Another Casio fan

[Kimmoth]

Hi folks, I'm a 50yo Australian bloke from Melbourne, always been interested in watches, especially digital ones. Wish I still had that LED one my grandad gave me when I was a kid...

Had a couple of cool Casios in the 80s, I'm a sucker for a dot matrix. Friend gave me a DBX-100 about ten years ago, and I forgot it in a drawer until last year, when I decided to have a go at fixing it up. Released in '86, these suffer from screen bleed and the button pad turning into mush, but the screen was still pretty good on this one, only a tiny bit of bleed in a couple of the corners.

It was a bit beat up too; while sniffing around for a replacement crystal, I found a NOS example crazy cheap; US$100. Bad screen bleed and mushy buttons... Swapping the screen was easy enough, and I was able to find a NOS button pad from a slightly later model which folks use to fix these up... Now it's worth like AU$1k!

Thought I was pretty much done, but recently started hankering for a FS-00 (why aren't people more into slimness in a watch?), and their scarcity led me to look beyond eBay, where I found the JDM and proxy services... $2.5k later I own close to forty interesting Casios worth at least $4k, I'm hoping... My retirement savings could use a bit of a boost; hoping I've found a side hustle to do that.

[Kimmoth]

...I'm super bummed that there's nothing like the mechanical watch repair scene for digital watches; trying to find any sort of resources online is a woeful exercise in mostly fail. You'd think it would be easier to build a knowledge base around repairing something so much simpler and less subtle (paradoxically enough - this is just from the point of view of repair), but I find myself here after fruitlessly searching for anything, anything at all, around replacing ye olde incandescent bulb in a 'Blue Thunder' Casio A201, and drawing a total blank, except to see this place has a dribble of activity around digital watches...

I'm chasing the faintest whiff here.

[Neverenoughwatches]

7 minutes ago, Kimmoth said:

...I'm super bummed that there's nothing like the mechanical watch repair scene for digital watches; trying to find any sort of resources online is a woeful exercise in mostly fail. You'd think it would be easier to build a knowledge base around repairing something so much simpler and less subtle (paradoxically enough - this is just from the point of view of repair), but I find myself here after fruitlessly searching for anything, anything at all, around replacing ye olde incandescent bulb in a 'Blue Thunder' Casio A201, and drawing a total blank, except to see this place has a dribble of activity around digital watches...

I'm chasing the faintest whiff here.

Too many words.....get to the point sunshine .

I'm sure there are guys here that can help you, even when we dont know we have ideas and generally know how to find out.  Let folk see what you're working  with young man.

[RichardHarris123]

Hello and welcome from Leeds, England. 

[AndyGSi]

46 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Too many words.....get to the point sunshine .

I'm sure there are guys here that can help you, even when we dont know we have ideas and generally know how to find out.  Let folk see what you're working  with young man.

And all the money and value talk puts me off straight away.

[tomh207]

1 hour ago, Kimmoth said:

...I'm super bummed that there's nothing like the mechanical watch repair scene for digital watches; trying to find any sort of resources online is a woeful exercise in mostly fail. You'd think it would be easier to build a knowledge base around repairing something so much simpler and less subtle (paradoxically enough - this is just from the point of view of repair), but I find myself here after fruitlessly searching for anything, anything at all, around replacing ye olde incandescent bulb in a 'Blue Thunder' Casio A201, and drawing a total blank, except to see this place has a dribble of activity around digital watches...

I'm chasing the faintest whiff here.

Mike over at “my retro watches “ YouTube channel has a few videos showing some digital watch repair.

i think the issue may be that we have only had digital watches for 50 years whereas mechanical watches have been around for a few hundred. Add to that the wonder humans have when seeing any complex mechanical device do its thing compared to seeing what is essentially an inanimate black box doing its thing, world of difference. When you also add in the idea that theoretically it would be possible to create or repair most of a mechanical watch or clock in a spare bedroom they are different beasts. Whilst we often cannibalise mechanical movements for parts it is not always the only option. Unfortunately in the digital watch world cannibalism is the only option so for most I expect that is not so interesting.

 

Tom

 

[clockboy]

Welcome to,the forum, enjoy.

[Kimmoth]

On 12/5/2024 at 7:16 PM, AndyGSi said:

And all the money and value talk puts me off straight away.

I know, right - it's vile. I hate money. 

But as someone without a lot of it, I can't just spaff it in random directions as an act of leisure; I have to be more efficient than that.

I'm stoked to find that Japanese folks have this weird market where they don't bother replacing dead batteries as a matter of routine, which provides me a niche to operate in. Until now, I've never had a hobby which even looked like promising to pay for itself.

[Kimmoth]

On 12/5/2024 at 7:33 PM, tomh207 said:

Unfortunately in the digital watch world cannibalism is the only option so for most I expect that is not so interesting.

Fair points up till that, which I'd say isn't strictly true; some limited electronic repair is possible - a good clean has been known to revive modules, and replacing capacitors or whatever is perhaps feasible. I'm also curious to see if I can harvest some LCD fluid from old tellies to repair screen bleed, perhaps with the assistance of a vacuum pump. And then there's the cosmetic side of it; rejuvenating cases and crystals. 

I'm also pondering the possibility of designing an aftermarket case and crystal for the FS-00, a highly collectible databank model only about 5mm thick, most examples of which show heavy wear, and furthermore it has a unique strap arrangement I'd ditch... Someone like PCBWay could make the cases, but low volume manufacturing of crystals with graphics printed on the back may be a non-starter. I wouldn't be the first either; there's already a scene around aftermarket cases for a couple of popular models.

But here's something a bit more hardcore: https://www.sensorwatch.net/

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, Kimmoth said:

I know, right - it's vile. I hate money. 

But as someone without a lot of it, I can't just spaff it in random directions as an act of leisure; I have to be more efficient than that.

I'm stoked to find that Japanese folks have this weird market where they don't bother replacing dead batteries as a matter of routine, which provides me a niche to operate in. Until now, I've never had a hobby which even looked like promising to pay for itself.

I think what Andy is suggesting is that a lot of us here...a real lot....repair watches just for the love of it and the mechanical aspects of it. With a mech watch there is so much that can be achieved and knowledge gained from restoring it. Money and value doesn't exactly have a place here, in fact the opposite applies. We have age old threads here dedicated to aquiring and repairing watches bought at minimal prices. We repair and make stuff for next to nothing for the hell of it, we dont move on when some worthless trash nugget looks beyond repair, we dig in and get that sucker fixed and working again. Not many repair to sell, if so we dont state what was profitted,or ever quote the value of our collections...because...thats not why we do it...and to be honest imo it kind of disrespects what we do. No offence intended if thats your game...just mine and a lot of us...our view. It doesn't make you any less of a member if thats how you think...everyone is different, and your knowledge and contributions are just as valid and welcome. It was just the money bit like Andy said it was kinda off putting...sorry.

And as for Tom's thoughts...I would compare that to...me in the 80's caked with oil and grease...in my element surrounded by tools and car parts...to me in the 2000's with the bonnet of a car up looking at sealed black boxes...scratching my head and wondering what the frig to do with a modern car.

On 12/5/2024 at 8:33 AM, tomh207 said:

Mike over at “my retro watches “ YouTube channel has a few videos showing some digital watch repair.

i think the issue may be that we have only had digital watches for 50 years whereas mechanical watches have been around for a few hundred. Add to that the wonder humans have when seeing any complex mechanical device do its thing compared to seeing what is essentially an inanimate black box doing its thing, world of difference. When you also add in the idea that theoretically it would be possible to create or repair most of a mechanical watch or clock in a spare bedroom they are different beasts. Whilst we often cannibalise mechanical movements for parts it is not always the only option. Unfortunately in the digital watch world cannibalism is the only option so for most I expect that is not so interesting.

 

Tom

 

There's just not enough to keep my interest with a quartz watch, something electronic with an oscillator maybe a bit more. I always have that feeling when I start to take the back off..that in there...there is a part that I know just can't be made or fixed by just about anyone. Thats going to require a complete movement swap or just about. I dont like swapping parts at the best of times...but a full movement...noooo....to me that isn't a repair.

[Kimmoth]

I wouldn't consider swapping a whole module a repair either. I completely sympathise with repairing stuff for its own sake; my whole life I've despised how we roll as a civilisation. 

Someone might ask me, 'why are you bothering to remove those nails from that scrap timber?' and I'd respond, 'you wouldn't consider them so disposable if you had to make one.' I  fix stuff to feel less like vermin.

I've fixed gear ranging from cars, to washing machines, to stereo equipment, to phones. I spent about five years each as a bike mechanic and a hydraulic service tech, and quite a few years volunteering at a community bike workshop.

I'm pretty confident in my broad range of repair abilities, having fixed quite a bit of stuff which most handy folks would've written off. But when it comes to mechanical watches, my confidence evaporates - I'm just gobsmacked that anyone could do work at that scale. I've done a little bit of electronic stuff that required magnification to see what I'm doing, and the degree of fine motor control required was staggering - but this doesn't even come close. 

It's one thing to solder a tiny wire onto a 0.5mm pad, but if you're working on an actual mechanism at that scale, it's affected by features an order of magnitude smaller! I take my hat off. I can't even tackle a camera, let alone a mechanical watch.

On 12/5/2024 at 6:28 PM, Neverenoughwatches said:

Let folk see what you're working  with young man.

Still on its way to me. My first batch probably wouldn't interest you guys much, but the second batch is another story. Should get here this week

[Neverenoughwatches]

8 hours ago, Kimmoth said:

I'm pretty confident in my broad range of repair abilities, having fixed quite a bit of stuff which most handy folks would've written off. But when it comes to mechanical watches, my confidence evaporates - I'm

I can assure you...you can do it fella, but it will take some mental and physical adjustment to develop the ability. It is perfectly doable. So my trade is construction, I've gone from sledge hammering into position 600kg RSJ s to cutting the hub off a balance staff on a balance assembly. Its quite amazing what we are capable of.

[Kimmoth]

Second batch, everything works (maybe half a dozen weren't running), waiting on batteries now.

Some interesting stuff here. VDB-300, can record and play back voice memos, 30s memory. Has an EL backlight, and the alarm is super loud; pretty handy watch. PRT-50, has a barometer and a thermometer, logs measurements into a little graph on the Twincept LCD, super cool but hard to read the transparent LCD above the analog watch face. WVA-200 is another Twincept (easier to read that one), they both light up the whole face with EL.

CA-901 from 1982, proper hardcore vintage business, this was a bit spendy even with the LCD blemish (most of them have bleed now). Has a game in it.

T-2000 from 1984, this is a gorgeous thing. Front-facing speaker is fairly loud, and the hourly chime can be either the standard bi-bip or a really unusual ding-dong, which makes you wonder why bi-bip is so ubiquitous. The beautiful big dot matrix strip is lit centrally from above by ye olde incandescent; it's glorious. Translates five languages, pretty damn fancy for the time. This one had some badly corroded side buttons, which I swapped out with the ones from the DB-500 with the cracked screen I got for parts.

Couple of DKW-100s, big fancy-looking JDM numbers with full dot matrix for the Kanji capability. Haven't quite figured them out; the manual was only printed in Japanese and there's no digital copy of it floating around. These have a couple of contacts on the side for a data connection to a PDA.

Couple of analogs in titanium; the one without a crown is a JDM Waveceptor, and complicated AF to set (it wants to know the year), had to translate the Japanese manual for that. I'm annoyed I can't just buy a jigger to broadcast one of those time signals for it to sync to, but I guess I can make one... Some bloke put some code for it up on GitHub. These two ti watches were like $5-$10 each (plus proxy charges and shipping).

Let's see, what else... A couple of the less interesting Databanks came with the T-2000 in a lot of three. DBT-700G lacks an original strap and has lost a bit of plating off the front buttons, but is otherwise very nice, that's a timetable one. Haven't quite worked it out, manual not available. Couple of DB-500s, they're great value. Metal and glass, big clear display, sleek form. The later all-plastic DB-520 (bottom right) although apparently quite sought after, just isn't in the same league.

Then there's three FS-00s, a 5mm thick Databank with EL and world time, but unfortunately no sound. Not a fan of the elliptical window which shows the flat edges of the screen; the other style looks a lot better I reckon.

Got a third batch on the way, some good stuff in that one too, including the A201 with the dud light.

[Kimmoth]

Scored a digital microscope for Christmas; it's a bit of a revelation...

Still, this repair attempt seems pretty ambitious

 

[Kimmoth]

So I spent bloody ages fiddling with this, eventually pulling about 3" of fur-thin wire off this coil to find the break and painstakingly finding the end again and pulling it free from the coil, to solder the ends onto the contacts so I could test it. First time, no joy, second time, yay, about a hundred ohms! Then I had to break off the wires again so I could reassemble the speaker and glue the coil in, and soldered the wires again. Woohoo! It worked!

And then it didn't. Bugger

Won't be burning another two and a half hours on another attempt; must be getting pretty far away from the specified resistance... Although when I tested a bigger speaker from another Casio that only showed 90-odd ohms...