G-shock Tough solar problem

[supes]

I have a G2800 Casio G-shock Tough Solar powered watch. Almost a week ago, the power level meter went to the last level and it now won't show anything except the level meter. I tried to put it under a lamp to charge but no luck. I then tried my X5T with used SF batteries from my incand. lights for a couple of days directly shining on the face of the watch. The level meter is still at it's lowest. What should I do? Thanks in advance.

[billgr]

if its in "sleep" mode it wont charge....not saying that it is though

[Minjin]

Battery is probably shot. Seems like a common problem with these.

Mark

[stockae92]

changing the rechargeable battery fixed the problem on some of the tough solar g shock, but not all

you should try that to see if it works

i think some (g5600) has problem in their charging circuit

[sotyakr]

The exact same thing happened to my just over year old GW300. Guess that shot down one of the main reasons for getting it in the first place (no maintenance). At least I had an out as it was purchased at Costco, and they have a great return policy. I need a new beater watch for work, and would like to give another "Tough Solar" G-Shock a shot, but needless to say, I'm a little hesitant.

[supes]

I don't understand. If it was a battery problem won't the battery meter be blank?
I put it in the sunlight near a window today with no luck. It is still at Level 4 out of 5 levels with Level 5 being blank and no power. There is still the last bar on the meter blinking to signal it needs to charge.

I was thinking of using my SF L4 or SF M3 directed at it for like 5-10 minutes or something but I'm not sure it would work. The battery I would need to get is a CASIO-specified CTL1616. that's what it said in the manual. Is it possible to send it under warranty even if I bought it on ebay? Thanks for all the replies.

[sotyakr]

You may want to give Casio's product support a shot. Here's a contact # off of their site - 800-634-1895. They're supposed to be available Mon.- Fri. 9am - 8pm EST. I'd be interested in what they have to say! Good luck.

[billgr]

i have a different model casio solar and i can never get it to a full charge.......i always get 4 out of 5 bars also.....i live with it as it works fine though

[supes]

Thanks for the replies.

sotyakr,
Thanks for the number. I called that and they directed me to the technical area but there were only open till 5pm so I'm going to try tomorrow.

In the meantime, I was thinking about getting another watch. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

[Wingerr]

I had a similar problem with my Casio Solar Triple Sensor watch; battery indication showed it was charged, but when I tried using any of the higher current functions like backlight or magnetic bearing compass, it would wink out and reset. I charged it for days under my CFL lamp, so I figured it was charged, and the battery must be bad.
Tried contacting Casio, but they never replied, and I couldn't get them on the phone. I was about ready to write the Casio off, and revised my opinion of Casio customer service, which I formerly thought was good.

What I finally did was give it a *really* goood charge under full sun, and that brought it back to full operation.
The charging process really needs a good long charge under direct light if you let it discharge way down; it's definitely not a quick thing. Forget about charging with a flashlight, that just doesn't do a thing. If you look at the specs on how long it takes to charge, even normally with direct sun, it's a lot longer than I expected.
Anyway, leave it outside in the sunlight if you must, not just through a window, which filters out the high energy photons you want to capture- it should come back.

[sotyakr]

Interesting. Glad to hear you got yours back into working order.

I work outdoors, so my GW-300 was exposed to unfiltered sun at least 7 hours a day. Then one day I strapped it on and there was no display, so I left it outside for a day, got a couple bars but it died again shortly thereafter leading me to believe the battery was history. Unlikely as it is, it made me wonder if it developed some sort of battery memory or deterioration issue from the effects of too much exposure to the sun.

[Wingerr]

Well, your symptoms are different from what I had, so it does sound like you've got something wrong with it, especially if you charge it fully on a daily basis. My two solar Casios generally don't see much light except when I remember to stick it on the dash while driving, to collect what photons I can.

[dg]

I find it odd that these 'solar powered' watches can suffer battery failure just like any other quartz watch.

Might just as well power it of a long life lithium and do away with the extra complication of the solar cell

[sotyakr]

That's the conclusion I'm coming to (at least Casio's implementation of it), especially as most "conventional" lithium powered, quartz watches seem to get 2-5 years (or, possibly more) of battery life and my solar watch made it to just over a year.


[ QUOTE ]
dg said:
I find it odd that these 'solar powered' watches can suffer battery failure just like any other quartz watch.

Might just as well power it of a long life lithium and do away with the extra complication of the solar cell

[/ QUOTE ]

[Minjin]

Well, these G Shocks seem to have problems. And the older Seiko Kinetics had lots of problems as well. But Citizen Eco Drives seem to be rock solid. I've rarely heard of a battery in an Eco Drive going bad and I recall a knowledgable Citizen rep saying that the cells were rated to 30 years...

Mark

[Wingerr]

[ QUOTE ]
dg said:
I find it odd that these 'solar powered' watches can suffer battery failure just like any other quartz watch.

Might just as well power it of a long life lithium and do away with the extra complication of the solar cell

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the real benefit of the solar power is only for watches that use a lot of power, like my triple sensor. The magnetic bearing compass sensor draws a fair amount of current, so it would need frequent battery replacement with normal cells.
For a standard G-Shock, the usual lithium cells are much better, considering I must have gotten something like 5 years on the batteries and still going (never using the backlight or alarm functions on it much).
I don't know how much power the atomic watch uses, but the solar power is nice when you want to make frequent use of the backlight. Not having to break the seals to replace the batteries is a plus.

[*Bryan*]

[ QUOTE ]
Wingerr said:
I think the real benefit of the solar power is only for watches that use a lot of power, like my triple sensor. The magnetic bearing compass sensor draws a fair amount of current, so it would need frequent battery replacement with normal cells.
For a standard G-Shock, the usual lithium cells are much better, considering I must have gotten something like 5 years on the batteries and still going (never using the backlight or alarm functions on it much).
I don't know how much power the atomic watch uses, but the solar power is nice when you want to make frequent use of the backlight. Not having to break the seals to replace the batteries is a plus.

[/ QUOTE ]

Would your watch be a Pathfinder? I am looking at one now and seems to have the same features you describe. If so, how do you like it?

[Wingerr]

I have the Casio Protrek Triple Sensor; it's probably the same watch with some cosmetic differences.
It's handy for the compass and barometric features and works pretty well. The thermometer function is pretty much useless for me because it's sitting on the wrist and only telling you how warm it is under your sleeve.
It's a relatively large watch, so you may want to see if that's any concern before getting one.
I did have one problem where it discharged after not bothering to give it any light for a long time, but it came back after a concerted effort to charge it. Lucky for me, because my attempts to contact Casio about it was a dead end. I have an older non solar model, and the two tiny 395 batteries needed fairly frequent replacement, because the compass uses a lot of power. Solar is much better for this, so I'd consider it essential.

[glockman99]

I've had a Casio Triple Sensor Tough Solar watch for about a year now, with NO problems. I had a Casio G-Shock GW-300 Tough Solar for about 6 months and never had a problem with it either, (aside from the strap being alittle too short for my large wrist). As mentioned before, the BEST way to re-charge the (Casio) solar watch is by direct, bright sunlight, (but make sure that the watch doesn't get over-heated while in the sun).

I also have a couple Citizen Eco-Drive Diver's Watches (200m & 300m), and have had NO problems with either of those, either.

I'd take the Citizen Eco-Drive over a Casio Tough Solar, anyday, 'tho...

[Wingerr]

Wow, I still have 5 holes left over on my G Shock Tough Solar- and that still doesn't fit? It is shorter than the Triple Sensor band, though; got 7 holes open on that one..

[UnknownVT]

I just posted this in response to KevinL in his thread:

Anybody played with these Casio watches?

But thought it may be appropriate here -

Tough-Solar.

Although the idea of never having to replace a battery may seem on paper to be appealing - and I've been tempted myself -
the problem is that the "accumulator" of the solar generated electricity is actually a "rechargable battery" - which unfortunately does not last forever and will eventually need replacement.

I'm not sure of the technology used for the storage/rechargable battery - type CTL1616 (I ccouldn't find any info on casio.com) -
but we all know NiCd's are terrible - heaven forbid it's one of those.

Lithium rechargables are supposed to be good - but really meant for high drain applications - I had 2 Li rechargable batteries for my Canon digicam - and after 3 years of cycling usage they both gave up the ghost.....

NiMH seems like a good technology - but again for high drain and I'm not sure how they react on slow trickle drain/charge - but even they only claim 500-1000 cycles of charge/discharge - at 1 cycle/day that's only 1+ to less than 3 years - OK maybe it's not 1 cycle/day - 1 cycle/2days average?
still = less than 3-5.5 years - that's not "forever".

Personally I would prefer a regular lithium powered G-Shock.

But as always YMMV.

[voxelman]

I have a Casio GW-300 (Atomic time, tough solar) that I will have had for 2 years in June. I have always carried it looped around my belt rather then on my wrist so it doesn't see a lot of sun in the winter months. Recently the charge indicator started to dip into the low mark and the display would blank. I then started to actively charge it under a q-h lamp. This would bring it back for a few hours but about mid day I was looking at a blank face again. Last night I replaced the CTL1616 with a CR1616 and after going through the set up and waiting over night for the time updates to occur it seems to be working normally. Got the CR1616 at Walmart. I'm not sure that the CR and the CTL ar the exact same battery. They are the about the same thickness and they are the same diameter. The original battery was made by Panasonic but I can't find any mention of it on their sites.

[cooper]

My G-shock Tough Solar just went blank and won't charge. Apparently others have had this problem. The battery is not completely dead but the watch is now useless to me so I am using an older G-shock. Unfortunately, the stopwatch on the older one is a 1 hour max version which is not useful to me. I liked the display of my Tough Solar and but that is the last solar powered one for me!

Before the screen went blank, the battery indicator was at the next to the top level so I wasn't too concerned. Besides, solar power in winter is in short supply here (Alaska) so I had usually charged it under a fluorescent lamp. That doesn't seem to do it now.

[chevrofreak]

Battery is probably shot. Seems like a common problem with these.

Mark

Yup, that's why I skipped the solar powered atomic G-Shock and went with a Waveceptor instead. It's cheaper, not as thick, uses atomic time but doesn't use the problematic solar power.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=4840142

[billgr]

mine is still working after 2 yrs....but.... i've heard so many negatives about their solar watches that i wont buy any more after this one dies.

Bill

[BladeDogg]

How long have you had it? That shouldn't be happening. I would contact Casio for some help.

As for suggestions. There are TONS of watches out there. What are you looking for...

1. waterproof
2. auto or quartz
3. digital or analogue
4. size?
5. dress or outdoors?
6. price?

Lots of things to consider...GOOD LUCK!

[cave dave]

... Last night I replaced the CTL1616 with a CR1616 and after going through the set up and waiting over night for the time updates to occur it seems to be working normally. Got the CR1616 at Walmart. I'm not sure that the CR and the CTL are the exact same battery. They are the about the same thickness and they are the same diameter....

This is an old thread but since someone dug it up I will comment:

The solar models use a lithium Ion battery, LiIon lifespan is sensitive to overcharge and over discharge. I imagine there isn't a very good circuit in the watch to prevent these from happening.

It would take an extra ordinary effort to overcharge one of these watches though, it takes about 12-18 hrs in full direct summer sun to fully charge it. That doesn't mean wearing it outside either, it means leaving it outside pointing at the sun for a couple days in a row. (don't forget to readjust it every couple hours to track the sun) Alternatively you can place it 8" under a 30w florescent for 120hrs!

DO NOT replace the LiIon battery with a regular Li battery. The watch will try to charge it. This will cause the cell to leak or possible burst.

PS Above times were from combination of Casio and Eco Drive manuals.

[cooper]

Thanks for the information about recharge times for the Casio Solars and responding to an old thread. The solar models must work pretty well or I assume that there would be more complaints here. However, these watches are essentially useless in Alaska as my now nonfunctional watch demonstrates.

I got it primarily because I liked the display and face color and of course didn't realize then how long the charge times are. I got it less than a year ago and tried to keep the charge up in winter by putting it under a fluorescent light overnight whenever the charge dropped one notch down. Although the power indicator never dropped below the next to the highest charge, the battery is apparently dead or at least will not take a charge under a fluorescent light. (Outdoor charging is not an option in Interior Alaska in winter.) The fee for battery replacement is $30 plus shipping and the watch cost $67 at Walmart.

The only watch less useful in Alaska is the Atomic Solar one. Although Walmart here has them in abundnce, the unaware might buy one of these only to find out that for the purpose of time corrections from Ft. Collins, Alaska may as well be in another galaxy.

Casio has had some bad designs. Some time ago they had one that gave blood pressure readings . It turned out to be completely unreliable and has since disappeared.

[cdosrun]

I have one of the GW-600 Solar, G-Shock, Waveceptor watches (admittedly only for a few months) and mine doesn't seem to have any problems with the power levels. I leave it in 'power save' mode so that it turns the display off at night. I spend a lot of time in the house, so it doesn't get to see much sunlight (just a couple of hours on my wrist, in thar car most days) but it hasn't left the highest power level yet, so I am hoping it is getting enough light to keep it there.

Like for others, the main appeal was the lack of maintenance (and having to break the seals) on a regular basis. Hopefully mine will continue to behave!

Andrew

[stockae92]

most of the dead tough solar casios were older/earlier productions the recent release/current production should already have the issue addressed.

i think it was caused by detective rechargeable cell provided from supplier