Tough Solar battery life span!

77981 Views 50 Replies 31 Participants Last post by Tickstart, Nov 21, 2020

MegaSharkWatch

Discussion Starter · Apr 4, 2017

Hi guys!

Quick question on Casio solar watches that is surely recurrent but never seems to get a definitive answer.

· How long exactly should a Touch Solar battery have for a life span? The typical Casio answer (it should last for at least as much as the watch itself lasts for) is totally vague.
· Is that answer any different for my Battery less solar watch (Second from the left)?

Watch Watch accessory Analog watch Fashion accessory Metal

Cheers!

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1 - 20 of 51 Posts

Everdying

· #2 · Apr 4, 2017

well, whats your oldest solar casio?

as for lifetime, i've heard 7-10yrs.

MegaSharkWatch

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 4, 2017

Everdying said:
well, whats your oldest solar casio?

as for lifetime, i've heard 7-10yrs.

The oldest one is the second from the right, now on 6 years.

7-10 years seems rather short to me, since I have a bunch of non-solar Casio's for which battery operation is assured during that same time frame (F-91W now on 7 years, and the Calculator/World Time Illuminator ones you see at the center for which battery life is supposed to be 10 years).

BadTrainDriver

· #4 · Apr 4, 2017

My MT-G 910d is coming up on ten years, and still holds a full charge/functions 100%. I wear it every day!

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Watch_Geekmaster

· #5 · Apr 4, 2017

Your second from left, the HDD-S100 is using a capacitor to store the energy and only have 14 days power reserve. Theoretically, the capacitor should be very long lasting. But once it fails, so is the whole watch. As for Casio watches with a solar rechargeable battery, they have a lot long power reserve (months) and usually also last a very long time if well maintained. There are members here who mentioned their solar watches last more than 20 years. The problem is usually when people completely drained their rechargeable battery (e.g. by leaving the watch in a dark drawer for years) and permanently degrading its performance.

Nice collection by the way! I didn't know the HDD-S100's so big, until I see the comparison in your pic.

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lvt

· #6 · Apr 4, 2017

It would last as long as the watch in most of cases providing that the charging circuit also works, but its capacity will decrease over the time. At some point your watch might be unreliable.

Rocat

· #7 · Apr 4, 2017

Yankeexpress has some Raysman watches that are on their original batteries and are +- 20 years old.

I just bought an old G2310 with 2184 module and an ML-2016 battery that the seller said was dead. Thirty minutes in the sun yesterday brought the module to life long enough for me to check all the functions and they work. It's on the deck getting direct sunshine right now. It may take a few days in the sunshine to bring it back to full charge. Best guess from the seller was the watch was in a drawer, dead for years.

Back to your original question in terms of how long a battery will last; that depends on how the watch is used and how much sun exposure it receives in it's life time. Not much sun and fully depleted several times and it will not last long. Outside in the sunshine enough to keep it fully charged and it never comes off high or medium, it should last decades.

The newer CTL-1616 battery will most likely last multiple decades. Rechargeable batteries should last decades as long as they do not become fully drained multiple times.

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ccm123

· #8 · Apr 4, 2017

My oldest G is my GW-5600J-1 Wave Ceptor bought new in Tokyo in 2008. Still running 100% on the original battery. I'm impressed.

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Cristobal

· #9 · Apr 5, 2017

I've got my atomic solar gw-m5600 since 2008. The battery indicator has been on "H" since then.

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MegaSharkWatch

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 5, 2017

Watch_Geekmaster said:
Your second from left, the HDD-S100 is using a capacitor to store the energy and only have 14 days power reserve. Theoretically, the capacitor should be very long lasting. But once it fails, so is the whole watch.

Yup, that is correct. This is the only watch I've left with no charge at all on certain occasions when I forgot it. I assume the capacitor isn't changeable?

Watch_Geekmaster said:
As for Casio watches with a solar rechargeable battery, they have a lot long power reserve (months) and usually also last a very long time if well maintained. There are members here who mentioned their solar watches last more than 20 years. The problem is usually when people completely drained their rechargeable battery (e.g. by leaving the watch in a dark drawer for years) and permanently degrading its performance.

Great! I'm typically quite OCD'd about not letting any of my solar powered watches drain completely

And I assume batteries will always be changeable.

Watch_Geekmaster said:
Nice collection by the way! I didn't know the HDD-S100's so big, until I see the comparison in your pic.

Thanks! That's precisely what I love about it… I'd say it's my 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] favorite as of today!

MegaSharkWatch

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 5, 2017

lvt said:
It would last as long as the watch in most of cases providing that the charging circuit also works, but its capacity will decrease over the time. At some point your watch might be unreliable.

And how long would that be?

MegaSharkWatch

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 5, 2017

Rocat said:
The newer CTL-1616 battery will most likely last multiple decades. Rechargeable batteries should last decades as long as they do not become fully drained multiple times.

Great! Guess it's now time for me to check which battery do my Tough Solar Casios use!

Rocat

· #13 · Apr 5, 2017

MegaSharkWatch said:
Great! Guess it's now time for me to check which battery do my Tough Solar Casios use!

Unless you are wearing an old model, say from 2004 or older, Your watch will have the CTL-1616.

Rocat

· #14 · Apr 5, 2017 (Edited)

Double Post?!

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Diesel Fox

· #15 · Apr 5, 2017

I have one of the original G2300b's I got in 2000 or 2001, and the battery started going bad around 2010/2011.

MegaSharkWatch

Discussion Starter · #16 · Apr 6, 2017

Rocat said:
Unless you are wearing an old model, say from 2004 or older, Your watch will have the CTL-1616.

Great news!

MegaSharkWatch

Discussion Starter · #17 · Apr 6, 2017

Diesel Fox said:
I have one of the original G2300b's I got in 2000 or 2001, and the battery started going bad around 2010/2011.

Too bad... what did you do then?

yankeexpress

· #18 · Apr 6, 2017 (Edited)

5

MegaSharkWatch said:
Hi guys!

Quick question on Casio solar watches that is surely recurrent but never seems to get a definitive answer.

· How long exactly should a Touch Solar battery have for a life span? The typical Casio answer (it should last for at least as much as the watch itself lasts for) is totally vague.

This answer is DEFINITIVE, not vague:

Casio solar cells will last the life of the watch, 20 years, if charged periodically.

The original Tough Solar G-Shock is the Raysman, released in 1998 and all still going strong on original batteries

.
Guardian Angels DW-9300GA

Raysman DW-9350 MSJ Middle Sea Race

Galapagos DW-9350DJ titanium

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GTR83

· #19 · Apr 7, 2017

I got a GW-200-2 (from 2001 or 2002) which I started to neglect around 2014. I never wore it for close to 3 years and it was kept inside a Pelican case with no access to sunlight at all. It wasn't a surprise then that when I opened the case at the beginning of 2017, it was on its last legs (power reserve mode with almost no juice left). Just last month I started wearing my G-Shocks again and had to replace the GW's solar battery because it could no longer reach full charge after repeated sun baths. So if I hadn't neglected it, I think it would have carried on with the original battery to 2017 and on. Local Casio changed the battery for $15 including working cost. Also changed the bezel to a fresher but still used one, I couldn't find a replacement band anywhere so I'm planning to perhaps fit it with a GW-225E resin set a friend offered me for some see-through action.

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Diesel Fox

· #20 · Apr 10, 2017

MegaSharkWatch said:
Too bad... what did you do then?

Well, about that time I was pining for a new G-shock, and also started thinking that negative displays were cool, so I converted it, and stealthed it. Turned out nice, but I regretted it, and with the battery failing and the purchase of a 6900MS I put it aside. Recently I started restore it, I want to but it back in the rotation, because it's an awesome watch with a lot character, and I wore it during some of the best times of my life. I painted the bezel letters red, and got some polarizing film to reconvert the neg display back to positive, as I've grown to strongly dislike negs due to their lack of functionality. Now, I've got to get a new battery and finish it.

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