13 May 2008, 16:16
Hi,
Please pardon my LED ignorance. I’m one of the 80s LCD junkies that floods the PCS nerd watch message board all the time, but I really think you guys are the only ones that can help me here. I’ve formally introduced myself and now it’s time to start pestering you, just kidding, maybe not actually. I enjoy your sight and have visited it regularly for about 6 months now and knew that I eventually wanted to get an original LED. Recently when a colleague of mine discovered my hobby, he informed me that he had a repair service in the 60s through 80s where they would service watches under warranty for local department stores such as Hecht’s and J.C. Penney. To make the extremely long story just long, he gave me his entire stash of stuff which includes mostly LED parts but also has some LCD parts as well.
I am halfway decent at simple repairs for lcd watches but this is the first time I have ever even held an LED, much less tried to build or restore one. Included in this pile of stuff were some watches that must have come in for repair but never made it out, and there were three LED cases, one is a generic looking female size watch with no markings, one is marked HELBROS, has three normal buttons and one recessed button (1 o’clock?, 3 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 11 o’clock?.) It has a red hexagonal crystal with Helbros marked on the bottom of the crystal. It looks like it may have an alarm because it had springs on the module, and the case back has a similar piezo driver like most lcds I’ve seen. By the way, that module disintegrated in my hands and I think it was the only one like it I had based on my un-educated guess. The one watch case that struck my eye was marked “Mercury Time” New York. I wanted to try to get it working and looking new, and after a couple days of guessing, I managed to build a module from the parts, cleaned and polished the case, and got it to work. Can you tell me about this watch? Collectability? What is it made of? Brass? How far off am I with this cheesy band? Etc…
http://www.maj.com/gallery/rwsengineer/ ... g_0561.jpg
http://www.maj.com/gallery/rwsengineer/ ... g_0563.jpg
http://www.maj.com/gallery/rwsengineer/ ... g_0557.jpg
http://www.maj.com/gallery/rwsengineer/ ... g_0570.jpg
Included in this lot of parts were about 25-30 LED modules and parts such as oscillators, the little screws to adjust the movement, circuit boards, plastic cases for the circuit boards, little metal terminals, buttons, extenders, pre cut crystals, blanks for crystals, case backs, and many more parts. He also gave me a tool that allows me to fine tune the frequency of the oscillator to the seconds per month.
My main question is, do many different LED watches use similar or same modules? I was able to get a few different looking modules to fit and work in the Mercury Time. The first module had a green plastic retainer for the circuit, the circuit had three terminals, was marked “Assembled in Mexico” 0 jewels not adjusted, and only seemed to have two functions; view time and set time. The Module that I am using is black, has “Fairchild” marked on the module and even though it only has two terminals, has time, date, seconds, and time setting. When I was studying my modules, it seems like there are only a ½ dozen styles. I would like someone to shed some light on this for me. In the LCD world, as you know, with all the functions available there are so many modules that it makes it hard to keep track of. I only have a few LCD watches that can share the same module but they will always be by the same manufacture and similar styles. For example, my resin W-24 Casio Marlin and my Stainless W-35 Casio Marlin share the same module. How is it that I can get three modules to work and fit perfectly in this Mercury Time case even if one of the terminals is not accessible? Maybe there is a thread here that you can direct me to regarding my concern just in case I’m opening a can of worms that gets opened a lot.
Here is another concern. How long will the batteries last in my Mercury Time just leaving it alone? Should I remove them? I love this watch. It is so simple. By the way, I do intend to place a new red crystal in and I have a new one in the parts. I’m just waiting for the crystal press. My friend kept it. Thanks for your time and consideration (and thanks for the patience reading my thread) I could show some pictures of these modules and parts if it will help. I’m hoping that you guys can educate me enough so I can build some watches.
-rws
Please pardon my LED ignorance. I’m one of the 80s LCD junkies that floods the PCS nerd watch message board all the time, but I really think you guys are the only ones that can help me here. I’ve formally introduced myself and now it’s time to start pestering you, just kidding, maybe not actually. I enjoy your sight and have visited it regularly for about 6 months now and knew that I eventually wanted to get an original LED. Recently when a colleague of mine discovered my hobby, he informed me that he had a repair service in the 60s through 80s where they would service watches under warranty for local department stores such as Hecht’s and J.C. Penney. To make the extremely long story just long, he gave me his entire stash of stuff which includes mostly LED parts but also has some LCD parts as well.
I am halfway decent at simple repairs for lcd watches but this is the first time I have ever even held an LED, much less tried to build or restore one. Included in this pile of stuff were some watches that must have come in for repair but never made it out, and there were three LED cases, one is a generic looking female size watch with no markings, one is marked HELBROS, has three normal buttons and one recessed button (1 o’clock?, 3 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 11 o’clock?.) It has a red hexagonal crystal with Helbros marked on the bottom of the crystal. It looks like it may have an alarm because it had springs on the module, and the case back has a similar piezo driver like most lcds I’ve seen. By the way, that module disintegrated in my hands and I think it was the only one like it I had based on my un-educated guess. The one watch case that struck my eye was marked “Mercury Time” New York. I wanted to try to get it working and looking new, and after a couple days of guessing, I managed to build a module from the parts, cleaned and polished the case, and got it to work. Can you tell me about this watch? Collectability? What is it made of? Brass? How far off am I with this cheesy band? Etc…
http://www.maj.com/gallery/rwsengineer/ ... g_0561.jpg
http://www.maj.com/gallery/rwsengineer/ ... g_0563.jpg
http://www.maj.com/gallery/rwsengineer/ ... g_0557.jpg
http://www.maj.com/gallery/rwsengineer/ ... g_0570.jpg
Included in this lot of parts were about 25-30 LED modules and parts such as oscillators, the little screws to adjust the movement, circuit boards, plastic cases for the circuit boards, little metal terminals, buttons, extenders, pre cut crystals, blanks for crystals, case backs, and many more parts. He also gave me a tool that allows me to fine tune the frequency of the oscillator to the seconds per month.
My main question is, do many different LED watches use similar or same modules? I was able to get a few different looking modules to fit and work in the Mercury Time. The first module had a green plastic retainer for the circuit, the circuit had three terminals, was marked “Assembled in Mexico” 0 jewels not adjusted, and only seemed to have two functions; view time and set time. The Module that I am using is black, has “Fairchild” marked on the module and even though it only has two terminals, has time, date, seconds, and time setting. When I was studying my modules, it seems like there are only a ½ dozen styles. I would like someone to shed some light on this for me. In the LCD world, as you know, with all the functions available there are so many modules that it makes it hard to keep track of. I only have a few LCD watches that can share the same module but they will always be by the same manufacture and similar styles. For example, my resin W-24 Casio Marlin and my Stainless W-35 Casio Marlin share the same module. How is it that I can get three modules to work and fit perfectly in this Mercury Time case even if one of the terminals is not accessible? Maybe there is a thread here that you can direct me to regarding my concern just in case I’m opening a can of worms that gets opened a lot.
Here is another concern. How long will the batteries last in my Mercury Time just leaving it alone? Should I remove them? I love this watch. It is so simple. By the way, I do intend to place a new red crystal in and I have a new one in the parts. I’m just waiting for the crystal press. My friend kept it. Thanks for your time and consideration (and thanks for the patience reading my thread) I could show some pictures of these modules and parts if it will help. I’m hoping that you guys can educate me enough so I can build some watches.
-rws
