How To Change A Watch Battery - Watch and Learn #43 

Changing my boyfriend's watch battery for his birthday and struggled a lot because there was no place I could put the screw in to open the cap. Then I found out about this video and I finally managed to open the cap. I'm so thankful!

I knew it couldn't be brain surgery and you showed that it isn't. This is great! I have a ton of watches that need batteries and now I'm confident I can do it myself. I also just got a kit with tools for all this and I want to try it out. Thanks so much for such a detailed video!

You speak so distinctly, nice & slow, so easy to follow. Pleasant fellow. I have learned so much already! Thank you!

A Cooper grad, I knew there was something else about how good these videos are.

That little notch on the caseback I was unaware of. Thank you so much.

Great and useful for enthusiasts work you have done again, man! Hats off! I think that rubber gloves, not the knit gloves are the best for this job as well as for lots of other watch handling instances. Kind of making your beloved ball useless so I don't know if you'd agree with the rubber gloves and give the ball up :) Make sure your gloves are the premium and powder-free kinds. You really had to go an extra step and not use metal tweezers in this educational video. Also: it would help to visualize the back lid placement before taking it off to make sure back is put back on tight and even after the battery replacement.

Just a PSA as an electrical engineer guys, never touch both sides of the button cell with a metallic tweezer. The side with the writings is positive and the other side is negative. When you touch both sides with the tweezer it creates a short circuit that pulls a lot of current from the battery which these button cells are not designed to do thereby damaging them. Although due to the chemistry of these batteries, it's not possible to draw a lot of current from these button cells, it is not advisable to short them as that does damage the performance of the battery. Also, to be over the top careful, wear a earthing wrist strap before touching the movement. Guys living in cold weather, we build up a lot of static due to the clothes and shoes we wear so ground yourself before working on any electronics as a rule of thumb.

Great tutorial! I appreciate how streamlined the instructions are

Thanks. I’ve now bought both my old ‘90’s Animal surf watches back to life!

For pushing batteries down into place, a the eraser on a pencil works pretty well. Better than hard, slippery tweezers or fingers and won't slip into the movement.

A million thanks for this very helpful video. I have just changed the battery on a Lorus which has been lying in a draw for years. Being rather cack handed, it wasn't easy, but I did it, and saved myself quite a tidy sum in £'s.

This may sound silly but this technique works really well (for me): To pop the back on my Bulova(s) 98E000 and 96E03 (battery replacement "renata 395") I found that a flat carpenter's pencil works well. Helps to be standing up. I put the watch face down on a mouse pad and work the back cover from the bottom up with my thumbs opposing each other on the flat side of the pencil. Need to keep constant pressure on it as you slowly press and slide the pencil. No need to pull apart a watch band either! By the way, don't work to close to the edge of a table or desk so you don't launch your watch onto the floor.

Excellent tutorial. Very thoughtful step by step instruction with tools needed and appropriate notes of caution to avoid mistakes. Thank you.

Thanks for this video Mark, lots of helpful info. I removed the back of a cheap quartz watch yesterday , Removed the dead battery and snapped the back on. Unable to get the back off today for the new battery. Can’t see any notch for leverage, a very tight fit. Hope I will succeed with the proper tools.

Just a quick question....and recognizing you already mentioned the "caution" of using metal tweezers...when you handle the new watch battery and hold it with the tweezers on the top and bottom surface.....aren't you completing the "circuit" and can this yield a "short"? Obviously you did this for all 3 watches and nothing bad happened, but just asking as to proper way to go on this? Probably plastic tweezers, right?

When not wearing your quartz watch, pull out the stem to shut the watch off and save the battery. This works on many quartz watches.

Watched this before changing the battery on my Hemel...very helpful. Thanks!

Genius! And witty. Thanks a lot!

With your help I put a new battery in my Fossil in about 5 minutes ... THANKS!!!

Thanks for this video, helpful, clear instruction and clear video resolution.

"the days of going to radio shack and paying $5...."...sadly they're over because we stopped going there...they were over priced but it was nice being able to get something when you needed it...sorry....regarding the video...great video as always. wish you'd been around making videos years ago...might have saved 1 watch or 2 by not making some of the mistakes that killed them.

Yay! I finally did it!! Thank you so much for this helpful video !

Thank you a lot for this video. This is very interesting and informative. Keep posting like those amazing videos, this is awesome.

Your videos ay so helpful thank you sir from philippines. An average watch collector here

Thanks for the last minute cautions. I just replaced the battery in my late mother-in-law's Lindenwold wrist watch. If we're going to keep a keepsake we should keep it running. Now, can you come to California and put my Sunbeam automatic toaster back together?😇

Are you using special tweezers? If those are standard stainless tweezers than you are shorting the battery out, draining it and damaging the battery.

Finally a video that shows the arm. Good clear video. Can you do a Movado . Having trouble with their arms. A little different .

Thank you for this video! Really sabes me a lot of money on repairs!

Holy crap cooper union. I wanted to go there 😮 Thanks for the video!

Great video! Have you done a video showing how to change batteries in G-Shocks? I gather it's much harder to open up those indestructible G-Shock cases, than the cases on most watches.

Thanks a lot ...good job on the video we need more videos like that...appreciate the time and the effort....

Might even have a go myself next time. Thanks Mark 😃

Like I said before. Your videos are very informative!

Expert and pleasant lesson.

Thanks Mark, this video is very informative!

What happens to the watch if you put a 373 where it should only take 371? I did this and it works fine but will it be damaged later on?

Hi Mark, love all your vids. Quick question if I may. I have a Seiko flightmaster and when purchased the battery lasted for at least 5 years. Had it replaced at a jewelry store and the jeweler said there was some leakage from the old battery. The new battery lasted only 7 months. Should I junk it? Send to Seiko to have cleaned, perhaps clean it myself?? Did he just use a cheap battery?

Mark is a professional horologist

Legend! So simple!! Thank you 😊

11:36 this is like the swiss movement inside my gf's wenger watch where i have broken the gold colored negative terminal on the bottom. I think have over-applied lateral and downward pressures in trying to free the battery. It is not a sturdy but rather a thin and sensitive strip of metal so be careful. I wish i have watched this video earlier. Damn it, it was that bump lever that tricked me, it was not screwed after all, you just have to gently bump it in order to free the battery. I am still thinking how to bridge the negative side, but i guess i can use a thin aluminum wrap and have to insulate it from touching the positive side of the battery.

Have you ever come across one like the second watch back, it looked like a screw-off back but in actual fact was a pop of back like the first watch, this is my watch and sometimes not all batteries have the same number on the back depending on where you bought it.

Hi Mark nice video as always. Very informative. Does quartz movement requires lubrication as well? If yes, how do you check for it? Thanks.

Am a beginner in watch repair. My problem is, I was able to reassembled an Armitron day-date wristwatch, readjusted the time and day but the date cannot be rolled no matter how I tried many times. What is the problem?

-this was very helpful, i subscribed right away.

Hi, I wanted to take a moment and Thank You for making this video. I have the exact same Junkers watch and I am replacing battery in it. I am VERY glad I watched this because I was getting ready to start unscrewing stuff, as you predicted. Thankfully I saw this in time. I do have one question however; The gasket on my watch became dislodged when I was taking off the caseback. I noticed on yours, it was still on the caseback and I am assuming it will seal when it is screwed back down. On the one I have the gasket is sitting in the seat of the case, not the caseback. Is there a preferred method for where the gasket should be placed when putting the caseback back on? Should it be on the caseback, or in the seat of the case? Thanks, Tyler

You're the best! Thank you!

Thank you for posting this informative video! I am starting to get into learning about watches, both wrist and pocket, as well as learning about the different movements! Can you please tell me where you got the gloves, they look so comfy.

Do you recommend greasing the gasket with silicone or replacing the gasket every time you replace the battery?

So i changed the battery and now i hear the ticking if i put it up to my ear but the second pointer thing isnt actually moving

in the junkers one, can I ask you what is the little red piece of thin plastic under the battery, and if it is important? I was replacing battery on my old watch, which also needed a clean and accidentally the little piece of plastic fell out. Do I have to replace it too?

What was the little red film under the battery

That feeling when you've finished watching all watch and learn videos..

Hi there. I have a Miansai M24 with a snapback case but after removing to change the battery, for the life of me, i cant snap it back close. I'm running out of ideas and hoping you can give me some advice please.

Excellent video

Very well done. Thank you!

Thank you so much I did exactly what you said and yay I did it!! ♥♥

I've got two Bulova watches with pop-backs but neither has a notch. I've tried everything to get the back off to no avail. What can I do?

I have a battery from a McDonald's watch from 1984 with a watch battery RW47S original rayovac battery. I've looked everywhere but I can't find this battery.

What about after changing battery in a few minutes it stops? What is the problem the battery is new.

My watch battery has a gold arm over the top of the battery. One end of the arm is screwed down and the other end seems tucked into the mechanical body. It's a Michele Deco watch.

i tried it on my watch but why it only work for severl second... after that it didnt move is there something wrong or i missed?

to those who have mentioned the metal tweezers,,,you cant short out a dead battery that your taking out and dumping...…...just saying....enjoyed the lesson.

What type of ball are you using where can I find that please

Hey what happens if u touch the red coil?

Very helpful thank you!

Hi Mark ! I've been searching the internet for help and advice regarding a Swiss Army watch and ran across your video. A 2 different times, you can see in your video what exactly I need help with. Some background. I've changed this battery a number of times over the last 22 years and never had a problem. This time, it looks like something broke and I'm not sure what to call the part. You can see the part in question at 11:42 when removing the battery and again at 12:05 when putting in the new one. That pointy gold or brass colored arm that sticks out from the side on which the battery rests, what is that called? It seems the one in my watch broke off and upon closer examination of the break point, there appears to be a blueish color, like when a battery goes bad and corrodes. The battery I removed doesn't have any type of corrosion on it so I'm not sure how it could have happened. In any case, what do you call that arm, or how should I reference it to a repair shop? Is that something that can be repaired or is the watch a lost cause? Thanks so much for your time and feedback. Have a great weekend!

Tapped the stepping motor coil (red coil) and scratched a coil wire when removing a battery out of my Bulova military watch the other day and the watch service I take my watches to said it isn't repairable. Is this true? I was not sure if I can replace the stepping motor.

How can i remove the stem of mwc g10 ss quartz?Or replace battery of this watch(cr2016).Any tip?

I have an older fossil watch with 3 battery do I have to change all of them or just the main one

BULOVA MEN'S MARINE STAR WATCH 96B256 Could you PLEASE do a battery replacement video on this watch. This is the ONLY time piece that I can’t seem to get and it’s because of the back cover. Thanks in advance 😎👍🏼

Wow that last watch totally threw me off bro , unusual .

I am scared to try it.

That Torneau though!

You were in contact with both sides of the battery with your metal tweezers. Yikes.

Do you by any chance know where I could get the little springs that go from the rear panel into the body of the watch on the Garmin forerunner 10?

You must be a psychic because I do have watches with dead batteries.

The pilots watch is beautiful

Thanks Mark... I have a few vintage Seiko's that tell me if I change the battery I have to short it before it will work... How do I do this?

How to remove the crown from quartz movement watch??

Thank you!

Do you own Long Island watch? Because in your older videos you have other people doing the voiceover and talking.

Must say,Mark, since becoming interested in watches I find I'm not keen on quartz . I made the mistake of buying a few at first then getting into mechanical. Is this usual amongst collectors? Mechanical are more interesting.

Thanks dude.

Never use a pair of metal tweezers to put the batteries on!!! You are shortcircuiting it!!!

You did not show how you took off back cover on second watch and the re installed the pin on bracelet of that watch. Not happy

Thanks, now I know how to sábele remove the batteries

Terimakasih sudah berbagi ilmu

no second hand? dial the hands to 12 (both) and you can tell it works when the hands have moved,,

When a watch is getting old and the battery is wearing out, the watch will speed up, correct?

Do You know where to download a users manual for Orient HFAE 18

You saved my life, thank you

Guessing I should leave the battery change on my Seiko Flighty (SNA411) to the experts due to water resistance reqs.

Mark can I ask your for your advice? I have an old mechanical watch which is running very fast. Is there a way to tell if the watch is magnitised or if it just needs a service. Thanks

Thanks

That last watch design was horrible. I do have a Seiko Quartz that I love but for longevity I also love my Motion Autos. I did use your video to swap my Seiko's battery. Remember to get those dead batteries out of there. You do not want the batteries to corrode and leak inside your watch causing damage to the electronics.

Nice - I too am a Cooper Union graduate :) - Im struggling with my wifes gruen

What about if you took the battery out so it didn’t leak whilst stored and you were not smart enough to write down the battery size - so now you don’t know what size or type of battery to put in the watch? Google didn’t help.

These were all easy replacements try one that has a screwed cover

SR920 BATTERY PRICE. .?

Can I handle the battery with my bare hands? I heard it can ruin the battery. True?