Posted 6 October 2023

Citizen eco drive service

Hi All,

Please let me know if anybody knows an safe, reliable and economical way of servicing my Citizen eco-drive watches. I have 4 of them in total and they are now slow.

Thanks in advance.
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  1. lumsdot's avatar
    1: The solar cell needs recharging. This is the single most common reason why Eco-Drive watches are brought in for servicing, and ironically, they still work perfectly fine. Eco-Drives can slow down, tick by two seconds at a time, and eventually stop ticking completely when in need of a charge. If the watch isn’t charged in light that is bright enough (Citizen recommends charging 8 inches away from a 30-watt light), the watch may not charge at all. If you have fully charged your watch and the second hand continues to move in two-second intervals, you may need to do a reset of the watch. For analog models, you can do this by pulling the crown out to the time setting position for 30 seconds, then returning the crown to the closed position next to the case, after which you can set the time. Because of the nature of Eco-Drive watches, most issues stem from an uncharged watch, but as we’ll see, there are legitimate things to watch out for if your watch still isn’t functioning after trying the steps above.

    Do Eco-Drives Really Last Forever?: The Truth Behind The Perpetual Timepiece | Watch Technicians (edited)
    b4dr1's avatar
    Author
    Thank you for responding and sorry for taking this long in coming back.

    My watches run slow even when they are in sunlight in the daytime. I'm not sure what is causing this. As I said the watches are now 10+ years old. So probably a service would solve the problem - I'm not sure. Let me get a quote from the official citizen service centre.
  2. Deedie's avatar
    I got a new capacitor fitted around 4 years ago for £75 I think. Not sure if that is your issue though
    b4dr1's avatar
    Author
    Did you go for the official service centre?
  3. Spudboy's avatar
    I'm only discovering this discussion now so apologies for being late to the party!

    My Eco-Drive of over 20 years has finally given up the ghost (Titanium model 0875-H10899 58H). I sent it off to Citizen for a service and replacement of the solar capacitor and they returned it saying it was now a discontinued model and they wouldn't touch it!

    If I could change the capacitor myself I would, however, mine doesn't seem to be done through the back of the watch like most modern ones and I believe needs to be done through the watch face.

    I am struggling to find any how to videos to assist with this and all local watch markers just keep telling me to send it to Citizen. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (edited)
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