WTB - Thermatron replacement battery

Submitted by tonydg on January 11, 2016 - 10:28am

Hi,

I am not sure if this is the best forum as the watch was an experimental one for Bulova build in 1980 and sold in the following years .... this forum seems to stop at 1980 ....

Anyway, I have one and would prefer to get an original battery for it rather than convert it to something not quite right.

Does anyone know of a battery for these or if they can be specially made?

The back lists SR 4106 Leclanche as the correct battery.

I have attached photos of the watch and the battery - sorry about the poor focus - it is inside a plastic bag.

 

Thanks for any help.

Tony.

 

 

Reverend Rob
Posted January 11, 2016 - 1:24pm

Despite its modern sounding name, this is not a typical SR battery, it is a capacitor, no longer available. You can substitute a v6HR Accucell with spacer. Here is a link with pertinent info:

 

http://www.crazywatches.pl/bulova-2467-thermatron-1982

Curiously, the Bulova 245 movement is a Citizen movt and the watch was marked 'Swiss Made.'

tonydg
Posted January 12, 2016 - 8:26am

Hi, Many thanks for the information. I am not sure that this was a capacitor.  My reading of the watch's history was that Bulova fitted a rechargable battery, but when the lot were sold to STW they fitted the capacitor as an upgrade. I will get one of the alternatives you mentioned and see if my watch actually works. It was NOS and still has the hang tag with the price (1695 somethings ??USD??) so I do not yet know if it works. As for the movement, I have attached a photo of mine. 

Some of the wiring for the battery tab is poorly done as it is just flying leads and very thin and fragile. I have yet to pull it any further apart to clean it up some more.

Thanks,

Tony

 

Reverend Rob
Posted January 12, 2016 - 10:28am

They go by many names in the trade, capacitor, accumulator, basically a rechargeable power source. By definition, capacitor is not the best word for this, it is like any other cell that is typically used in Kinetic and Eco-drive type watches. 

 

tonydg
Posted January 12, 2016 - 10:53am

Hi, Yes - that is where I get tripped up. Trying to talk to people in the trade and I do not know their vocabulary, which can cause misunderstandings and mistakes. My training is electronics and the various component names have specific meanings in that field. I have to take that hat off sometimes ...But, all of that does not get in the way of enjoying poking around inside the stranger of the watches I can find. My area of interest is the transition watches between about 1960 to 1980, where electric watches started to rival the good mechanical watches, but before the digital/quartz watches really took off. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information around about the stranger of them - and trying to find good watchmakers to service these gets harder as time goes by ...

Ciao; Tony

Reverend Rob
Posted January 12, 2016 - 10:57am

This is a rare bird and an important piece of Bulova history, as far as collectors go, this will only increase in value. 

You mentioned very fine wires, this is a problem even today with most quartz watches, I see careless battery replacement destroying a high percentage of watches. 

mybulova_admin
Posted January 21, 2016 - 12:48am

 

I love how the 25, 30 and 35 are upside down when viewing the watch normally. Interesting watch and worth while keeping a record of it in this forum.

tonydg
Posted January 21, 2016 - 7:25am

Hi, Yes.  When I first found this forum I did not see anything about the Thermatron so felt obligated to post some pictures and have a bit of a discussion ... I hope that people find it useful, or at least interesting in the various unusual electric watches that were tested during the 60s/70s and early 80s before the world settled on the quartz watches we know today.

Thanks, Tony

 

tonydg
Posted July 6, 2019 - 6:41am

Thanks ... it looks like a good timeline of the development and pressures on Bulova at the time they were developing this watch.

I still think they are good looking watches and the comment about recycling the watch and band design is not a bad one.

Thanks,