expert (1)

What Happened to my Solar Powered G-Shock???

Two nightmare scenarios for any Solar watch buyer:

1) It’s a pain isn’t it? You buy a watch, it’s solar powered so you don’t have to stuff around with the batteries, you open it up and it’s…. DEAD! WHAT HAPPENED?

2) You’ve had the watch for years, you never needed to replace the battery. You may have stopped wearing it for a while and when you put it on again, what happens? The watch won’t start, even after a few minutes in the sun! What do you do?

Both scenarios can have the same solutions, so don’t lose your head just yet.

First of all, there’s something you need to know about all Casio watches. When Casio builds each watch, before shipping it out all over the world, they put a test battery in, and test that the features are all working fine. After the tests, the battery is left inside and sealed to ensure water resistance. Now, here’s the problem – since the battery is left inside, and the watch switched on, it’s already draining. Now, that doesn’t mean the watch you’ll receive has a dead battery, but it won’t last as long as with a brand new battery (kind of like if you buy a printer and use the ink/laser cartridge that’s already there – you won’t print out as many pages as they promise until you get a brand new cartridge).

So let’s say either scenario 1 or 2 happens. Don’t panic. Put the watch on the windowsill and leave it exposed to the sun for about 3 days. That should do the trick (it’s also helpful when you get the low battery signal on your watch). Now, if this happens in scenario 2, you’ll want to also turn off the automatic backlight, so it doesn’t interfere with the charging.

Now, let’s say the watch is still dead after you left it in the sun for a few days. Unfortunately, that means your battery is faulty and you’ll need to get a new one. If your watch is still under warranty (or if you had just bought the watch and it’s already not working after the 3 days of charging), take it back to where you bought it from.

If the watch isn’t under warranty, then feel free to use this guide on how to change a watch battery. Remember, if you’re under warranty, do NOT do this, it’s only for watches out of warranty, as opening the back will void your warranty.

Until Next Time

 

Jimmy B