modules required ?

[funkyguy]

hi all
ive just acquired to nice watches .imado.gruen
but iam in need of a module for each.
apart from ebaying for doners.which could end in tears as i know very little.lol
any of you have suitable modules to sell?that would surfice
or is that a tale order.

all the best
geoffrey

[Led-Time]

Can you remove the modules from the watches and post a picture.

If they are what I think they are i.e. a 25mm Hughes and Frontier then you'll be very very lucky if someone will part with any spares they have as these types are quite hard to come by.

[funkyguy]

hi
yes the gruen had a hughes module.but no pic
the imado.
is this (the pcb has a fine crack very near to the watch button contact.lefthand side) how much to repair if repairable?

thanks
regards
geoffrey

[Led-Time]

If your handy with a soldering iron I think there is a good chance that the Imado's module will work again, it may be as simple as bridging the cracked tracks with a fine piece of copper wire. As you never posted a pic of the battery contacts I can't tell if the crack runs through one of them.


Hughes modules can sometimes be fixed I’am pretty sure that’s a 25mm module in there check to see if there are cracks across the battery contacts (common problem caused by trying to fit the wrong size batteries) but the usual problem is the contacts on the quartz crystal becoming loose and making the display show a single digit. The crystal problem can be fixed but its very time consuming and hit or miss. If the contacts are cracked its a bin job.

[funkyguy]

tar for advise.

geoffrey

[Wade]

hi
yes the gruen had a hughes module.but no pic
the imado.
is this (the pcb has a fine crack very near to the watch button contact.lefthand side) how much to repair if repairable?

thanks
regards
geoffrey

I have the same MOSTEK module with the same kind of crack on the right side. Actually the PCB has fine cracks in several places - must became a very brittle board as it aged. Caused flickering numbers, and watch worked only when temperature was warm. Finally the watch stopped working altogther.

Were you able to get this module fixed? Soldering fine copper wires across the joint would seem almost impossible to me. I'm going to try conductive paint, but would seem to be only a temporary non-durable "fix".

[funkyguy]

hi wade.
no it was a total loss iam afraid.
good luck with yours.
g.

[retroleds]

Wade:
That substrate is probably ceramic. One approach would be to fix the crack with conductive paint or silver epoxy, wait for it to dry very thoroughly, and then cover the entire face of the module with a nice thick layer of epoxy - if you use a slow cure one(6 hr. or more) you can even cut a hole or two thru that plastic front plate that goes over the module and drip more in, after you feel you have as much dripped on as you can before it is going to start dripping over the sides(nothing wrong with using tape or oil based modeling clay to seal the edge temporarily, epoxy won't stick to the clay). And the epoxy cleans off easily with 90%+ rubbing alcohol until it has got fairly thick. PRoviding a solid mass that won't, hopefully, flex from the pressure of the batteries. IF it works you might want to see if you can go to a shorter battery with a spring to buffer the pressure. Or a rubber ring in front of the module to provide some give...like most Hughes loaded watches have. Obviously the epoxy means no further repair is possible.

[Wade]

Thanks for the tips! I think I will try the epoxy idea and will post my results. I just need to set aside (find) some time to do this.