Help me bring these digital watches back to life!

January 17, 2020 1:22 PM

I've acquired 2 vintage Star Wars digital watches from the '70s. They don't work. Two watch stores and the manufacturer won't touch them. But I bet there's a way to resurrect them. Either the original LED displays can be replaced (to have that original look) or a modern-day LCD display can be ported into the cases.

I've acquired 2 vintage Star Wars digital watches from the '70s. They don't work.

2 watch stores and Texas Instruments (the manufacturer) say there's nothing to be done. TI says the technology is obsolete and they no longer support it. I asked if there was any individual still at the company who knew how to fix these watches, but I got only silence.

I'm positive there's a way to resurrect these watches. Either the original LED displays can be replaced (to have that original look) or a modern-day LCD display can be ported in. The tech may be old, but I would assume that also makes it rather simple.

Any ideas? I'm willing to pay anyone or any company parts, labor, and shipping costs.

posted by Flying Saucer to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I would look into enthusiast communities like forums to see if there have been teardowns and part breakdowns of these things. If there are any local maker spaces would probably also be interested in helping you out — they stock lots of random parts and/or can help you locate the ones you need. They would also be good people to ask about the aforementioned online communities.

Good luck! It sounds like a fun project and probably doable — I imagine these are commodity hardware from the era and the unique part is the case and art.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:27 PM on January 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS STAR WARS LED 1977

As shown to the right some limited edition watches like the one made for "Star Wars" had special packaging and labels that could be used to customize the appearance of the watch. These watches utilize a very simple and cheaply made TI plastic module with bubble lenses on the display. They are nearly impossible to disassemble and thus hardly repairable. Please note that the inside of the case was painted with conductive silver to allow the caseback to close the electric circuit with the case. Major battery leakage is usually the cause for this paint to be missing (including the metal battery clamp) and the circuit will not be properly connected. Silver paint is a quick fix solution!

posted by zamboni at 1:37 PM on January 17, 2020 [2 favorites]

With Texas Instrument digital watches you probably can replace the entire digital module with a functioning one from another vintage TI LED watch. You need to find out what model of works they used. Old TI digitals are pretty common and cheap.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:38 PM on January 17, 2020 [2 favorites]

This YouTube video "1977 Texas Instruments Star Wars Digital Watch" comment section q&a has "Batteries and Bulbs" (maybe Batteries Plus Bulbs? or Batteries 'n Bulbs?) carrying the correct replacement battery (if you haven't tried that already).
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:47 PM on January 17, 2020

Have you popped the back off? It may just be a matter of replacing the batteries.
posted by achrise at 8:40 PM on January 17, 2020

Response by poster: achrise It's not the batteries. I first took them to a watch store just to get new batteries, but the guy gave them back to me and said they needed repairs.
posted by Flying Saucer at 7:23 AM on January 20, 2020

Response by poster: fimbulvetr One watch says "series 600" on the back. The other doesn't say anything.
posted by Flying Saucer at 7:24 AM on January 20, 2020