This method of testing can help diagnose some common problems with quartz watches. Without opening the watch, you will not have a definitive test for battery health so the tester shown in this article includes a battery tester. If you watch is not working and after checking the “pulse” of the watch with no signal (without having to open the watch) the watch would then need to be opened and the battery tested for complete diagnosis.

Before you even open a watch case to replace the battery, you should always test the watch to make sure that the existing battery is actually the problem. Sometimes a battery will still be good, but the watch will stop working because of a problem with the movement. This guide will help you test watch batteries while they are still in the watch case, without opening the back.

 

Tools Needed:

 

Step 1

Set the watch tester on your workbench and make sure it is on. Then, turn the switch to the pulse test reading.

 

watch battery tester

 

 

Step 2 watch tester

Place the watch to be tested with the crystal face up on the tester panel in the area designated. Soon after the watch case makes contact with the testing surface, the tester should begin beeping if the battery is in good condition.

 

 

Step 3

Making sense of the tester reading:

 

  • A watch  movement should beep anywhere from 5 to 60 seconds – if the battery is working
    • And if there is no beeping, the battery is possibly dead
NOTE: If the watch hands are stopped and not working but the watch tester is beeping to indicate that the battery is still working you can be sure that the watch battery may not the problem (some batteries will still give a pulse indication at a very low drainage that is not enough to move the watch hands) So after checking the battery health, at this point, you will probably want to take your watch to a watchmaker to have the movement and inner workings checked.

 

 

 

Other possible trouble points of a watch that are giving no pulse reading:

  • Watch Coil
  • Watch Circut
  • Drivetrain (broken parts, worn wheels, dirt or debree stuck in watch)

 

Finished

At this point, if you need to replace the watch battery, you can learn How to Replace a Watch Battery here.