Which battery for a P3 (3013)?

[Bad Juju]

I put in 386s and am only getting a "0" in the first digit position. The battery well is shallow and doesn't look like it would accommodate a 357. If the 386 is correct then I need to try a few more things before I get to QC replacement... cleaning battery contacts, vinegar bath, warming up the module, etc. Thanks for any help.

[Sully008]

A 3013 should fit 357s with the appropriate spacers. 386s are too small.

I put in 386s and am only getting a "0" in the first digit position. The battery well is shallow and doesn't look like it would accommodate a 357. If the 386 is correct then I need to try a few more things before I get to QC replacement... cleaning battery contacts, vinegar bath, warming up the module, etc. Thanks for any help.

[Bad Juju]

Thanks for the reply. I have the spacers and 357s.I can't wait to get home and pop 'em in. I hope the reason for the "0" was just the batteries.

[bruce wegmann]

Possible, but probably not. The frozen "0" is most likely due to a quartz crystal problem. While not as thick, the 386s put out the same voltage as the 357s, so would have no effect on the operation of the electronics. Good luck, though.

[Bad Juju]

I was wondering... Anyway, I will do a bit of cleaning as well to see what happens. Thanks!

[Bad Juju]

Mostly... Last night I popped the 357s and spacers in and still got the "0". I noticed that when I removed and replaced the back to turn it on and off I would get different characters in different places. I remembered that some guys here stated that they let their watches sit with the batteries in for a bit to let things "settle." I figured that it couldn't hurt to try that.

I closed up the back and let it sit for about five to ten minutes. When I came back the time screen was blank and I had a feeling that it was dead. To my surprise when I pressed the date button the date came up "0 . 0". While holding my breath I pressed the time button and got "00:01". At that point I knew that all it needed was to be set (and still a good cleaning).

But here is the problem. I can set the time (it is still accurate this morning) and I can set the month. However, I cannot get the day to move from "0". I hold the date button down and place the magnet on the minute adjuster but nothing happens.

Am I doing it wrong? Any tips or advice? Thanks!

[Bad Juju]

DOH! I figured it out with the help of the search feature of this forum. I needed to hold down BOTH buttons and use the hour setting to advance the day (AM & PM).

The next problem is the accuracy seems to be off. I need to keep an eye on it for a bit as I might have inadvertently touched the magnet to the minutes while trying to figure out how to set the day.

If the accuracy is off I will attempt to use the trimmer. I have the Jeweler's Technical Manual and it doesn't seem difficult.

Updates to follow...

[bruce wegmann]

Adjusting the timing by the wait-and-tweak method outlined in the Manual is terribly time-consuming and still not very accurate. I could put this on my quartz monitor and have the error zeroed out in ten seconds [assuming, of course, that the crystal has not "aged" out of range of the trimmer to compensate]. I have seen this "delayed-wake-up" phenominon several times in watches that had not been powered-up in many years. The delay can be seconds or hours, so I usually put these reluctant starters on a pair of "C"-cells, for up to day, if necessary, instead of running down expensive silver batteries. The lit digit changes positions because each time you apply power, you are sending a pulse through the multiplexer [the part of the circuit that rapidly and sequentially addresses each of the digits many times per second; persistance of vision gives the illusion that all four are on at the same time]. I just keep making-and-breaking the power until the display comes up blank [no point keeping a single digit lit for hours...that will ultimately drain even large cells], and let it sit. If the module hasn't regained consiousness in 24 hours, it probably never will [then you try crystal replacement, or oscillator replacement, as a final treatment]. Sometimes, after such a delayed start, they behave normally afterward [starts immediately or within a second of power-up]...but usually not, making battery changes a real nuisance. These are all syndromes that Time Computer probably never saw, because the company was out of business before any of their watches were old enough to show such symtoms...ain't we the lucky ones!

[Bad Juju]

Well, the time still seems accurate this morning. I am comparing it to my Casio atomic watch. I will keep an eye on it over the next few days. Unfortunately I dont' have a quartz monitor if the accuracy does end up being off. :) It will be interesting to see how it starts up after it is reassembled from cleaning up.

I don't think this watch has had fresh batteries in it for quite a while. When I bought it it had been described as "non-working" and it came with some 355s. When were 355s discontinued?

Hopefully it will keep running for many years with some TLC. I still need to clean up some minor oxidation from the battery compartment and the back cover. Other than that the rest of the module looks very clean. The rest of the watch also needs a re-brushing and crystal polishing.

The digits are nice and bright. I noticed that they are fairly visible even in daylight (indoors). I was a little surprised when my NOS Compu Chron was quite washed out under the same conditions... not because I thought the Compu Chron is anywhere near the quality of the Pulsar, but because I just didn't realize how bright the Pulsar LEDs really are.

On a cosmetic note, the bracelet with this watch is a little worn and dull with darker brown oxidation near the edges of the links. I'm sure I can clean up the gold just fine and I don't think that the gold has worn through anywhere. But I am wary of breaking through the gold fill if I were to re-brush it. I am thinking of cleaning the bracelet and then leaving it off the watch (for the next owner). I will probably put a nice brown alligator band with a satin clasp on it. I think that would look great.

The funny thing is, I was originally planning to clean up this watch and then sell it to fund other watch purchases. But the gold, which I generally don't like, is really growing on me. I still need to get a stainless P3 or P4 so I can have one of each to fit my mood and attire.