In the previous article, we saw how the electronic circuit in a quartz watch maintains the quartz crystal in oscillation. Most watch crystals vibrate at 32 768 Hz. A quartz watch mechanism with a second hand needs an electrical pulse once every second to operate the stepper motor which drives the train.
A Brief History on Quartz Watch Batteries Battery powered watches were experimented with during the 20th century. They first became popular in the late 1950’s but were not quartz at the time. They used a small button cell (so called because of their size and shape)....
In our article “What is the Stepper Motor in a Quartz Watch?”, I showed you how the Stepper motor converts pulses into rotary motion. The speed of the rotation is determined by the frequency of the current pulses. This is where the quartz crystal oscillator come in to play.
One of the main components of the quartz watch movement, the stepper motor consists of a permanent magnet rotor, a magnetic stator, and a coil. The stator will carry the magnetic field in a loop inside itself, like a wire carries electricity. Instead of carrying an electrical current, the stator acts as a magnetic circuit.
The biggest problem with electricity is that you cannot see it. That is why it can be hard for some people to understand it. For you to understand troubleshooting concepts for quartz watches, understanding the power supply in a quartz watch is essential. To make it easier, I will give you a simple analogy.