Casio Wave Captor radio controlled watch, WR50M

[N_Cook]

Every now and then resets to some sort of default, 01 01 2005 data and
Tokyo radio system , so never resets to local time codes.
Have to then reset it manually.
No problem suggesting a low battery or any other timekeeping problem.
I've tried holding down various buttons to check if its due to bad
switch contacts but never induces this default.

[pf...@aol.com]

There will be a memory-keeping capacitor in there somewhere that is going either faulty (age) or intermittent (cold solder). Either way, replacing it will fix it.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[N_Cook]

I'll bear that in mind, if I have to go inside.
At the moment I'll go with the business about button-D
on this thread
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:gk35QWiIPaEJ:http://www.fixya.com/support/t2294665-reset_itslelf_will_not_display_correct%2BCasio+Wave+Ceptor+radio+controlled+watch,+WR50M,+resets+to+2005+tokyo+default&hl=en-GB&gbv=1&ct=clnk

I'll snap back a sewing-pin , after pushing it into the D button to
wedge it out, and swathe in a dot of hotmelt glue.
Resetting the thing , before doing so , of course

[N_Cook]

Soldering iron against a sewing needle , bending while melting into the
button to force outwards, then a dot of hotmelt over, old-endsnippered
the excess.
Stayed proper time for 2 hours now, whether it stays un-reset for the
next week, the longest otherwise, we'll see.

[N_Cook]

It reset during the cold of the night, I'll wedge open the otther 3
buttons, JIC, then get inside 'when' it resets again.

[Ian Field]

"N_Cook" <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:p6rppq$tgf$1...@dont-email.me...

> On 24/02/2018 13:25, pf...@aol.com wrote:
>> There will be a memory-keeping capacitor in there somewhere that is going
>> either faulty (age) or intermittent (cold solder). Either way, replacing
>> it will fix it.
>>
>> Peter Wieck
>> Melrose Park, PA
>>
>
> I'll bear that in mind, if I have to go inside.

So how old is the battery you haven't gone inside to replace?

There's a reset in there by shorting 2 test points - you usually have to do
that after replacing the battery.

Can't hurt to try that, and its a good excuse to put a new battery in
anyway.

Lithium coin cell shelf life is somewhere in the direction of 10yrs, but
mine uses the oddball CR1620, so who knows how long its been hanging on the
display rack.

[N_Cook]

I'll probably go in there later this week.
At the moment I'm checking it runs normal non-radio control for a few
days. Set it to London time yesterday, and did not engage RC!, at some
point it decided to move its time zone to New York time so 5 hours
behind. Pressing button C, brought it back to UK time, currently still
the "normal" slightly wavering correct UK time having passed thr a very
cold night

[N_Cook]

Looks like I won't go inside this week. It decided of its own accord to
engage radio control and has run fine since, including very cold nights.
I decided to grind back all 4 plastic knobs, so a fingernail is required
to operate, and as hollow buttons , some hotmelt in there to stop dirst
entry. Why this watch and most of the cameras I've owned plus a
"Dremmel" without a shroud around the mains switch (serious safety issue
there). A crazy business having to recess switches and shroud switches
on handled and transportable mainstream products.
I'll give it anothe rweek , on probation

[N_Cook]

Still doing proper radio-controlled timing, without any intrusion from
me, despite some of the coldest days for some years.

[N_Cook]

On 05/03/2018 07:51, N_Cook wrote:
> Still doing proper radio-controlled timing, without any intrusion from
> me, despite some of the coldest days for some years.
>
>
>

Change of title, just noticed its Wave Ceptor

[N_Cook]

It reset to 2005 yesterday, so I went inside.
Removed battery and delved deeper.
Safely got to both sides of the pcb , one SMD had about 200mV on it with
no battery supply. Have to find more technical info on all this

[N_Cook]

I could not find any pics of the internals of these watches, so pic here

http://diverse.4mg.com/casio_wr50m_r.jpg

The wire to the antenna broke , handling the pcb for this pic and
self-weight of the small coil, not before, but it is obviously a week
point at the solder points if subjected to a lot of vibration.
For the moment I'll clean battery and contacts and reaasemble to check
that I can and run for a while, until date 2005 returns presumably, and
hopefully find out more info on the internals.
The yellow caret marks a SMD with 200mV on it 20 minutes after removing
the button cell, 3.06V open cct voltage.
Seems 3 crystals relate to the radio blob and 1 for the watch. Red is my
mark for +ve so I can solder a pair of wires to convenient spot , to
power from 3V to monitor some DC levels at least, next time of playing
with it that is.
Beware of the tiny phosphor-bronze spring dropping out, on disassembly
of the 2-part plastic sub-frame, it connects to the piezo sounder.
Battery contact simply slides to release battery. A number of tangs need
prizing back with a needle to release the metal screen and 4 spring
tangs for the button returns.

[N_Cook]

Reassembled resoldering antenna wire and a small spot of hotmelt glue
"strain relief", deliberately leaving out the piezo contact.
Watch returned to non-rc function but button A spring must have been
misplaced and no function. Could reasign London instead of Tokyo and
left in timesetting mode , with flashing seconds.
It later dropped into normal timekeeping mode and could then select RC!
, we'll see if full function returns and then go back inside with more
confidence, to take voltages and play with SM or whatever.

[N_Cook]

Survived a week, with no 2005 reset , no loss of LCD segment or anything
other than the manageable loss of button-A. The only change was cleaning
battery contacts and of course electronic repairman's conundrum - close
handling of the pcb, upsetting a bad solder-joint etc interpretted as
whatever else done at the time,interpreted asa repair..

[Fox's Mercantile]

On 3/17/18 4:01 AM, N_Cook wrote:
> Survived a week, with no 2005 reset , no loss of LCD segment or anything
> other than the manageable loss of button-A. The only change was cleaning
> battery contacts and of course electronic repairman's conundrum - close

> handling of the pcb, upsetting a bad solder-joint etc interpreted as

> whatever else done at the time,interpreted as a  repair..
>
>

So, how much did this piece of crap cost new?
And how many hours did you waste "fixing" it?


--
"I am a river to my people."
Jeff-1.0
WA6FWi
http:foxsmercantile.com

[Pat]

On Sat, 17 Mar 2018 07:52:21 -0500, Fox's Mercantile <jda...@att.net>
wrote:

>On 3/17/18 4:01 AM, N_Cook wrote:
>> Survived a week, with no 2005 reset , no loss of LCD segment or anything
>> other than the manageable loss of button-A. The only change was cleaning
>> battery contacts and of course electronic repairman's conundrum - close
>> handling of the pcb, upsetting a bad solder-joint etc interpreted as
>> whatever else done at the time,interpreted as a  repair..
>>
>>
>
>So, how much did this piece of crap cost new?
>And how many hours did you waste "fixing" it?

Get up on the wrong side of the bed? I sometimes fix things because I
learn how they work by doing so. In this case, I also own a Casio
Wave Ceptor watch and really like it. It works well so I have never
opened it. However, I learned a lot from the OP fixing his. Thank you
to N_Cook for posting. So what if he could have purchased a new one
based on what you might charge for a few hours of repair time.

[N_Cook]

Half the art of repair is being able to take something apart and then be
able to put it back together again. So successfully half way to
repairing this thing.

[N_Cook]

2 weeks on and no problem, passed through to daylight saving time
automatically yesterday. So perhaps cleaning battery contact points, and
bending contact metal is all that was wrong. Otherwise leaving out the
piezo spring contact-unlikely or close-handling , the big unknown

[Ian Field]

"Fox's Mercantile" <jda...@att.net> wrote in message
news:Av2dnfJJ_9_ikjDH...@giganews.com...

> On 3/17/18 4:01 AM, N_Cook wrote:
>> Survived a week, with no 2005 reset , no loss of LCD segment or anything
>> other than the manageable loss of button-A. The only change was cleaning
>> battery contacts and of course electronic repairman's conundrum - close
>> handling of the pcb, upsetting a bad solder-joint etc interpreted as
>> whatever else done at the time,interpreted as a repair..
>>
>>
>
> So, how much did this piece of crap cost new?
> And how many hours did you waste "fixing" it?

The one i bought was £60 - £80 by the time I opted for the SS bracelet.

Last I saw advertised was somewhere around £140.

One of the discount stores did a very basic radio controlled watch for £15.
The waveceptor let go of its bracelet mount after at least a decade use,
I've gone through a couple of dumpster diver's watches before unpacking the
cheapie.

There's a growing collection of watches in a drawer - sometimes
circumstances align to make one of them a simple repair.

[Ian Field]

"N_Cook" <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message

news:p9a7jq$k4l$1...@dont-email.me...

On very cheap alarm watches - a cracked piezo is enough mismatch to drag the
supply down and confuse timekeeping.

[N_Cook]

3 months on of normal 24/7 use and no problem to report.
If it ain't broke, don't poke: replacement battery and disconnected
spring contact remain on the outside.

[Michael Black]

I have a Waveceptor, don't know the module number, but it's "solar
powered". I don't use the backlight much, but what I remember is I got it
in the spring of 2006, and it's still running fine on the first battery.
At one time, I accidentally activated the function where if you move the
watch at a certain angle the backlight comes on, no need to press a
button. Before I figured out how to reset that, the "battery indicator"
was down one bar, I think the only time it's never been at "full power".
I paid about 20 dollars for it, wanting the "atomic watch" aspect, but
it's nice not to have to change the battery. I know on my previous Casio,
somehow the replacement battery lasted a very short time, and then the
strap broke, so I abandoned it, rather than buy a second battery so soon
on top of needing a new strap.

Michael

[Bill Gill]

I have had 2 of the Casios. Both of them failed when the case broke.
They still ran fine, but with a broken case they got filled with
moisture and the crystal fogged over.

Bill

[jozefd...@gmail.com]

I have a wave ceptor and the tiny antenna has separated from the indentation in the frame of the watch (my fault). Do you know if there’s any way of fixing this.

[N_Cook]

On 20/04/2019 14:50, jozefd...@gmail.com wrote:
> I have a wave ceptor and the tiny antenna has separated from the indentation in the frame of the watch (my fault). Do you know if there’s any way of fixing this.
>

From what I remember of the inside of mine (no problem with it since
cleaning battery and contacts and slightly bending the contacts).
Hopefully the wire of the antenna is not work/age hardened soits
possible to unwind 1/2? turns to give scope to solder back, difficult to
believe 1or2 turns less would affect reception too much.

[Pat]

I've always thought the antenna was part of a tuned circuit (tuned to
exactly 60 kHz). Are you sure 1 or 2 turns wouldn't affect that
tuning?

Pat

[N_Cook]

I'm guessing its something like 100m of 0.1mm diameter wire, however
many turns that would be, minus 1 or 2 would not be noticed surely.