#TINY WATCH BATTERIES HOW TO#

That’s the problem with a knife opener in the hands of a less-experienced user like me, who only changes a battery once a year or so, it takes a few tries to get it right. I’ve seen home-made case opening knives and there’s another type that looks like a mini-screwdriver flat blade on the end of a screwdriver handle, and I’ve also seen lever tools that pry the back off.īut the case opener knife is pretty common and in the hands of an experienced user, the back of a watch (snap-on, of course) will pop off faster than you can see, with little or no damage. It looks something like an oyster knife and it has a slightly dull edge that is also hardened to resist breaking. The tool I’m using in the video is a basic watch case back knife. As you move up the food chain with regards to watch quality (and price), you may find that the manufacturer will add a molded or machined groove in the watch case itself to make the task of removing the case back a little easier. The snap-on back on the Felix watch has a very tiny tab that can be used as a lever point for the case back removal tool.

Nothing fancy here, just minimal protection for an inexpensive watch. It is a common snap-on, or snap-back case back, made from a stamped piece of sheet metal. Renata watch batteries are fairly common around the world and their website also has a nice watch battery cross reference chart.Īnyway, to replace Felix’s battery, I first must remove the watch case back. This Renata battery was made in Switzerland. It takes a little number 364 watch battery made by Renata, a very popular watch battery manufacturer. I’ll even confess to owning a Felix the Cat plush doll!Įven though the Felix is an inexpensive watch, it means a lot to me and I do wear it occasionally, so I like to keep it running. My wife gave it to me as a birthday gift many years ago because she knows I’ve always been a big Felix fan. The watch I’m using in the video (below) is an inexpensive quartz Fossil watch, a “Limited Edition” Felix the Cat watch. Meanwhile, those basic quartz watches with their tiny batteries that always seem to need replacing are the focus of this article. I’ll briefly describe the procedures and tools for each of those here but I’ll cover them in more detail in an upcoming review. A good dive watch can have anything from a simple screw-on case back that may be threaded and screws right into the watch case, or it may have grooves molded or machined into the case back that require a special tool for removal. The more expensive the watch, the more sophisticated the case design, more or less. I’m describing the procedure I use for my basic, cheap, daily beater quartz watches - the ones with the flimsy snap-on backs. There are several different tools that can be used to remove this type of case back and just as many methods. This article describes one of many methods for removing what is called a snap-on case back.

#TINY WATCH BATTERIES HOW TO#

A local jeweler nearby will replace a battery for $10.00 and I usually have to leave the watch for two or three days, so I decided I’d rather do it myself.ĭo-it-yourself watch battery replacement may seem beyond the capabilities of the casual watch owner, but there’s really no magic to it and, of course, the right tools make it, well, a snap, if you’ll pardon the pun!Īnd even if your watch doesn’t need a battery or you’re just curious to see what’s under the hood, it’s nice to learn how to remove and replace all types of watch case backs just for fun. I’m also amazed that a little tiny watch battery can cost as much as an entire pack of AA or AAA batteries.

A watch battery usually follows Murphy’s Law that is, it will need to be replaced at the most inopportune time.

Tiny watch batteries