# Eco Drive Second hand moves every 2 seconds



## phydaux (Dec 11, 2018)

Hey all!

My father-in-law wants me to look at his Citizen Eco Drive watch. The second hand is moving every 2 seconds, and the watch is losing about 2-3 minuets an hour.

I looked on line and saw that it _COULD BE_ just that the battery isn't fully charged. I told him to leave it, dial up, on a south facing windowsill for an hour or so and see if the problem went away.

If the problem persists then I'll swap out the battery tomorrow.

Anyone know what kind of battery a Citizen Eco Drive uses?


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## buzz123 (Mar 15, 2018)

Get it in some light.


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## phydaux (Dec 11, 2018)

Yeah, after a little more googling it's looking like just an hour or two on a cloudy day won't be enough. I'll have him leave it on the window sill all day tomorrow and then I'll pull out the crown and reset the watch tomorrow evening.


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## filcord (Sep 12, 2014)

You'll need full sun for some twelve hours

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## iharley (May 2, 2009)

How old is the watch? Also, pulling the crown out might help it charge faster as it doesn't have to waste power running the watch.


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## aguila9 (Oct 17, 2013)

Definitely pull the crown out then window sill. She'll he hack up and running.

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## yankeexpress (Apr 7, 2013)

Sometimes solar charged watches take days of good Sunlight to get back up to full charge. 

One of my favorite stunts is to purchase seemingly Dead solar watches on the cheap off eBay, as the seller thinks it is a dud. Every single one I have purchased dead has recovered fully after a week or more of Sunlight on a window sill. 

I have never had to replace a cell in a solar watch (Citizen, Seiko, Timex and Casio) and I have some Casio Tough Solar G-Shocks that are over 20 years old still on original cell holding full charge and working normally.


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## Fergfour (Jan 4, 2013)

I had one that never seemed to charge after a week (or longer I forget) in the window and under a light in the evening when the sun went down. I suppose I could've waited longer.
https://www.watchuseek.com/f905/dead-dying-pmx56-4846361.html


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## sticky (Apr 5, 2013)

Like you say it cold be the battery that is flat but it will need more than an hour on the windowsill to be sure. Leave it outside for a day to sunbathe or if you come from the U.K. cloudbathe. Either way the light you get outside is a whole lot more wholesome than the highly processed stuff you get indoors. Like Yanke says it may need a couple of days.


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## filcord (Sep 12, 2014)

If you're in the tropics like south India, two days in full sun will be enough. I would however keep the watch in a glass bowl under an inch of water. Without that, the watch can get hot enough to burn your wrist. And of course, fry the internals

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## dbl_ (Mar 22, 2009)

To avoid ovrheating you may expose your Eco-drive for light from LED lamp at a distance of several centimeters.
Heat emitted from LED light is negligible.


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## getmoresoon (Feb 11, 2019)

yankeexpress, I quite literally did exactly that a few days ago. Watch looked nice on eBay - seller was quoting "needs battery". Imagine my surprise to receive it today and instantly see it was doing the "set time" stutter. Pulled out the stem and gave it 2 hours of poor northern winter sun on the window sill, and voila! A perfectly running (and looks like new!) watch! I'll have to give it more window light tomorrow - ran out of day today.



yankeexpress said:


> One of my favorite stunts is to purchase seemingly Dead solar watches on the cheap off eBay, as the seller thinks it is a dud. Every single one I have purchased dead has recovered fully after a week or more of Sunlight on a window sill.


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