31 Aug 2024, 02:50
What you're missing is the ambient light-sensor (which is a small cadmium-sulphide photocell). The watch could function perfectly fine without it (the display would simply stay at minimum...or maximum; I forget which... brightness, regardless of the level of surrounding light). It's interesting that there's no solder on the connection pads; the silver dot on the top one is actually conductive silver epoxy. Evidently, CdS parts don't tolerate the heat of soldering, so this alternative method of affixing the part to the circuit board was used. Over time (in this case, decades) the epoxy breaks down, and the part comes loose. It was certainly floating around in the case when you opened the watch, and it fell out, unnoticed (the little gold-plated caliber-plaques on Omega-marked Time Computer modules were commonly lost the same way),
The OTHER missing part (immediately to the left of the row of seven rectangular blocks just above the display) is NOT a resistor...it's a transistor that supplies power to one of the display digits (the tens-of-minutes, if I recall correctly). If the module was working, you would lose that digit in the display. Given that it is already a non-working module, replacing this part will have no effect in reviving it. I can re-build this module, using the original display, and bring your watch fully back to life. I notice that it is a Monsanto display,which tend to be a bit brighter and sharper than the Litronix ones...
Last edited by
bruce wegmann on 06 Sep 2024, 02:08, edited 1 time in total.
