# Precisionist Chronograph second hand not moving/no chrono function BUT normal time keeping



## Chronohound

***UPDATED***



I have a Precisionist 98B229 grey chronograph which I purchased within the last year-year and a half. 
I haven't worn it in a while so I haven't kept notice of its function.
The old story of too many watches (if there is such a thing) and not enough time for love.

Today I put it on and noticed that the second hand is staying at the 13 second mark and when I push the chrono buttons there is no response.
However....it is keeping normal time.

So, my question, is this a power saving function of a battery that is going bad (most quartz watches skip a second as the power start to go) since it has a high Hz movement, or could this be an issue with the movement itself. The online manual states the battery should last about a year under normal operating conditions.

Any others experience this with the chronographs?
What has been your experiences with the Chronos when the battery starts to weaken.

I called Bulova and the tech told me my movement is bad and I should send it in.:think: If it is just a weak battery, I will bring it to my watch maker and have him change it.
I believe it is still under warranty. I need to find my box/receipt, but I don't want to waste money on shipping it if it is just a battery issue.:-|

****So about an hour after I posted this, the watch had completely stopped at approx 10:15 am.
I brought it to my watchmaker today and he changed the battery, so all is good in the world.
So there you have it, as the battery is in its dying moments, the second hand will stop but there is enough power reserve to keep the time going.
Since the precisionst movement utilizes a lot of battery life to maintain its high beats, I plan to store it with the crown out to maximize battery life since these batteries do not seem to last as long as a standard quartz movement.
Glad it ended the way it did as I was not too keen on sending it in only to find out the battery was dead.


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## wbird

If it's under warranty send it in. Doesn't opening up for even a battery change void the warranty? Just me but it sounds like there's more going on than just a battery, and while their dealing with it sounds like you have plenty of watch options.


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## tmathes

What Wbird said, the watch isn't operating properly. Send it in for service.

If it were a battery the watch would have quit or stalled the time keeping functions when you tried to operate the chronograph. The chron takes much more energy so it would just droop the voltage enough to stall the entire movement.

Out of curiosity, did you try pushing the left-side chrono on/off button first to see if the sweep second hand would go to "0" or resume normal time keeping? If that doesn't work then it's definitely a bum movement. Make sure you give it a good press to feel a mechanical "click", these Precisionist movements sometimes don't fully engage the set/reset button on the first try.


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## Chronohound

tmathes said:


> What Wbird said, the watch isn't operating properly. Send it in for service.
> 
> If it were a battery the watch would have quit or stalled the time keeping functions when you tried to operate the chronograph. The chron takes much more energy so it would just droop the voltage enough to stall the entire movement.
> 
> Out of curiosity, did you try pushing the left-side chrono on/off button first to see if the sweep second hand would go to "0" or resume normal time keeping? If that doesn't work then it's definitely a bum movement. Make sure you give it a good press to feel a mechanical "click", these Precisionist movements sometimes don't fully engage the set/reset button on the first try.


Yes I did. 
Please see my update above


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## wbird

Glad it worked out for you. I think you could save the battery by just turning off the second hand. I only turn it on when I feel like like looking at it. Mine have been running for over 3 years. Just seems wrong to have a super accurate watch stored with the crown out and you have to set it to wear it.


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## BillSWPA

Even a battery that is not installed in a watch has a limited (although measured in years) lifespan in storage. Go ahead and push the crown in. Just change the battery every few years.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Chronohound

wbird said:


> Glad it worked out for you. I think you could save the battery by just turning off the second hand. I only turn it on when I feel like like looking at it. Mine have been running for over 3 years. Just seems wrong to have a super accurate watch stored with the crown out and you have to set it to wear it.





BillSWPA said:


> Even a battery that is not installed in a watch has a limited (although measured in years) lifespan in storage. Go ahead and push the crown in. Just change the battery every few years.
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Based on the Bulova general instruction manual for the precisionist movement, it states that the battery life in this watch is typically 1- 1 1/2 yrs due to the high oscillations of the movement. 
So stopping the second hand will slow down the energy use. Otherwise it seems I will be replacing this battery much more frequently than a standard quartz movement.
Fortunately with my 60 plus watches only about 1/4 are quartz otherwise I would go out of my mind constantly changing batteries.
I would presume, with the chrono movement, that putting the watch in chronograph mode (as wbird suggested) will slow down the use of the battery instead of pulling out the crown (as Bulova suggests)

Thank you all for your input, it was helpful.


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