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TB Capacitor vs. rechargeable battery - useless knowledge

Just got my timebomb to inductively charge using a braun toothbrush charger.
Started off just when it was double ticking and since it is charging, now running normally.
Question is, how long to charge before it hits 100%? 1-2hours? Don't wanna over charge it.
ps. capacitor has been replaced/updated.

Thanks in advance!
 
Just got my timebomb to inductively charge using a braun toothbrush charger.
Started off just when it was double ticking and since it is charging, now running normally.
Question is, how long to charge before it hits 100%? 1-2hours? Don't wanna over charge it.
ps. capacitor has been replaced/updated.

Thanks in advance!

The OP had his TB on for two days. I left mine on for 1 day, but I only did it 21 days ago. Still going strong. I haven’t worn it since taking it off the charger.
 
I read that there is no danger of overcharging because of the safety design of the Timebomb, is that correct?
I am worried about leaving it on the inductive charger for too long in fear of damaging something.
ps. 21 days and still going, that's awesome!
 
I read that there is no danger of overcharging because of the safety design of the Timebomb, is that correct?
I am worried about leaving it on the inductive charger for too long in fear of damaging something.
ps. 21 days and still going, that's awesome!

The OP had his going for 7 months. I don’t. Sliver there is any type of safety designed into the watch or li-ion to stop the charging process.
 
As some may know, I recently purchased a TB and have been digging around for some more info about the history of the product.

In doing so, I've found some people had some confusion about capacitors vs. rechargeable batteries, and I thought I'd share some useless knowledge on the subject. Many may already know this and many more may not care, but here ya go...

First off, the TB uses a Seiko Kinetic movement, which may look like an automatic mechanical watch (because of the weight spinning in the back) but is actually just a normal quartz movement with a rechargeable power source. I once posted a long, high-level explanation about different types of watch movements here, if you want to go down that hole...

WATCH This! | Page 7 | Oakley Forum

So, capacitor or rechargeable battery, what's the difference? Though they can be used interchangeably in a Kinetic, in other use cases only one or the other is appropriate and the tech is quite different.

A capacitor is purely a storage device for electricity. It's basically two electrodes separated by a dielectric insulator. You put a charge into it, it holds the charge, you release the charge.

A battery uses a chemical reaction to create an electric charge. With rechargeable ones, that reaction is reversible (reversible electrochemical intercalation).

When Seiko first released the Kinetic, the concept was a "battery-less" quartz watch, so using a capacitor fit that definition.

The Seiko Kinetic movement used in the TB is the 5M42. The capacitor had about a one week max power reserve.

But, as seen with the TB and the other Kinetic movements using capacitors, the capacitor ended up being a failure. They didn't test its long-term reliability and it ended up tending to leak and otherwise fail prematurely.

So, starting with the 5M6x movement family, Seiko stopped using capacitors and started using a LiOn rechargeable battery (outsourced from Maxell). They called it a "Kinetic Electricity Storage Unit" / Kinetic ESU to gloss over the fact that their "battery-less" watch was no longer battery-less.

The LiOn battery is much better, it has a max power reserve of up to six months in the 5Mxx movements. And, luckily, the 5M42 movement in the TB can have the capacitor retrofit with a LiOn battery with no problems.

There are some disadvantages to the LiOn battery, though - #1 is if you let it discharge completely, it will trash the battery and need to be replaced again.

The other is, with its greater capacity, it takes a lot more to charge it. With the old capacitor, it could be charged to its max reserve with about 1800 swings of the Kinetic movement. For the LiOn battery, it takes 24,000!

That's why traditional watch winders for automatic mechanical watches don't really work for Kinetics, not enough swings in a short enough period of time. A watch winder can help maintain a charge, but it's insufficient to recharge.

But, it can be recharged using electromagnetic induction, the "wireless" charging where you just place it against an induction charger instead of having to plug in wires.

Seiko once sold an induction charger for Kinetics but it was way overpriced. However, you can take another induction charger, such as one for a rechargeable toothbrush, and use it to recharge your TB, relatively quickly.

Bottom line, when you get the capacitor in your TB replaced, it's being replaced with a rechargeable battery.

The End. To those of you who actually read this entire thing, thanks for your attention. And sorry...
Actually it is NOT a BATTERY, it is a single cell. BATTERY is a plural thermology, it requires more than one working in unison. You can not have a BATTERY of doctors with one doctor.
 
I read that there is no danger of overcharging because of the safety design of the Timebomb, is that correct?
I am worried about leaving it on the inductive charger for too long in fear of damaging something.
ps. 21 days and still going, that's awesome!
Old thread I know, but was there ever a definitive answer to this - can you overdo the charging to the detriment of the watch?
 
Here's a short video showing a Kinetic being recharged by an induction toothbrush charger:

Thank you for the video! I have not worn my Timebomb for a long time because it took so long to charge it, wearing it. I will have to give this a try. :cool-20:
 
Two of my three TB1's that recently have had Capacitor changes by a company that I no longer use (Thanks to the arrogant Pr1ck of an owner) have both gone into the high power consumption mode & basically stop as soon as I take them off my wrist...... 😔
 

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