Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

First post here..

My father gifted me this watch new about a decade ago. Everything worked fine but it has been sitting with a dead battery for about 5+ years. 

It kept it in the case so I didn't realize it was dead this long! I recently wanted to start wearing it, so I had someone I know (who is a watch repair specialist) replace the battery. The only problem now is that the large stopwatch hand doesn't work and is stuck at 4 seconds. 

From what I have read, this watch has had issues with this.

What can be done to fix this? Could the battery installed be the wrong one?

He said that everything looked fine inside and there was no corrosion. 

I'd appreciate any help with this. Thanks.

Hello Andre - and welcome aboard.

I'm sorry, I don't have an easy answer for you.

I've only ever replaced the battery in one 7T62 (for a work colleague), over a year ago. Having read about others experiencing problems, I approached the task with some trepidation, but as it turned out everything worked fine afterwards. See this thread:

http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/topics/show/9400223-changing-a-battery-in-a-7t62-and-subsequent-reset-problems-none-encountered-

All I can suggest is that you try following the chrono' reset procedure exactly as stated in the user manual.

Here it is

Thanks. I'm going to buy the exact battery needed and have it replaced again to see if that helps. From what I've read, this movement doesn't need a reset after changing battery correct? 

As far as the stopwatch buttons, they do not move the large needle anymore whatsoever even when holding the buttons or pressing repeatedly. 

Correct - No AC reset required on a 7T62 movement after battery replacement (unlike the 7T32).

To the the origianl OP GlowingTide did you get this probelm sorted? I spend two years working on 7T32 and 7T62 watches and I have learned s few things. The 7T62 is more annoying when it comes to sorting out problems  Like these. Because it only had two pushers running the watch through all of its functioms is more complicated than the 7T32 with its dedicated 3 pushers and two stems.

If the the Chronograph hand is 100% dead the number one most common cause minus and obvious battery leakaged damage is a bad coil. I have found one or two  of this design with melted circut boards but a dead coil is much more common. The chronograph feature has a dedicated coil on the 7T32 and 7T62. Changing them out is not rocket science but it is a very long and tedious task. Once out the offinding coil can be ohm tested to ensure that it is dead if ti reads 0.00 on the ohm meter. If you need any furthur assistance I would be more than happy to help. I have amosts 40 7T32 and 10 7T62 powered watches so i am pretty familiar with them.

It is a beautiful watch and a very excellent version of the 7T62 and well worth restoring.

Michael