Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Casio PAG40 Rescue Part 1 (Long)


I got this watch off the net recently. I have always liked this watch and when the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed the watch. Actually the watch was sold to a friend who then sold it to me. Talk about a long-winded way to get a watch.

Anyway after getting the watch, I set off cleaning the watch. I do this with all watches that I buy used. Alas I found a few problems. Firstly the design of the watch is really bad, I mean having to remove 8 screws just to change the batteries? It is not even rated beyond 10 ATM. Hence the problem. I found out after washing the watch, there was water vapour in the watch. On checking the watch, I found 3 screw mounting holes were stripped. Worst of all, 2 were the ones that holds the case back.

I removed the screws and the case back. The gasket inside was all messed up. It was dry and it was not in the groove. It was also all bent-up. There was water on the movement spacer. Luck was with me, as there was no water on the movement.

So it is time to try and rescue this watch. So out with the tools and most important, the modeling putty. I was not to sure if the putty would stick to the resin, but it is worth the try. If this fails, then the next option (don't really want to do this) is to fill the holes with liquid cement and drill new holes. Then use the screws as a tap to tap new threads.

Well on with it. Don't want to bore you guys with the removal photographs.

The watch. The rubber and stainless steel case back and the spacer removed. Module 2271.


Another view. The batteries have been removed. It is powered by 4 batteries. The battery holder for the center 2 batteries have been removed.


The sensor attachment to the PCB.


The watch. Notice that the lower bezel (around the light button has been removed).


Another view. We can see the large buttons for compass, barometer and altitude.


The batteries and the central battery holder.


Part of the bezel at 3 o'clock position. It protects the sensor located at that same position.


The other part of the bezel.


Another view.


The movement holder cum spacer. Water was found here.


Case back, inside view. Don't know what the numbers mean.


Case back, outside view. Made in Korea.


The rubber case back. This is fitted outside the stainless steel case back for additional protection.


Inside view. Lots of water stain.


The compass rose. To remove, insert a plain (flat) screwdriver under it and lever out. It will just 'pop' out.


Inside view. Note the metal locking device. This locks the rose to the watch. Simple but it works. No ratchet mechanism.


The lock is held in place via spring tension.


The watch. Lots of love and DNA.





The sensor grill. Note the feet at the two extremes. It holds the grill in place.


The gasket. Finally straighten out and basking in a bath of silicon grease. Ah! that is life.... The kinks that you see is not bent up but part of the design.


All the parts off for a cleaning. I did not remove the module as I did not want to remove the sensor from the PCB. So I reinstalled the case back and held the case back tightly against the case when washing.

The watch after washing. Notice that the compass rose has been installed. It is as simple as 'click on'.


Bezel installed.

Another view. Note the sensor grill. It is held in place via the feet of the grill.


Now to address the problem of the stripped screw mount. Note the hole on the right is larger as compared to the hole on the left. That right hole is the problem hole.


The other hole, diagonal to the first hole. Upper right and lower left as luck would have it. This makes the watch wearable as the other 2 screws will hold the case back in place with some tension.


First application of the putty. Too bad I was not able to inject the putty into the hole. Manual application, sigh....



The holes is still too large. Thus second application.



This is the the other hole. I am not too concern with this hole as this holds the rubber case back to the watch and does not effect the water resistance of the watch.


Now wait for the putty to dry and see if it works. Fingers crossed.

Continue in part 2.....

34 comments:

  1. hi.........great explanation! but where is part 2? all the bests

    mike

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi michaelm,

    Welcome to the blog. Part 2 is here:

    http://horologycrazy.blogspot.com/2009/07/casio-pag40-rescue-part-2-long.html

    Best regards,

    Ivan

    ReplyDelete
  3. thanks Ivan for the link to part 2........I was lloking for this tutorial for months....

    great job

    mike

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  4. Hi michaelm,

    Hope it was helpful.

    Best regards,

    Ivan

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  5. Any chance you have pics and can provide me with instructions on how to replace the batteries?

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. Hi Juan,

    Welcome to the blog. I have edited out your email contact to protect privacy.

    Best regards,

    Ivan

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  8. Ivan, thanks I've opened the watch and tried to removed the batteries holders without success, decided to close it and inquire with you guys before ruining it

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Juan,

    I have sent you an email.

    Best regards,

    Ivan

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hiya Ivan, i have the same question as Juan...how do you simply replace the batteries and more specifically, how do you remove the battery clips? - this is where im stuck and i dont want to damage them..
    Many thanks
    Giles

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  11. Hi Giles,

    Welcome to the blog. Shoot me an email and I will send you some photographs of the battery clip.

    Best regards,

    Ivan

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ivan

      I have the same question as the other guys. how do you take the battery clips off without damaging them.

      Kind regards

      Phil

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    2. Hi Sprackers,

      Welcome to the blog. Perhaps this might help.

      http://www.horologycrazy.com/2013/01/casio-pag-40-battery-replacement.html

      Best regards,

      Ivan

      Delete
  12. Fantastic Ivan and thanks. Will email you now!
    Giles

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  13. Ivan:

    Excellent tutorial. One question -- I have a "spring" left over :( -- it's not gold colored, but is silver, similar width to gold ones, and a bit less than 1/4 inch long. I ave no idea where it came from during disassembly. Any ideas? Also, the reset function -- how does that work? Thanks for any help!!

    Bob

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  14. Hi Bob,

    Welcome to the blog. Drop me an email with a photograph of the spring. I will try and compare it with mine and perhaps we can solve the problem.

    Best regards,

    Ivan

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  15. Hi Ivan, I have a prg40 and have just had the batteries replaced, the abc functions no longer work anymore. The screen for temp, alt and baro just display no numbers, and the compass is just spinning constantly in calibration mode... Any suggestions as to what to do to fix it? any help would be greatly appreciated as I use the watch for work!

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  16. Hi Yannig,

    Welcome to the blog. Did you reset the module after the battery change? If not, reset the module. If that fails, try remove the batteries and start again.

    Best regards,

    Ivan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think I reset anything.... How do I do that?

      Delete
    2. Hi Yannig,

      Look for the 'AC' on the module. Reset the module by touching the 'AC' with the battery cover. You can use a bent metal paperclip or your metal tweezers.

      Best regards,

      Ivan

      Delete
  17. Ivan, thanks again for this article and the follow up. Because of this information my PAG40 is rebuilt and working just fine (despite my being unable to identify that weird rod-like spring that was lying loose in the back when I opened her up). I added a link here to my Amazon review of the PAG40, since a lot of reviewers and commenters were asking about battery replacement.

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  18. Hey, Bob, if you ever find out what the spring does, I have its brother in a box waiting for someone to figure out what it does and where it goes.

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  19. I think I may have figured out what that spring did by the way. I *think* it was the doohickey that allowed the "turn your wrist to activate the light" function, which I always thought was daft and deactivated anyway.

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  20. I have all 4 springs. Except for the "goldish" ones, I don't know where the other 2 go. So would anyone be so kind and a good sport to send me some pictures on vprockov@gmail.com so I can see where to put them?

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  21. Hi, i just want to replace the batteries.. can you send me the details... and also, how many springs are supposed to be there, because there are two golden springs (which are fixed) and one silver spring (which is not fixed).. my email add. is xmyzincx@gmail.com...
    many Thanksss

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi All,

    Welcome to the blog. Just check out the latest post.

    Best regards,

    Ivan

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi Ivan,

    I have a also a pag40 but it is the titanium version. May i ask if it is possible to remove the metal top on the compass bezel ? So far i have managed to keep the watch scratch free except for the metal part of the compass bezel. I plan to have it refinished but i am not sure if it is too fragile to do so. I appreciate any info that may help.

    Regards,

    Ritchie

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  24. Hi Ritchie,

    Welcome to the blog. With regards to your question, I suspect it is possible as it looks like the metal portion (on mine anyway) looks like an insert. But I am not sure how it is held in place. It may be a snap fit or could be 'glued' to the bezel. Not sure. Sorry for not being much help.

    Best regards,

    Ivan

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  25. Hi Ivan,

    Thanks for your reply. That's alright i was just curious if it is something i can do myself or if i need to bring it to a watch repair specialist. Thanks.

    Regards,

    Ritchie

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  27. Hi Ivan, I need instructions on replacing the straps for the Protrek PRG40 please..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Reefo,

      Not a step by step, but hope it helps...

      http://www.horologycrazy.com/2015/02/strap-change.html

      Best regards,

      Ivan

      Delete
  28. Hello, I have a PAG40, but its previous owner has broken the ribbon cable to the top sensor, I think by removing the module without undoing it. Of course ALT and BARO functions simply say ERR. is it possible to re-attach the ribbon to the sensor, or obtain a new sensor altogether?

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  29. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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