During the last few years I've been collecting parts for various props/outfits I scored a fantastic deal on the "Bay of evil". I found a Seiko S234 Pulsemeter listed for "Parts/Not Working", except it did work - kind of! I took a gamble and bid on it, since it started at $40. It had "missing segments" on its display and me being absolutely watch-dumb figured I could fix it myself somehow.
Now, prior to this, like a year or so before, I mistakenly bought an S229 Pulsemeter, thinking it was the correct model. It too was about $40 listed as "Parts/Not Working". I thought maybe it just needed a new battery since it appeared dead and was listed as an "estate find". I deduced perhaps the seller didn't check to see if all it needed was a new battery. Well I ordered a strip of 5 batteries and attempted to change it in the S229... my gosh... A job NOT for the faint of heart! Those screws are ridiculously tiny! I nearly lost one UNDER MY FINGERNAIL! Alas, the new battery did nothing.
So when I got the S234 with missing segments, I figured "OK, it needs a new LCD". I figured I'd buy a new LCD module and take it to a watch repair place in the city. I found a new-old stock replacement LCD for the S234 on eBay, but I had been watching it for just over another year because it was really expensive. I finally had the money to get it when I checked and found that it sold! I was pretty disappointed. I wrote the seller to ask if they had any more and they said they did not.
After some googling, I read that perhaps the cause of missing segments was dirty contacts. I YouTubed Seiko Pulsemeter teardown videos and I came across a YouTube channel with a video on replacing the LCD on a Seiko S234... Turns out after some messages with the creator, "Tibi" from VintageDigitalWatches, he was the one to purchase the LCD on eBay! We kind of laughed about the small world we live in, and he mentioned that he could test the LCD module he just installed in his S234 with mine to see if it really was the LCD or another issue. I carefully thought about it, and the possibility of potentially losing my Pulsemeter to a random, seemingly "kind" stranger in a far away land... I said "Sure!" thinking at worst, I lose a $40 watch and I can sound off publicly on his channel if it goes sideways.
I decided to send him both the watches, the S229 and the S234 because he refused to let me pay him to look at my watch. I figured he could use the S229 for parts as payment. He also told me he knew about ALIENS too and he said he would put my Noble strap on and paint my buttons black if I sent it too. I told him he could keep the original S234 bracelet since the velcro strap of the S229 was in really rough shape.
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Off to Romania for my watches! A few weeks later I got a really cool email from him! He said "Good thing you didn't waste money on the LCD! Your LCD is fine, but at one point either the module got wet or the battery leaked and badly corroded the contacts." He sent me some amazing images! He said with a bit of TLC he could get it working again by rebuilding the contacts. I felt relieved that this guy was THE best person to send it to. I had tried before to contact a few watch repair shops in Saskatoon but never heard back from them.
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A few days later he wrote back and shared the great news! My watch was fully functioning, customized as the USCM Pulsemeter and on its way back to me! He laughed at my tiny strap I had Noble make in my size which was funny
He also mentioned he was able to make a new video for his channel on the repair process of my watch, which was REALLY cool to see!
Watch my S234 get fixed (Super cool!):
https://youtu.be/nyaB-KamX4k*Note: check out his other videos, there's some ALIENS love!
I asked him if the S229 was of any use to him at all, and he was pretty happy! He said he managed to get it working as well! So that was a relief that I didn't give him a really poor condition dud!
I asked him if it was OK that I shared his information with our community for future watch repairs for others. He said it was fine but he didn't offer services normally. He would see on a case-by-case basis if he was able to help.
Now I wear my Pulsemeter daily. Its the first "adult" watch that fits me. (As a kid I had a small Simba watch from Disneyland) Everything works, even the backlight! I need to alter my Noble strap so the back cover of the watch touches my skin so I can use the Pulse function. Tibi says despite the S234s age, it's extremely accurate. It will be handy for me as once a month I have a nurse come out to the house to check my vitals for my records. It will be cool to at least get a daily pulse reading, as well as compare it's results to the nurses finger meter.
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