Reply With QuoteExcellent, very handy.
Now can someone send me an X-33 to practice on please? :shock:
Found these when I was looking for some other pic's - thought it might be worth a repost since is was a while ago
Cost? - The price of a battery (£3).
For those brave enough to change the battery on their X33 - it's really simple :)
Here we have our X33 which is in need of a battery change.:mad:
The case back has a number of small screws around the outside edge which need removing to gain access.
The necessary tools for the job.
Screws and case back are now removed - the cover you see know just lifts off.
Here it is lifted off to reveal the battery we need to change.
Here is the new battery in place.
Finally the cover and case back on - screws tightened up :D
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Excellent, very handy.
Now can someone send me an X-33 to practice on please? :shock:
I really wish I still had mine. :(
I used this (or a very similar) guide to change the battery on mine recently. Very straightforward but you need to be careful with those little screws, they're tiny and easy to lose.
For reasons unknown, when I re-inserted the battery and re-set the time, the analogue hands were out of sync with each other (when the hour hand was on the hour, the minute hand was about 20 mins behind). So I removed the movement and re-set the hands to 00:00 and this time when I re-installed the battey all was fine. Odd, but not a problem.
The X33 is great, mine is getting more wrist time than anything else at the moment.
Cheers - Simon
How amazing, I'd never have guessed the back was held on by screws! I guess astronauts are much more likely to have a screwdriver handy than a caseback tool :D
"I looked with pity not untinged with scorn upon these trivial-minded passers-by"
This will come in handy when the time comes, will probably get in a battery ready :D
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
Did you replace the gasket as well as the battery?
Funny that you reposted this, as I was thinking of looking up this thread again for when I need to replace my X-33 battery..
Looks like the seal did a good job, as one can see from this picture moisture and possibly dust entered but the seal kept it from entering further or is that grease residuals? Are the screws stainless or titanium? Did you use loctite on the screws?
Some answers :)Originally Posted by Dibetu
Looks like the seal did a good job, as one can see from this picture moisture and possibly dust entered but the seal kept it from entering further or is that grease residuals? Are the screws stainless or titanium? Did you use loctite on the screws?
1. Grease residue.
2. Cannot remember what the screws are made of.
3. No loctite.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Good job!
Battery is huge! The battery for my Marathon is tiny.
I just changed the battery in my JSAR yesterday after consulting with the forum. I am very pleased with myself. JSAR is even working :lol:
I bought two batteries (3£) and some silicone grease. I followed the advice, that I got from a forummember and used the silicone sparingly.
Operation went smoothly, although the batttery was helt by the tiniest of screws.
First battery I ever changed. I am well chuffed!
:lol: :lol:
And for those that haven't seen it already here's Don Pettit repairing his X33 in space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkwTVxdE23A
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Thanks a million, its very interesting to see the inner works of the X33. Amazing engineering gone into that. Its just that some watch companies can't make titanium screws to go into a titanium case as they tend to fuse and others have well overcome that hurdle.
Great post, didn't know it was that easy to change the battery.
Thanks,
Dave
Superb! :lol: Although not the greatest advert for Omega build quality I've ever seen!:lol: :lol:
And for those that haven't seen it already here's Don Pettit repairing his X33 in space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkwTVxdE23A
"I looked with pity not untinged with scorn upon these trivial-minded passers-by"
Last shot shows it without the crown installed. Well, no reassembly job is complete unless you have parts left over........
Particularly if you do not realise there are parts left over :wink:Last shot shows it without the crown installed. Well, no reassembly job is complete unless you have parts left over........
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Nice pictorial !
One thing to mention...Renata batteries are not the best around..more the worst ones, they have the tendency to leak. :cry:
The best batteries are from Seiko. I know, I know not the best combination :twisted:
Looks like I need to clear out my little box. :cry:Renata batteries are not the best around..more the worst ones
Seiko and Energizer batteries are of much higher quality than Renata, but then Renata is owned by Swatch Group and supplies all Swatch Group quartz watches. Seen nasty leaks on almost new watches. 3v batteries like the 20 series (16,25,32) are best supplied by Energizer in my experience. Oh, and watch repair in space?? How cool is that? :D
-V
Very interesting thread. One Q. regarding the battery. Is there a code to identify the sort of battery you need? Just like the 'AAA' and 'AA' code for 'normal' batteries?
Menno
Did you mean a numbering scheme in general or need a battery for an X-33 as says CR2320 on the one in the tutorial?
Perhaps both: the CR2320 is a specific type of battery a non branded number (according to Google - Panasonic has a CR2320 etc). But I was wondering: if a Seiko battery is better than an other brand, does the Seiko has a different number, or do I just ask for a Seiko 2320?
Menno
EDIT: found it! Although in Dutch, but that's no problem. Just use the Ctrl+F (or Cmd + F if you're on a Mac) and type the battery you're looking for. In this case: CR2320 appears to be a Renata code, other brands have (sometimes) different codes in front of the 2320 code. And, according to this website, Seiko doesn't have a type 2320...
http://www.waltox.nl/pages/productbl...atterijen.html
Thanks a million, its very interesting to see the inner works of the X33. Amazing engineering gone into that. Its just that some watch companies can't make titanium screws to go into a titanium case as they tend to fuse and others have well overcome that hurdle.
I know what you mean about titanium on titanium, screw back cases always feel really cheap and gritty when removing them.
I have used Renata cells for many years and have never seen one leak...but Rayovac...yes, many times :!:
No apologies for dredging up this thread; I have just changed the battery on my 2nd gen X-33, and have some extra info to add.
First, the screwdriver I used was marked 1.2mm, and was a proper watchmaker's one (AF, colour-coded red stripe) - a 1mm 'precision' one from Maplin was not thin enough to fit in the slot.
Secondly, when I fitted the battery with a very quick changeover, the EOL indicator did not reset (i.e. back light still did not work, and the second hand still only moved every five seconds).
I was sure the battery was good, so I took it out again and waited a couple of minutes before re-inserting it. This time the EOL was reset, and everything worked normally - I had to set the digital time and sync the hands afterwards.
-- Tim
That is really useful. Thanks for the extra information.
I just managed to do this on my x-33 today too. The information on here is invaluable. The advice about what type of screwdriver to use was also excellent.
I'd recommend doing this installation over a deep walled bowl or something like that, but with a piece of material placed at the bottom. This is because the screws are indeed (as everyone else has pointed out) fiddly to remove and install because of their size. Investing in some pointy jewellers' screwdrivers is recommended (cheap enough on eBay).
ONE THING: I discovered that those screws on the back are really fiddly in another way. Their tension cannot be too tight or else the alarm doesn't seem to work; perhaps a delicate balance of pressure on the resonating chamber is needed. It took me a fair amount of experimentation to realise this. I had to go back and forth untensioning the screws slowly one turn at a time until the sound of the alarm was reactivated. No idea why this is.
Well, I'll see how it goes.
Just found this thread when I changed the battery in mine. You can sync the hands to the digital display as a function of the watch:
Cheers
Mike
This is such a fantastic thread. And an old one that I am going to resurrect for assistance...
I can remember looking at this thread several years ago when I purchased a preowned X-33 Skywalker (in titanium, Solar Impulse version on NATO), and looking at it again this week when the battery in my watch started to show EOL - which was about two years ago (the seller had dropped in a new batter just before I bought it). BTW - the "power saving" feature of pulling out the crown seems to have (at best) negligible impact as this watch was in that mode for most of the past two years.
Anyway, my three questions to you knowledgable folks:
1) Can anyone confirm that the caseback screws are indeed titanium?
2) While I was extremely careful and the screw heads still look as good as when I bought the watch (preowned), I'd like to have some replacements on hand. Anyone have a source (in the US)? Offrei? Anywhere else? Anyone have a part number or better description? My guess is that Omega/Swatch isn't going to sell them to a non authorized repairperson.
3) I also have purchased an X-33 Gen2. I know it takes the CR2320 as well. It has 9 caseback screws instead of the 8 on the Skywalker. Does anyone know if they are the same screw? Also in titanium?
Really appreciate everyone's assistance in advance.
Adam in Austin TX
On the Gen 2 the screws are titanium, you’ll need a 1.2mm screwdriver, the Bergeon is excellent.
Omega tend to use titanium screws with their titanium watches. I found getting spares very expensive...£25 a screw from an eBay dealer.
Thanks, Christian & Doug.
I do have the 120 Bergeon screwdriver and swear by just about all Bergeon tools (except for the pesky springbar puller - just give me a normal springbar removal tool).
And wow - those Ti screws can be expensive. Might just need to be careful that I don't mess them up...
Thanks,
Adam
I suspect Omega cost price is a lot less, so if you do end up chewing a screw, rather than pre-emptively buying spares, maybe try taking it to Omega. I once purchased a pre-owned Rolex and the previous owner had obviously been ham-fisted with a poor screwdriver and there were 4 scratched/chewed screw heads in the bracelet. I walked in to Rolex St James and they kindly swapped them all out for free. I suspect if I had tried to source the screws from third parties, I'd have been paying a lot and dodging the third party copies.
Last edited by Christian; 13th August 2021 at 09:53.
I changed out a battery recently. It took three to find one that did not go EOL immediately. I checked the expiry dates and they where a year in date. The last one I tried had 18 months left and worked. Long story short they are sensitive and buy more than one battery!!
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