Battery change

Yes another battery change entry. This time it is my DW-9900 Frogmans, more specifically the DW-9900BS-2DR Blue Sea Frogman and DW-9900MD-2T Mad Dog Expedition. Both these watches will be going to a new home soon. 

Firstly sorry for the arrangement of the photographs as I was changing the batteries of both the watches and taking photographs.

The pins that hold the straps in place. The pins are made of titanium. I normally arrange the pins according to its position so that it goes back to its proper place. 

A closer view of the pins.

The correct tool, a Philips screw driver.

The DW-9900MD with its bands removed. You will need to remove the bands as the tips of the bands sits on the case back. No 'cheating' on this watch.

The hole where the pins sits. There is a 'grinding' feel when you remove or install the pins. It is caused by the serrations on the pins rubbing on the side of the hole.

The hole on the bands. The tip of the pin sits inside the hole.

Another view of the band. 

The threaded portion of the pins screws into the case. You can see the thread in the photograph below.

The threads on the titanium case.

The case back ready to be removed. It has been unscrewed.

Inside the case back. You can see the piezoelectric speaker on the case back. Don't know what G39 means.

There is an instruction label stuck on the plastic plate. How cool is that. There is also instructions on battery change in the owner manual. We will get to that later.

When you remove the white plate, you will see the legend 'OPEN' on the LCD display. I will explain why this so later.

The inside of the white plastic plate. Note the metal strip at the left side of the plate.

The white plastic removed, revealing the black rubber protector. This rubber piece provides shock protection to the module. Remember that the nipple points towards the case back. Note the two gold springs at the 2 and 4 o'clock position. These two springs is 'shorted' out by the metal strip on the white plastic plate. When you remove the white plastic plate, the circuit is open and you have the 'OPEN' displayed on the LCD. The contacts for the speakers is the two metal tabs at the 6 o'clock position.

The rubber protector. 

The module. We can now see the battery. The watches are powered by the CR2016 type battery.

The locking tab. You can also see the AC (all clear) point. 

The module (2016), another view. 

The pins/ screws on the DW-9900BS-2DR.

The other set of screws.

Again you can see the threaded part of the titanium case.

The case back with the Frogman logo.

I do like the case back. In fact I do like the watch.

The case back of the Blue Sea Froggie. 

A closer view of the instructions.

The same 'OPEN' on the LCD. 

Oh, before I forget, the module 2016 has a low battery indicator on the LCD. You can see it here. When the low battery icon flashes, the back light, alarm and the mode beep do not work. You cannot even use the dive time function (just in case the battery dies when you are diving).

The battery removed. The battery holder is almost standard across the G-Shock range.

The locking tab. You can see the two 'fingers' that holds the tab in place. You can also see the two springs on the module.

The new battery inserted. Remember to use a non-metallic tweezers for this.

The tab in locked position.

After doing the AC (all clear), the watch shows the factory setting. It still shows open as I have not installed the white plastic plate.

Most important, do not forget to give the rubber gasket its silicon bath.

The white plate installed. 

The case back installed.

Installing the bands. 

Time and date reset to current time and date. We are all done.

Oh before I forget, this is how you unlock the battery holder locking tab. Just insert the tip of the tweezers behind the locking tab (there is a gap) and just lightly pry it open.

And there you have it, how to change the battery on a DW-9900 Frogman.

Anyway here is what is in the owners manual.

Battery change warning:

Always leave battery replacement up to the dealer where you bought the watch or to an authorized Casio distributor. Be sure to show the following information to the person replacing the battery.

Battery change procedure:

Open and remove the back cover. Opening the back cover causes the message OPEN to appear on the display. If CLOSE appears on the display when you open the back cover, replace the back cover. Wait for a few minutes and try again.

Remove the battery holder.

Remove the old battery and load a new one.

Replace the battery holder.

Touch the AC contact and battery (+) side with metallic tweezers.

Close the back cover. The message WAIT appears on the display about 20 seconds after you perform the AC (all clear) operation in step 5 of the above procedure, indicating that the watch is performing an internal self check for data errors. Note that the OPEN message remains on the display during the internal self check procedure, even after you close the back cover.

Interesting right?