> Rod Speed wrote
>>> You know - metal case watches with metal backs.
>>> You find the barely visible slot on the back,
>> Only with SOME of them.
>>> insert a very thin screwdriver in there between the back and
>>> the case, and eventually manage to pop the back off the
>>> watch case. Usually trashing the screwdriver in the process.
>> Works better with a knife blade.
>>> Replace the battery. Cheap at three bucks a pop if you are lucky.
>>> Ok, here's the problem: Getting the back of the case back on.
>>> Does anyone know the "jeweler's trick" for doing this?
>> They use a device to do that. You can buy them on ebay.
> Any idea what it's called?
Like with most things on ebay, its better not to use a name, better to search
more generically.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=watch *+tool&category0=&submitSearch=Search
or
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&from=R10&submitsearch=Search&satitle=watch *+tool+case*&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis 0&fpos=ZIP%2FPostal&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&fgtp=
The only real downside with that approach is that you do have to manually
skip over the ones that arent relevant like the tools used to adjust the metal
bands etc. Its not necessarily even a great idea to include a -band* because
some of the offers include tools for bands and cases.
> I have no idea what I'm supposed to be searching for.
Just watch and tool produces a very viable list. If
that is too many, watch tool case is pretty good too.
>>> Pressing right on the center of the back of the watch doesn't do it,
>>> and risks warping the back and making replacement even harder.
>>> Trying to start by applying pressure to one side of the back, and
>>> then to the other side, only seems to leave you with the back just
>>> popping out of place as the pressure moves from one side to the other.
>>> There must be a "known" - and relatively easy - way to
>>> replace metal backs on watches without risking damage.
>> Corse there is.
>>> Does a jeweler actually use some sort of a vise to apply even
>>> pressure to do this?
>> Yep.
>>> It seems like that sort of approach might break the watch crystal.
>> It doesnt apply pressure to that.
>>> You never find this information with the watches when you buy them.
>>> (Tells you to replace the battery, and with what type, but never goes
>>> through the process of getting the back off, let alone how to get it
>>> back on.) The prices a jeweler wants to do a battery replacement is
>>> ridiculous on relatively inexpensive watches. Around here it's $3.00
>>> parts, $12.00 labor. I'd rather not spend $60.00 at the jeweler for
>>> 4 battery replacements a year if I can avoid it.
>> Its a VERY poorly designed watch if you need that many batterys a year.
> No! Between me and the other half we happen to have
> a lot of watches between us. At least a couple of mine
> and a couple of hers need a new battery each year.
Then they are very poor designs. And you're hardly frugal with your collection
of watches.
> And it's the ones with the "press on" backs that drive me crazy.
Yeah, they can be a bit tricky if you dont have an appropriate tool to put the
back on again.
> *+-ultimately last. HP used to be a high class company, now its junk.
> In 1980 I bought an HP41C calc and an HP2621a terminal. Both still work.
> Agilent is the real HP.
1980s was when Compaq was a excellent company too. We had a Wang mini at
work running word processing and FORTRAN during the early 1980s and I bought
my first real PC (cost me as much as a car then) running on CP/M-86.
I was a student when the first HP-35 came out for very big $$$ then. All of
us had slide rules (remember those?) except one rich and well connected kid
with the new HP-35 before it even came out on the market. Anyway that kid
had the advantage during midterm exams and the rest of us had to keep track
of our decimal placements mentally with the slide rule.
I bought Agilent (A) before 9/11 but don't think its worth much now, like
most of my hi-tech stocks. Not very frugal when you buy high and sell low.
> - = -
> Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist
> http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vjp2/vasos.htm
> ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---
> [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards]
> [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for
> Bimbos]
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>>> You know - metal case watches with metal backs.
>>> You find the barely visible slot on the back,
>> Only with SOME of them.
>>> insert a very thin screwdriver in there between the back and
>>> the case, and eventually manage to pop the back off the
>>> watch case. Usually trashing the screwdriver in the process.
>> Works better with a knife blade.
>>> Replace the battery. Cheap at three bucks a pop if you are lucky.
>>> Ok, here's the problem: Getting the back of the case back on.
>>> Does anyone know the "jeweler's trick" for doing this?
>> They use a device to do that. You can buy them on ebay.
> Any idea what it's called?