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- Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 - 12:55 pm
- Repairing damaged graphics under the crystal
*This refers specifically to Casio watches that have glass-mounted piezo speakers, like the W-36 pictured below.*
Did you ever get a watch and notice that a small "bubble" appeared underneath the crystal, so that your precious sailfish looks mangled? Sometimes you first notice it when you change batteries. Sometimes this is caused by moisture and/or heat + age; but very often, this is caused by the alarm spring rubbing against the underside of the crystal. I am referring to the spring like the one seen here (example is a 248 module from my W36):
I figured out a way to fix it, and wanted to share it with you all
In many vintage casios, most notably the early G-Shocks and marlins (106 or 248 module as I've personally seen), the alarm speaker is mounted on the front of the watch under the glass, rather than on the backplate of the watch. Here is a schematic of how it looks when everything is normal.
With some mishandling and/or aging, the alarm spring can irritate the printed graphics
And scratch the printed graphics
AND/OR it can weaken the graphic's bond with the glass, causing it to lift.
If this is left alone, it will eventually grind through the paint and leave a hole in your crystal graphics, like this:
The best prevention is to remove the alarm spring, but then you won't be able to hear your alarms anymore! :( But with just a marker and carbon tape, you can fix it! PLUS, you can prevent it from ever happening in the first place! :)
You'll need:
Steady hands and patience.
Whatever you need to open and close your watch.
Permanent marker, same color as your watch crystal paint
A tiny piece of double sided carbon tape. (I recommend the expensive but high quality SEM tape)
Optionally: tiny tweezers and exacto knife
1. Open the watch and remove the module.
2. Using your marker, paint the damaged portion of the paint. This is only necessary if there are holes in the printed graphics.
3. Then apply a piece of carbon tape on the damaged area. It must be carbon tape because the spring must conduct electricity to do its job.
Here's what it looks like in my W36. Notice that I am being slightly generous with my coverage area. This way, even if I slightly misalign my module the tape can do its protective job.
4. Reassemble!
Now, the paint is repaired AND the alarm spring makes perfect electrical contact! Plus the tape will prevent any future damage. Here's the marlin that I fixed this way. You can only see the prior damage under extreme closeup. PLUS, now my alarm is super loud!
Here's my watch with its new friend, carbon tape.
Filed under: how-to
- Comments!
- » Where did you purchase the tape? What size tape did you purchase?
- by: Question, submitted Thursday, January 29th, 2009 - 6:40 pm
- » Hello,
The tape is "double sided carbon tape." Available online at a variety of places. They are most commonly used for SEM (electron microscopes). The size doesn't matter since you have to cut the piece to size anyway, but I used a 1/4" wide strip. - by: admin, submitted Friday, January 30th, 2009 - 3:03 pm
- » Hey Uh,
question
Okay, first I have to mention that your collection is AWESOME.
Now, I know the module 248 has the alarm thing on the front, BUT, do you know if the module 690 works in the same way?, I mean the japanese and korean version of module 690. Cause I have the , japanese version of the DW-210, 240 and 270, and korean version of DW-260.
so please help me.
- by: Charbok, submitted Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 - 6:59 pm
- » Hello,
the 690 module has the alarm mounted on the back. From your question it sounds like you want to place it inside a watch that was intended for a 248 module. Sorry but 690 and 248 are not interchangeable. - by: admin, submitted Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 - 9:30 pm
- » Hi, I have a Casio CA-53W calculator watch. Does the alarm spring cause trouble for this model too?
- by: Aseer Awsaf, submitted Monday, May 16th, 2011 - 2:43 am