Adding a Watch Winder Battery Monitor
Most of the cheaper watch winder units do not have a battery monitor to warn you of exhausted batteries. Here is a low cost circuit which you can add to your existing control board. Please be reminded that if your watch winder is new, opening the unit, removing or adding any circuits would void all warranties.
I've used available parts from my racco bin and the circuit works just as good. This circuit monitors a 6V battery pack.
You may want to substitute R* for the following "turn-on" voltages found in the table below.
Recommended LED turn-on voltage for a 6V battery pack is 4.8V so you have sufficient time to replace them with a fresh set.
I've made a small test jig so that future parts I find could be matched to get the closest voltages. This is how it looks like.
The relay socket is where I insert the parts I wish to match. I've used a yellow LED instead of a red one.
Lastly, I've added a pair of crocodile clips to make it easier for "calibration" with a power supply or hooking it up to my other test circuits.
Labels: DIY watch winder, watch winder features