Sir
Need to spin much faster, about 3x. I’ve studied this mechanism and the voltage produced vs RPM (and, yes, I’m an elec Eng). Better way is about 100-150 quick wrist flips will get a good cap to about 20 power. If not the cap is bad. Once hitting 20power it should run for week min. if it dies quickly replace the cap
After trial and error ~3x is roughly my experience as well. Shaking side-to-side twice per second like the manual specifies is actually a fairly vigorous motion. You're not just relying on gravity to orient the rotor downwards, but rather giving the rotor mass enough kinetic energy to make a full rotation against gravity.
@@hughJ I checked the rotor after and it moved freely so ended up replacing the capacitor and it started up with no problems High , The shaking it side to side is just to get the rotor moving as that generates the power needed to recharge the capacitor , I now have access to the seiko charging base also
Sounds like its getting that way sir, but if your wearing it all the time you should be ok ok its only when you leave it sat for a week or so you may have problems
If you,watch people hand winding the direct drive version of this movement, you will notice that they have to get a good head of speed on the crown before the power gauge registers any charging activity. This makes sense as you are effectively turning a generator. If you turn a generator slowly you will get very little power out of it. Given that, your electric drill exercise failed because you did not get it up to enough speed to produce a meaningful current. Think about when you were a kid and had a Dynamo powered light on you bicycle, the slower you turned it the dimmer your light got and vice versa. It would have been fine for a conventional automatic, which stores every increment of movement no mater the speed, but not a kinetic, you basically put very little kinetic energy into the system, or more specifically at a rate that was too slow for the mechanism.
I see where your coming from and its a fair comment but just the movement of your wrist is supposed to be enough to change the watch Sir , Rotating the crown really fast can wear the gears in the keyless works pretty quickly,
@@ClickSpringReview Yes I can see that, in a conventional watch where you are working against ever increasing resistance from the main spring. But this watch has no main spring, only a generator which provides consistent resistance , for each given speed of rotation, no matter how many times you twirl The crown, I’d like to think that Seiko factored the different demands of the generator into the design of the keyless works when they designed it, but that’s just an assumption.
Because I just bought a used kinetic Velatura direct drive, I had reason to do some research for myself and stumbled across the owners manual on line. Here’s what it says about hand charging. “ turn the crown more quickly and in long strokes so that the indicator hand makes large movements, the generated power increases efficiently”
Maintenance free for 20 years. ..? I think not. The capacitor on both of mine died despite being worn almost daily. I changed out the capacitor for a new Seiko item but it only lasted about 3 months after that. I concede it was good for about 10 years. Real shame because I absolutely love the look of the one in this video which I own.
Yeah I'm not a fan of the system myself but I understand many are , If you want a big quartz powered watch from Seiko I 'd go for the Tuna over this battery life is around 5/7 years and the movement is solid plus they can be modded
You really dont want to let a Kenetic watch capacitor power down as it damages it and reduces its life. You need to wear kenetics for a few hours every day. A new capacitor costs about £20 yes but then you have to either fit it yourself and that is notoriously difficult (its not as simple as just changing a battery but extremely fiddly) for the uninitiated or get someone else to do it for you add another £100 if you can get a watch repairer to do it (most high street jewelers wont be able to do it though on site and will just send it away and charge you top dollar) or £150 plus if you get Seiko to do it cos they will charge you for a replacement and service. Unless you can change the capacitor yourself its actually quite expensive to get a new capacitor fitted about half the cost of the watch new if you get Seiko to do it for example. I own the watch featured and have had it 10years and wear it every day and it doesnt hold charge as well now than it did 10 years ago. If I dont wear it for a day or two the battery charge drops from 30 secs (6months) to 5 secs (2 days) which it never used to do. Capacitor is starting to fail I fear.
I have this watch! Same thing happened to mine after two years. It's needs the capacitor replacing. I replaced it myself, cost about £10 I think, and now it runs very well.
The design is odd to weird. You buy it and take the best care of it and then it dies if you do not wear it forever? Bought a new battery and installed three times because it would not start and never did? Have a ton of respect and love seiko and have other models that run and 15 years old auto. Fantastic classy solar also. But this was a mega disappointment and costly. No more 😞
Apparently resting the watch caseback against a rechargeable toothbrush base, sometimes recharges these BFKs. I agree with you though, kinetics are fine for single watch wearers but if you have a collection, they're no use. These days most people would be better served by a solar powered watch. I sold my BFK as it was a) too heavy and b) it has "cock" hands - once seen never unseen.
I’ve been looking into this and yeah your right, but I’ve been told it’s a bit hit and miss with them working , I just today fitted a new capacitor to it, it wasn’t to hard and I did film it :) , Every time I look at the watch now I think cock lol
Kinetics are designed to be disposable watches. Once the caps wax, they are toast. Use your hard-earned $$$ to buy a real Seiko, not waste it on a repair of "Seiko's Shame" that might work for 6 months or a year.
I fitted a new capacitor to a Kinetic only last week for a lot less money than serving to an automatic Seiko would have been. These also have much better time keeping than a auto Seiko which lets face it isn't Seiko's strong point normally Bob
why would you over complicate the charging of your watch...... shake it for 2 minutes, set the time, and wear it.... i own 3 kinetics thats all i've ever had to do
I tried that and it didn't work Scott its a know problem with the kinetic system you have to replace the capacitor every few years just ask George in the comment below , I even do a how to video on replacing it
@@ClickSpringReview Yes, essentially. Sorry, I probably came off aggressively, I was admittedly taken aback by the video title as it seemed to be putting down a movement that is actually quite a robust design. Essentially a Kinetic is quartz watch (previously know as AGM, automatic generating system,) with an automatic style rotor. But instead of the rotor winding the mainspring it uses dynamic motion to create energy to charge the capacitor. Technically speaking putting the watch back on that drill and doing continuous on and off bursts would have charged it much faster. Seikos induction charger is pretty expensive, I've heard of folks using inductive Toothbrush chargers to charge them, or wrapping them in a towel and tossing them in the dryer (no heat obviously) for 30 minutes to do the same thing. I've shaken my Kinetic for 5 minutes like a mad man and it's worked for a solid month untouched. Sorry again about earlier. I came to learn more about the Scuba as I'm looking to buy one. Very few in decent condition, and Seiko phased out of these and replaced them with solar movements.
Thats fair enough and no worries plus makes sense , after making this video I quit my job and now study watch and clockmaking and so have access to a Seiko charger . Most of the watches I work on are mechanical 90% of the quartz ones you replace the movement on
I wish it was so easy my friend tried all that and no joy. As I say its great if its your only watch but its like letting your car battery run flat and leaving it, they don't like it. I ended up fitting a new capacitor and happy days
Absolutely the worst least collectible line of watches (Kinetic) - this is an abomination for any collector unless you wear them daily. Once the battery(capacitor) is exhausted there is virtually no way to revive it outside of hacks that work some of the time. Seiko actually had a charger they sold primarily in Japan and then discontinued because of price point and lack of interest - sell them or store them and forget them as quickly as reasonably possible. They are not collectible and no sane watch collector would pay $1 USD for any.
To be fair I do like one or two of them but its not something I'd go for as I wear my watches in rotation and as you say this would have to be your one and only watch
I don't understand why the capacitor should fail when left discharged. Capacitors are not like batteries. They really don't mind being discharged! They do deteriorate with age, however, regardless if they are charged or not. Does your transistor radio stop working if you leave it for a year with no batteries in it? Its loaded with capacitors. I know these watch capacitors will be "super capacitors" and have a chemical element, but these are stored discharged before they are used. I think these capacitors are failing, just because they are getting old.
It’s a normal with these watches, the capacitors are a known problem, many companies offer to replace them , I have heard it’s down to age and lack of use Sir
My 13 years old Kinetic watch has a TC920s button battery, it is a rechargeable Lithium Titanium battery, Seiko was BS on the cap/battery crap so we trusted them the super cap never died of discharge, they promised the cap and gave the consumer a Lithium/Ti button battery. The brutal truth, buy a Quartz watch with a reasonable size power capacity and replace every 3-5 years. $2 battery replacement cost, readily available, cheap and easy DIY. It beats the Kinetic or the Solar battery in terms of cost, care and capacity of energy.
@@ClickSpringReview bought one for hkd 10k and it failed to charge after three years. took it back to the dealer and watch was sent back to japan for repair. i had to pay the postage. seiko asked for hkd 17k to have it fixed. never buy Seiko again
I've had my Seiko Kinetic Sports 200 for 26 years and, apart from one capacitor change, it hasn't missed a beat and keeps perfect time. But then, I only wear the one watch.
I liked the 𝐒𝐄𝐈𝐊𝐎 watches, I have three of them, one Kinetic and two first perpetual models. I had to change the batteries of the three, what could be more normal. What is less is that I had to change the movement of the oldest of the first perpetuals when it was only 11 years old, for the modest sum of 340€, to which must be added the 90€ of batteries. For the second first perpetual, same breakdown after only eight years and same quote that I refused. Do not carry a watch of more than 600€, which is supposed to give the exact date until 2100 and which is not able to give the time after 10 years, I do not find that really normal. My registered letter with AR, addressed to SEIKO customer service remained unanswered and of course without effect. mMrality, do not buy Seiko watches, you may have regrets
The trick to owning a kinetic is to wear it 3 weeks straight, morning, noon and night when you first get it. This will give it a really good, full 6 month charge. Then wear it whenever you go for a jog or walk or while working out. 1/2 hour a day should do it . If you also wear it one day a week as part of your weekly watch rotation, you should never have a problem keeping the watch always at full charge. These are terrific watches-robust as a G-shock, more accurate than a Rolex, They do require a little extra TLC as far as keeping them charged, but will amply repay you by being maintenance free for 20 years or more.
That’s sound advice Mr Miller 👍🏻
i guess I am quite off topic but does anyone know a good place to watch new tv shows online ?
@Lewis Frank flixportal :P
@Gregory Daniel thanks, signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there =) I really appreciate it !
@Lewis Frank you are welcome :)
I have Seiko Kinetic Auto Relay and had it serviced once in 25+ years. Left it unattended for a week so it stopped. Picked it up and shook it. After a few shakes the hands started and date and time caught up. In that time it was 1 second out when compared to my Seiko Solar GPS. A brilliant watch that just keeps going and so accurate.
With that in mind I recently also bought a new Seiko Kinetic dress watch which is also keeps super accurate time.
In the past I had a Seiko Automatic. Looked okay but keeping accurate time was not a strong point.
For a watch that just keeps going and going a Seiko Kinetic Auto Relay or Seiko Kinetic cannot be beaten and are also more affordable.
I feel very lucky to have an Kinetic Auto Relay and would recommend any Seiko Kinetic as a good buy.
As I say Graeme if you wear them most of the time there great you shouldn't have any problems there good watches in that way , Its a little like a car battery dive it all the time or leave it for a week or two and its ok but leave it for a few months of longer and you may have a problem do that a few times and the battery is going to be dead and will need replacing ,
Sorry to say but this video contains some misinformation. Mine was in the draw for about 5 years (I forgot where I put it). When I found it, I gave it 50 horizontal shakes back and forth as I would with any Seiko auto. Wore it for a day and gave it 50 more and continued to wear it for 9 days and it was fully charged and has remained so.
Sounds like you are very lucky, I've had to replace a fair few capacitors on these watches at work
If any type of solar or kinetic watch has not been kept charged for a long period of time the internal capacitor/battery can degrade. Over some years the capacitor/battery may have to be eventually changed. The rated lifespan of the capacitor/battery can be in the range of 15 to 20 years. In Canada the replacement with most watch types is in the range of $80 to $100 CDN.
That’s sounds about fair Jerry cheers for posting this 👍🏻
So, how much of that degradation would you say could be attributed to improper storage? I’d be willing to bet that if the watches are kept away from extreme humidity/cold, and/or drastic temperature changes…. This would be a lot less likely to occur. Both, my solar and kinetic systems, have been recharged after more than half a decade of negligence…. And both keeping incredibly precise time. Both of them were stored in an airtight clear plastic bin, inside of a felt lined box, thrown under my bed and away from any light. Of course my house is almost always temperature controlled… so that is probably the case. They both took a long time to charge up. The kinetic has not lost ANY TIME. The solar is behind just under a full second, because I haven’t been wearing it. And that seems quite expensive. I’m gonna check with my local watchmakers… how much that is over here in the states.
@@GasGotti
With any type of battery technology it is best to keep the battery charged. If left discharged, then over time the chemicals making up the battery will usually degrade. It is possible to have a battery unit that takes longer than normal to degrade.
As for keeping time, electronic watches keep time by frequency using a quartz crystal oscillator. The time keeping for a watch will not be critical for battery level. It is critical for frequency of the oscillator that is using a quartz crystal reference.
I have a number of solar watches. I keep them in a location where they can get light during the day hours. Some of these are more than 8 years old and are still going okay. I had one watch where its battery would no longer charge. I brought the watch to a jeweller. He ordered and changed the chargeable battery for me.
Shaking it by hand for 10-15 minutes (no need to go wild) is all that's needed to go from zero to fully charged. If the watch won't hold a charge, the capacitor is dead. I have several kinetic watches in my collection and as long as you charge them up to full once every 2 to 3 months, they are fine. If you don't like shaking the watch for 10 minutes, you can buy an AC charger for them (but these were for dealers, so can be hard to find - I've never needed one).
I ended up just replacing the capacitor even did a video showing how to do it , Worked spot on afterwards 👍🏻
Shake it vigorously like it's a baby rattle for 15 minutes, this will give it a full charge. But, just like you already said, these need to be worn every day. Once the capacitor sits idle with no charging it gets a memory issue and will not hold a full charge for very long. These bracelets are very comfortable and have very smooth edges compared to other Seiko bracelets within this same price range. If you want to make it run correctly as new replace the capacitor.
I did a fellow up video showing how to replace the capacitor Sir worked perfectly after that
I am a watch collector....When you checked the watch battery , and it showed five seconds, meaning one to seven days capacity, that is good !, because , for instance if you wore it another two weeks steady it may go to ten seconds which is excellent. When the capacitor goes bad it will not even charge to five seconds, then it is time to replace it at "Seiko Service Center". As time goes on, (years later) with Kinetics, they rarely stay at the 30 second mark for battery test.
Ask for a maintenance on the watch and they will check and lube certain parts of the movement and change the capacitor . I had my Seiko Divers "SQ" from 1978, in new condition as I purchased it, from my "Seiko Line" of watches collection, fully serviced for the first time and it came back with not a mark on the watch as I sent it, regulated to -2 seconds a month ! They are the best place to service any Seiko ,and, if you have the higher end models, they can, in most cases be repaired, but some have to go back to Seiko Japan for certain repairs from my experiences. Seiko has made kinetics up to 2021 so sometimes they can replace certain parts of the watches that are sent in with no problem.
I left the watch winding for many hours with no joy So I ended up replacing the capacitor myself and all good. I can fully strip one down now and service it if needed
According to Seiko, the maximum per day should not exceed between 400-500 winds because of the extra stress on the movement and charge on the capacitor which could shorten the life of both.
Thats not great if you have a very active lifestyle. One down side with quartz movements is there is no adjustment for the movement so if you have a model which is say +10s a month you can't regulate it the only thing you could do is maybe use a little thicker oil to try and slow it down, if it runs slow there is nothing you can do.
With the cheaper quartz watches there is no adjustment, with the higher end movements like the 7 jewel 7C46A, there is two adjustments that Seiko can adjust with special electronics. I have one older 7C46B in one of my dive watches that is from 2007 and this movement has no adjustments, but, the battery life is 13 years per change and it gains 7 seconds a month if unworn, if I wear it , it loses nothing per day, until I take it off. Alot of people don't know about that and assume the 7C46A is better because of the adjustments. When the 7C46A is adjusted it can be within a few seconds a month, but, the battery change averages 10 years which is not as good as the "B", but still not bad.
@@visitor4253 I have a SBBN007 with the 7C46A I really like the watch I get around 5/7 years between battery changes, I recently changed the battery and it started gaining 2.83 seconds a month. I don't believe Seiko offer adjustment any more but GS do with the 9F but they are about £500+ just for the movement, Not Even ETA955 offer it
I have a kinetic seiko and have had all the problems everyone is complaining about. I removed the capacitor and replaced it with a conventional watch battery, 371, and it runs perfect with a full charge. I also removed the winding wheel and little gear that powers the watch. Very simple procedure and now it shows a full 30 second charge all the time. When the battery dies in a year or two, I'll just replace it. I did it all with a very tiny screwdriver; no more capacitor headaches for me.😁
Thats a good idea to remove the the charging function Jo
I've got a 371 and another Kinetic Seiko. I don't wear them often enough to keep them fully charged, so I bought the Seiko charger. The good news is it will charge the watches in a few hours. The bad news is, it costs as much as the watch.
I have heard some toothbrush charges can charge them but not sure which , The Seiko charger is pretty rear I'm not sure if you can even buy it anymore , It maybe worth even more than you paid for it now
The watch is indicating that due to lack of movement the charge in that capacitor is almost out. The watch is designed to indicate this by moving the second hand in two second increments. The watch just needs to be worn for half an hour - and maybe the capacitor changing. Its all explained in the user manual. Plus - rotating in opposite directions will achieve very little - the mass weight is geared to create energy whichever direction the weight rotates. The whole point of a kinetik watch is to be worn - not wound. My Seiko 5m63 has been happily serving since I bought it in 1999. Like everything in life - look after it and it will look after you.
Tried that and it didn't work the capacitor was just dead Sir
Happy Days ! Am about to try to revive my own 5M63...slowly collecting things like a magnifier and some non conducting tools.@@ClickSpringReview
Excellent let me know how it goes Sir 👍🏻
I lost mine in 1982 , Then after my divorce it fell out my wife's twat !.. still in perfect order and fully charged . I guess I was right about her seeing more action than a Dunkirk beach 🤬
I can't really reply to that 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hi i have this exact model... is it possible to replace this movement for any other? My its broken... thanks
I'm sure you could but would be easier to replace it would the same movement Sir
@@ClickSpringReview is it easy to find this movement to sell?
@@rodrigovotisch If you look for seiko 5m62 kinetic movement there are many other Seiko watches with it in on Ebay and it would be possible to swap them over
I think mine is now 10 years old and I wear it 24/7. The rubber bands only last like 2 years, the ring around the watch lost half its printing but it is still spot on and if I press the switch the seconds hjand still goes all the way. I am not a watch expert (I'm an EE) but if I understand it right they have versions that use a supercap and there are (newer ?) versions using a rechargeable battery. In general Caps can last a lot longer as batteries.
I believe if you wear them 24/7 like yourself there shouldn’t be any problems, I think the problem is when you leave them to power down for months at a time, but you have a far better understanding then me a dare self with your background
@@ClickSpringReview Rechargeable batteries do not like it if they are used until the last bit of charge is gone, and that probably happens if you do not use the watch. (There will probably be some charge left if the voltage drops to low for the watch to run, but the cells also loose charge through internal and externa leakage over time) It is a chemical process. The only caps that age if not used are electrolytic caps, but I do not think these are used in watches. (to big). The basic cap is made by two (or more) metal plates separated by a insulator. They last for ever if not misused (like to high a voltage or mechanical forces, or heat). The only thing that can happen in a safe environment like a watch, is degrading over time depending the used insulator or oxidation of the plates. But I am not into watches, I do not know the type of cap they use. I was just curious how a kinetic watch works. I love everything that has to do with mechanical and electronic tinkering. But I never worked on a watch other then batteries or wristband replacement). I would love to learn that (mechanical watches) but I will need a lot of expensive tools for that and a lot of spareparts (like I have for electronics, because I do that for a living) and dead watches :-)
If there are warn parts on your watch you can send it to the authorized service to have warn parts replaced. When I have any issues with my watches I send them for service.
All you need to do is shake the watch for upwards of a minute to give it a good starting charge if it it doesn’t work then there is a problem with either the capacitor or the coil I’ve experienced this with me being a watchmaker no need for a drill or any power tools to be involved and kinetic watches are only made to hold a charge up to 72-80 hours
I ended up replacing the capacitor the following week plus now I'm just over 1 into a 3 year full time watchmaking course at University , I'm now working as a watchmaker at a vintage Rolex place in Birmingham Jewellery Quarter in the UK
A capacitor replacement (every 10 years or so) is standard maintenance for a kinetic watch, not to be regarded as a flawed design.
Thats fair and I'm fully with you on that one shame Seiko owners of automatics don't think the same way
I have a 100m from 2013… forget the model… it’s got a brushed SS silver bracelet, black dial with red accents. I just shook the absolute crap out of it a few hundred times for 2 days and now it’s working like i just bought it. I hadn’t even touched the watch for over 5 years and it’s completely fine. Didn’t even have to mess with the power reserve.
You are one of the lucky ones Gas , This was sat in a draw for just over a year and was dead 👍🏻
@@ClickSpringReview I guess it is pretty fortuitous. I actually thought it was completely screwed, because the second hand kept ticking all weird, and kept stopping on my wrist. I just kept at it, shaking away. I’m sure some models & years, have been known to withstand more negligence & abuse.
The kinetik "winds" (charges) by sharper movements of the hand. Thats why has that weird sound. Slow and steady rotation doesnt work well even on a new capacitor. Kinetic is my favourite type of watches. It feels completely like mechanical but you dont have to wind it after left for few days. Assuming the capacitor is good. And is also pretty accurate
Hi Georgi , Just the movement of your wrist should be enough to charge it , the older capacitor were know for leaking and needed about 800 turns of the watch to charge it to its maximum reserve of 3 days , 6 months on the other hand requires at least 24,000
Once I had replaced the capacitor in the follow up video the watch started working again
Use a soccer sock,drop the watch down into the toe , roll up the sock and secure by turning the sock's neck over the "watch sandwich" put it in a clothes dryer on cool and time it for approx half and set dryer going. When finished take watch sock out and unwrap watch, should be good for a full charge.
That just may work Paul 🤣🤣🤣
Just use the watch for a few days, you can rest the watch uptimes to 3-4 months. I occasionally (once in about 8 months) take my 5M22 kinetic out to wear. I've had it since 1996. And it still has the original 7-day capacitor! it's due for change (It's June 2021 now) and drops power as fast as a normal 40-hour automatic. And it arises out after a few twirls. I wear it on my right hand when i first put it on because I move my right hand more as my master hand. By midday, it's half charges to the 15 mins level.
Wow your one of the lucky ones sir my friends one was no way near that old before it needed replacing , I like your idea about wearing on your right hand
What about change movement too NH35, can you do that?
I'm not sure , I have a video coming out next week were I swap 7S26 out of a Seiko SKX007 to a NH36 movement
Well I have Seiko kinetic watches . I cant see what the problem with picking up the watch once a week and just giving the watch a few turn to spin the rota like I would an automatic watch and for a new capacitor I know of a watch maker in harrow who can replace one for about £20
There isn't any problem with what you say Ian its when you leave it for months chap , PS £20 is really cheap the going rate is around £80+
Having a kinetic watch is like having a dog: you have to walk it every day.
That is spot on I love it lol
My 2 cents..... to remove the spent battery ASAP before green corrosion leaks and destroys the watch circuitry..... Take care of the watch properly and it'll perform....
I bought mine since 2009, it is still running good and holding the charge in original battery as of today, it can be charged wirelessly like a smart phone by putting it on the docking pad of the Braun/Oral electric tooth brush charger. Look for the Seiko kinetic battery replacement kit with a Panasonic MT920 Lithium/Titanium button battery to replace the old one, the new one has 5mAh vs 3.5mAh old one, charge it properly the watcher will last another 15 years before another battery service. Verify the expiration date when looking for a replacement battery kit.
Hi LB I believe if you keep it always charged so on your wrist you won't have a problem but its when you leave it to power down for a long period of time thats when the problem starts
I replaced with the MT920S unit I did try a few didn't wireless charging stations but had no joy myself Sir
Need to spin much faster, about 3x. I’ve studied this mechanism and the voltage produced vs RPM (and, yes, I’m an elec Eng). Better way is about 100-150 quick wrist flips will get a good cap to about 20 power. If not the cap is bad. Once hitting 20power it should run for week min. if it dies quickly replace the cap
Sounds good and I like your thinking but I do think if the capacitor is dead its dead not matter how much you spins it Steven 👍🏻
After trial and error ~3x is roughly my experience as well. Shaking side-to-side twice per second like the manual specifies is actually a fairly vigorous motion. You're not just relying on gravity to orient the rotor downwards, but rather giving the rotor mass enough kinetic energy to make a full rotation against gravity.
@@hughJ I checked the rotor after and it moved freely so ended up replacing the capacitor and it started up with no problems High , The shaking it side to side is just to get the rotor moving as that generates the power needed to recharge the capacitor , I now have access to the seiko charging base also
i wind it manually, shaking, it shows 20 seconds, after 5 minutes i recheck it shows 5 seconds . is my capacitor started to die ?
Sounds like its getting that way sir, but if your wearing it all the time you should be ok ok its only when you leave it sat for a week or so you may have problems
If you,watch people hand winding the direct drive version of this movement, you will notice that they have to get a good head of speed on the crown before the power gauge registers any charging activity. This makes sense as you are effectively turning a generator. If you turn a generator slowly you will get very little power out of it. Given that, your electric drill exercise failed because you did not get it up to enough speed to produce a meaningful current. Think about when you were a kid and had a Dynamo powered light on you bicycle, the slower you turned it the dimmer your light got and vice versa. It would have been fine for a conventional automatic, which stores every increment of movement no mater the speed, but not a kinetic, you basically put very little kinetic energy into the system, or more specifically at a rate that was too slow for the mechanism.
I see where your coming from and its a fair comment but just the movement of your wrist is supposed to be enough to change the watch Sir , Rotating the crown really fast can wear the gears in the keyless works pretty quickly,
@@ClickSpringReview Yes I can see that, in a conventional watch where you are working against ever increasing resistance from the main spring. But this watch has no main spring, only a generator which provides consistent resistance , for each given speed of rotation, no matter how many times you twirl
The crown, I’d like to think that Seiko factored the different demands of the generator into the design of the keyless works when they designed it, but that’s just an assumption.
Because I just bought a used kinetic Velatura direct drive, I had reason to do some research for myself and stumbled across the owners manual on line. Here’s what it says about hand charging. “ turn the crown more quickly and in long strokes so that the indicator hand makes large movements, the generated power increases efficiently”
@@jimwyer4257 Thats good to know chap cheers for the info :)
@@ClickSpringReview does rotating the crown charge these watches? he crown on my kenetic does not
do you know what the button on the watch does?
It show you how much power is left in the watch I think I show it in the video
Hi Pete it shows you how much power is left I think I so it in the video or maybe look for my full review of the watch
@@ClickSpringReview thank you for your reply. u did show it in the video i commented that before i watched the whole video. thanks for clearing it up!
@@Panagiotis05 no worries 👍🏻
Maintenance free for 20 years. ..? I think not. The capacitor on both of mine died despite being worn almost daily. I changed out the capacitor for a new Seiko item but it only lasted about 3 months after that. I concede it was good for about 10 years. Real shame because I absolutely love the look of the one in this video which I own.
Yeah I'm not a fan of the system myself but I understand many are , If you want a big quartz powered watch from Seiko I 'd go for the Tuna over this battery life is around 5/7 years and the movement is solid plus they can be modded
You really dont want to let a Kenetic watch capacitor power down as it damages it and reduces its life. You need to wear kenetics for a few hours every day. A new capacitor costs about £20 yes but then you have to either fit it yourself and that is notoriously difficult (its not as simple as just changing a battery but extremely fiddly) for the uninitiated or get someone else to do it for you add another £100 if you can get a watch repairer to do it (most high street jewelers wont be able to do it though on site and will just send it away and charge you top dollar) or £150 plus if you get Seiko to do it cos they will charge you for a replacement and service. Unless you can change the capacitor yourself its actually quite expensive to get a new capacitor fitted about half the cost of the watch new if you get Seiko to do it for example. I own the watch featured and have had it 10years and wear it every day and it doesnt hold charge as well now than it did 10 years ago. If I dont wear it for a day or two the battery charge drops from 30 secs (6months) to 5 secs (2 days) which it never used to do. Capacitor is starting to fail I fear.
I did a video myself showing how to change the capacitor Tony as you say it is a bit of a pain and you need the right size screw driver for the job
@@ClickSpringReview Yes I saw your video the job is definitely a bit of a nightmare if you try and do it yourself.
I have this watch! Same thing happened to mine after two years. It's needs the capacitor replacing. I replaced it myself, cost about £10 I think, and now it runs very well.
I had to replaced the capacitor in the end , I to did it myself and cost £20 I did video it and will post it in a weeks or so :)
@@ClickSpringReview the BFK is such a nice looking watch and the lume is great. It's my holiday watch.
@@joshualepla6891 I have a full review also on it way sir :)
The design is odd to weird. You buy it and take the best care of it and then it dies if you do not wear it forever? Bought a new battery and installed three times because it would not start and never did? Have a ton of respect and love seiko and have other models that run and 15 years old auto. Fantastic classy solar also. But this was a mega disappointment and costly. No more 😞
I cant say I'm a fan of the watch but many do love it thats for sure ,but its just not for me either
@@ClickSpringReview Yes, too heavy and unreliable which shocked me for an Seiko? best regards
🇪🇦 Mi reloj es este Seiko Kinetic Diver's SKA 371 P1. Magnífico reloj. Ok.🇪🇦
Nice one
Apparently resting the watch caseback against a rechargeable toothbrush base, sometimes recharges these BFKs. I agree with you though, kinetics are fine for single watch wearers but if you have a collection, they're no use. These days most people would be better served by a solar powered watch. I sold my BFK as it was a) too heavy and b) it has "cock" hands - once seen never unseen.
I’ve been looking into this and yeah your right, but I’ve been told it’s a bit hit and miss with them working , I just today fitted a new capacitor to it, it wasn’t to hard and I did film it :) , Every time I look at the watch now I think cock lol
Solar powered Seikos are crap.
I know a visual pun when I see one.
I'm not sure what you mean there Chuck you may have to enlighten me
Покупайте на солнечной батарее.
I still prefer Mechanical Flex
Kinetics are designed to be disposable watches. Once the caps wax, they are toast. Use your hard-earned $$$ to buy a real Seiko, not waste it on a repair of "Seiko's Shame" that might work for 6 months or a year.
I fitted a new capacitor to a Kinetic only last week for a lot less money than serving to an automatic Seiko would have been. These also have much better time keeping than a auto Seiko which lets face it isn't Seiko's strong point normally Bob
why would you over complicate the charging of your watch...... shake it for 2 minutes, set the time, and wear it.... i own 3 kinetics thats all i've ever had to do
I tried that and it didn't work Scott its a know problem with the kinetic system you have to replace the capacitor every few years just ask George in the comment below , I even do a how to video on replacing it
Give me automatic mechanical or solar quartz any day...
They don't do it for me either
What a clever idea with the drill!
Thanks George :)
Put it on an auto winder and let it run . . .
Didn't do anything the owner tried that
That's a different way to do it
😊
Mines broken
I guess it just needs a new capacitor Paul
What in the hell am I watching? Its a kinetic not an automatic. Youll spend all year trying to charge it like that, it needs an induction charger.
It does have a rotor in the back for a reason Robert and I didn’t have the Seiko induction charger
@@ClickSpringReview Yes. The rotor charges the capacitor. It needs dynamic movement, not winding.
So the rotor spinning does charge the capacitor , but you have to be more violent with it ?
@@ClickSpringReview Yes, essentially. Sorry, I probably came off aggressively, I was admittedly taken aback by the video title as it seemed to be putting down a movement that is actually quite a robust design.
Essentially a Kinetic is quartz watch (previously know as AGM, automatic generating system,) with an automatic style rotor. But instead of the rotor winding the mainspring it uses dynamic motion to create energy to charge the capacitor. Technically speaking putting the watch back on that drill and doing continuous on and off bursts would have charged it much faster.
Seikos induction charger is pretty expensive, I've heard of folks using inductive Toothbrush chargers to charge them, or wrapping them in a towel and tossing them in the dryer (no heat obviously) for 30 minutes to do the same thing. I've shaken my Kinetic for 5 minutes like a mad man and it's worked for a solid month untouched.
Sorry again about earlier. I came to learn more about the Scuba as I'm looking to buy one. Very few in decent condition, and Seiko phased out of these and replaced them with solar movements.
Thats fair enough and no worries plus makes sense , after making this video I quit my job and now study watch and clockmaking and so have access to a Seiko charger . Most of the watches I work on are mechanical 90% of the quartz ones you replace the movement on
часто бывает умирает акк, если не носить - th-cam.com/video/BlH1kIG9s78/w-d-xo.html приходится подзаряжать
Just go for a walk.
This is not a problem if you buy a watch to use.
I wish it was so easy my friend tried all that and no joy. As I say its great if its your only watch but its like letting your car battery run flat and leaving it, they don't like it. I ended up fitting a new capacitor and happy days
Just place it on a toothbrush charger (Braun works best) for a couple of days every few months. I have the same watch and it works flawlessly.
Unfortunately I didn't work on my Philips charger Dan
@@ClickSpringReview Phillips Diamondclean Toothbrush Charger (HX9100)
Absolutely the worst least collectible line of watches (Kinetic) - this is an abomination for any collector unless you wear them daily. Once the battery(capacitor) is exhausted there is virtually no way to revive it outside of hacks that work some of the time. Seiko actually had a charger they sold primarily in Japan and then discontinued because of price point and lack of interest - sell them or store them and forget them as quickly as reasonably possible. They are not collectible and no sane watch collector would pay $1 USD for any.
To be fair I do like one or two of them but its not something I'd go for as I wear my watches in rotation and as you say this would have to be your one and only watch
I don't understand why the capacitor should fail when left discharged. Capacitors are not like batteries. They really don't mind being discharged! They do deteriorate with age, however, regardless if they are charged or not. Does your transistor radio stop working if you leave it for a year with no batteries in it? Its loaded with capacitors. I know these watch capacitors will be "super capacitors" and have a chemical element, but these are stored discharged before they are used. I think these capacitors are failing, just because they are getting old.
It’s a normal with these watches, the capacitors are a known problem, many companies offer to replace them , I have heard it’s down to age and lack of use Sir
I agree with your logic, unless this type of capacitor is different. I don’t know that it is.
My 13 years old Kinetic watch has a TC920s button battery, it is a rechargeable Lithium Titanium battery, Seiko was BS on the cap/battery crap so we trusted them the super cap never died of discharge, they promised the cap and gave the consumer a Lithium/Ti button battery. The brutal truth, buy a Quartz watch with a reasonable size power capacity and replace every 3-5 years. $2 battery replacement cost, readily available, cheap and easy DIY. It beats the Kinetic or the Solar battery in terms of cost, care and capacity of energy.
Actually this "capacitors" are lithium chargeable batteries. Full discharge kills them. Just look for ex. datasheet of Panasonic MT920 used in Seiko
@@ClickSpringReview age yes, but not because they have been left discharged.
Horrible watch. Will never buy Seiko again
Yeah I fully understand we’re your coming from , I’m guessing you had trouble with yours ?
strange basis to denounce Seiko over, but alright.
@@TheChannelOfAsian I guess if he's had one bad experience it can put you of a brand
@@ClickSpringReview bought one for hkd 10k and it failed to charge after three years. took it back to the dealer and watch was sent back to japan for repair. i had to pay the postage. seiko asked for hkd 17k to have it fixed. never buy Seiko again
I've had my Seiko Kinetic Sports 200 for 26 years and, apart from one capacitor change, it hasn't missed a beat and keeps perfect time. But then, I only wear the one watch.
I liked the 𝐒𝐄𝐈𝐊𝐎 watches, I have three of them, one Kinetic and two first perpetual models. I had to change the batteries of the three, what could be more normal.
What is less is that I had to change the movement of the oldest of the first perpetuals when it was only 11 years old, for the modest sum of 340€, to which must be added the 90€ of batteries.
For the second first perpetual, same breakdown after only eight years and same quote that I refused. Do not carry a watch of more than 600€, which is supposed to give the exact date until 2100 and which is not able to give the time after 10 years, I do not find that really normal.
My registered letter with AR, addressed to SEIKO customer service remained unanswered and of course without effect.
mMrality, do not buy Seiko watches, you may have regrets
That sounds like a nightmare Lionel would of been cheaper to have a automatic , Are you still wearing them or have you moved on to a different brand ?
How about justvchange the direction of the drill? 😑
I did and no difference so I ended up replacing the capacitor and did a how to video on it , then it worked 👍🏻
It's a seiko divers kenetic
yep
I have the same watch it's dead
Capacitor for sure