# Does pulling out the crown...



## 2manywatchez

... extend quartz movement battery life?? 

I really haven't ventured into Quartz watches as I wear any given watch so infrequently, I don't want to face battery replacement for what would otherwise be a month of wear in elapsed time. I do know that you can stop the watch by pulling out the crown however.

Does anyone know how much this really saves?


----------



## RPF

Check the manual but if in doubt assume no.

It depends on the movement. Many modern Rondas have power save mode built into the crown action. If I remember correctly, it's a 70% saving.

Others may consume more power with the crown pulled out, or does nothing to extend battery life.


----------



## rabul

i advise against it. 

the batterry has shelf-life, you don't know how long it has been sitting on the shelf before it's put into your watch. furthermore, a typical battery should last you years so there's really no point of doing that.


----------



## Eeeb

Most modern movements preserve battery life by pulling out the crown. Eta even recommends it on many of their movements for watches which are being stored instead of used.

But, unless the watch is to be stored for many months, I would not bother. One of the nice things about quartz is the watch does not need the time set every time you wear it... unless you are OCD like me


----------



## rex

*No...On the majority of most quartz movements>>*

when the crown is pulled out, an actual mechanical brake is applied to the system that only stops the second's hand from moving.

In other words...All the workings of the electronics portion doesn't stop and electrical current will still be drained from the battery.

With this said, the best practice is to enjoy the watch until the battery completely depletes its energy...Then, and ONLY then....either replace it, or remove it for long term storage.

That'll be 2 cents please...

Take care.
:-!


----------



## fstshrk

*Re: No...On the majority of most quartz movements>>*

ETA Autoquartz movements recommend pulling out the crown when not worn for a long time.

ETA Ana-Digi movements have a powersave mode as well.



rex said:


> when the crown is pulled out, an actual mechanical brake is applied to the system that only stops the second's hand from moving.
> 
> In other words...All the workings of the electronics portion doesn't stop and electrical current will still be drained from the battery.
> 
> With this said, the best practice is to enjoy the watch until the battery completely depletes its energy...Then, and ONLY then....either replace it, or remove it for long term storage.
> 
> That'll be 2 cents please...
> 
> Take care.
> :-!


----------



## petew

It all depends on the movement. For some, you can save the battery by pulling out the crown, for others, it doesn't matter, and for some, you can actually increase the drain on the battery if you pull the crown out.


----------



## Silas

Just came from an Omega watch repair guy last week. I had pulled the crown out on one of my quartz watches (an Orsa) for about 2 months. When I put it on to wear it would stop and start.
The watch guy looked at the movement and cleaned the contacts and it worked well. 
His advice: I live in a high humidity area of the country (south Louisiana) and pulling the crown allows moisture to creep in. Better to leave it run. And he said the battery savings would not be significant enough to take such a chance.

Then again, you may live in Arizona. As for me.....I'm letting mine RUN!!


----------



## 2manywatchez

Man, glad I asked. Turns out not to be a simple answer, does it? 

So, basically, to sum up: you shouldn't pull it out, unless you live in an arid climate and have certain, particular movements, and plan on not wearing the watch for more than two months, unless it's a different movement in which case it doesn't matter, unless of course it's the movement where it actually does matter, but will increase drain on the battery, unless of course you're in a humid climate and are going to let the battery run all the way down. Um, wait. No, I think it's the other way around! :-d

Joking aside, great input. Thanks to all.


----------



## tnprogrammer

I used to wonder about his too. However, since I bought all of the tools to replace batteries myself, and I buy all of my batteries online, I just replace them and let them run.


----------



## ronalddheld

Likely to be the best solution.


----------



## artec

*Re: No...On the majority of most quartz movements>>*

 I don't know what electrical effect pulling the crown out has, but if the seconds hand is stopped, by a brake or by any other means, so is the rest of the movement. The seconds hand is driven by a gear in the gear train between the stepper motor (the fastest turning gear) and the hour hand (the slowest turning gear). One stops, they all stop.


----------



## czmperbc

*Re: No...On the majority of most quartz movements>>*



artec said:


> I don't know what electrical effect pulling the crown out has, but if the seconds hand is stopped, by a brake or by any other means, so is the rest of the movement. The seconds hand is driven by a gear in the gear train between the stepper motor (the fastest turning gear) and the hour hand (the slowest turning gear). One stops, they all stop.


So if this is the case, then pulling out the crown would indeed prevent the battery from draining. Mind you, these days when you can buy a 100-pack of watch batteries on EBay for $5, it's kind of a moot point. I am resurrecting this ancient thread because the Missus just told me that I should pull out the crown of a watch that I received yesterday; (but am not intending to wear on a regular basis) I informed her it was pointless because doing so would not halt the entire function of the watch. Then again, what do I know! The fact that so few of us originally replied to this thread tells me that there is no clear answer.

Glen
Focus On Newfoundland


----------



## chris01

*Re: No...On the majority of most quartz movements>>*



czmperbc said:


> So if this is the case, then pulling out the crown would indeed prevent the battery from draining. Mind you, these days when you can buy a 100-pack of watch batteries on EBay for $5, it's kind of a moot point. I am resurrecting this ancient thread because the Missus just told me that I should pull out the crown of a watch that I received yesterday; (but am not intending to wear on a regular basis) I informed her it was pointless because doing so would not halt the entire function of the watch. Then again, what do I know! The fact that so few of us originally replied to this thread tells me that there is no clear answer.
> 
> Glen
> Focus On Newfoundland


Reading this entire thread shows you are correct - no clear answer, as different watches often come with quite different recommendations. For the short-term I'd say just let it run. If you're not going to use it for a while, remove the battery (they can leak when they expire) and seal the watch in a dry environment.


----------



## Maljunulo

I think it is carrying things to a point of absurdity, but that's just my opinion.


----------



## svorkoetter

And given that this is a HAQ forum, what's the point of buying a HAQ if you're going to stop the watch when you're not wearing it? The whole point of quartz in general is that it is ready to go when you are, and HAQ in particular that it is still showing the right time. You may as well buy a hand-winding mechanical watch if you need to set and restart the watch when you decide to wear it.


----------



## John MS

*Re: No...On the majority of most quartz movements>>*



czmperbc said:


> So if this is the case, then pulling out the crown would indeed prevent the battery from draining. Mind you, these days when you can buy a 100-pack of watch batteries on EBay for $5, it's kind of a moot point. I am resurrecting this ancient thread because the Missus just told me that I should pull out the crown of a watch that I received yesterday; (but am not intending to wear on a regular basis) I informed her it was pointless because doing so would not halt the entire function of the watch. Then again, what do I know! The fact that so few of us originally replied to this thread tells me that there is no clear answer.
> 
> Glen
> Focus On Newfoundland


My understanding is that pulling the crown out may or may not completely stop the current drain on a quartz watch. It depends on the design. Pulling the crown will stop the seconds hand and also halt the failing battery signal built into most analog quartz watches. Not worth risking a leaking battery in my opinion.

Pulling the crown does extend battery life on tuning fork movements.


----------



## ronalddheld

With many battery lifetimes in the 5 lto 10 year range why be concerned about extending battery life?


----------



## svorkoetter

ronalddheld said:


> With many battery lifetimes in the 5 lto 10 year range why be concerned about extending battery life?


That's a good point, since the shelf life of the battery isn't much longer than that anyway. The battery will need replacing whether it was used or not.


----------

