Demagnetizer, Plastic Tweezers, Opener, Tester


Cyclops in different sizes and Seiko S-310 Two Component Adhesive

Left: Demagnetizer/Drivematic
 This machine is very useful, the item in the picture cost about USD 15. It is very important to understand, that the watch has too functions: demagnetizing and driving a quartz movement. Always check the position of the switch before putting the watch onto the pad. Never put a Quartz watch onto the device in demagnetizing position! You will end up with a demagnetized rotor of your Quartz movement and the watch will NOT work anymore.

Demagnetizing
Never demagnetize an assembled complete quartz watch! Also never demagnetize the rotor of a quartz watch! I am talking about the very small rotor of the bipolar step motor here and not about the rotor of an automatic watch. The stator (the part in which the rotor resides) could be worth demagnetizing if a step motor is not functioning properly anymore. You will use this demagnetizer to:

How to use the Demagnetizer?
Place the item onto the magnet (above the watch face) and then continuously move it away at least one arm length. Repeat the procedure if the item appears to be still magnetic. This moving away one arm length is very important.

Quartz Driving Position
This position is to test whether the gear train of a quartz watch is working properly and also to "revive" quartz watches that might have been laying around with dead batteries for a couple of years. Maybe it was just my luck, but I had so far problems starting a Citizen Wingman (gear train needed oiling), a Citizen Ana-Digi-Temp and a Citizen Quartz Minute Repeater. All those watches had been laying around for a couple of years with dead batteries and putting them on the Drivematic (the hands will turn pretty fast) helped to get the "rust" out of the mechanical part of the watch.

Update June 2013: I have received quite a few emails regarding this Demagnetizer/Drivematic which seems to be a product Made in Thailand. The tool is available from a Thai website, but the ordering process is not easy. Therefore I suggest that you look at the Horotec Watch Tester Turbo Tester for Train Wheels. This tool is readily available in the USA from esslinger.com at USD 89.00 at the time of writing. The Thai made Demagnetizer/Drivematic also gets quite hot when used in the drive Quartz mode. This is another reason to go with the Horotec.

How does it work?
Below that watch face is basically a strong coil which will emit an alternating magnetic field. The coil of your quartz watch will be stimulated by that field and create a current which then magnetizes the stator alternatively. This then moves the bipolar rotor and makes the watch run. You might have to move around the watch a bit on that watch face, sometimes lifting it up a little bit helps, or tilting it, or simply shifting it around. You immediately notice the "noise" from the fast moving movement once the coil picked up the field. Leave your movement on the machine for 30 minutes to an hour minutes.

Right: Tester
This is basically a simple tester as you might know it from your years when you disassembled radios. This one has some simple modifications. Note the switch that can be set to TESTER or WATCH. The position CIRCUIT is used to measure the circuit of a quartz watch. Be careful, although the resistance of a circuit could be measured using a regular Microtester, the measuring current could be too high and damage the IC or the coil. The position OUTPUT simulates the output of a quartz watch circuit (external power supply). Thus if you feed the coil of the watch with the OUTPUT and the watch starts to run, then you know that your circuit is defect. As I said, this is a very simple tool, costs around USD 15 yet it provides a reasonable range of tests for the enthusiast. The Seiko Digital Multimeter is one tier up and at the upper end of the scale you will find the Witschi Q Tester, which is probably even too expensive for most professional watch repairers. One problem with the simple testers is, that they can not average the consumption over a period of time. Quartz watches with second hands normally consume only power during the impulse (duration ca. 8 ms) while an impulse from the circuit is fed to the coil. The constant power consumption of IC and coil and capacitor is very low.

Not in picture: Quartz Crystal Tester (Bergeon)
There is a pen like tool with two contacts. The handle simply holds a quartz crystal. This pen is used to bypass the crystal of the quartz watch. if the watch starts to run, then you know the crystal of your watch is defect.