Battery not making contact

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Hi this is my 1st post, nice to meet you guys. I have a S/el. when I put in the new battery and push it to the top or bottom it will work. but when I put on the back cover no joy. I added a small paper shim and still no joy. Is this a known issue and is their a known fix?

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It might be that you are missing a battery spring. This is a circular piece of metal that springs against the backplate and pushes the battery down.
 
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It might be that you are missing a battery spring. This is a circular piece of metal that springs against the backplate and pushes the battery down.
I don't think I have ever seen any battery spring. I have had it since new from about 1995. I have always changed my own batteries. Maybe they lost the spring at the store, when it was new? thank you for the reply.
 
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I don't know if SELs had them originally. I have had three handed SELs but I can't remember if I ever changed the batteries in them. The chronographs have a metal 'strap' which you have to slide out of the way to access the battery and then screw down.
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Screenshot 2025-05-26 213312.webp
This is usually where you press the battery against and provides the grip to keep it in place.
 
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Thanks so much!!! 😀 😉 I added more paper shims and used paper shim to hit that spot that you indicat with your blue arrow. Yahoo it works,,,,, but it stopped after about 4-5 hours. I will get out my fluke to check the battery. Probably why I stopped using it. Because it eats batteries.
 
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I feel your pain. in desparation I tried gluing a thin piece of rubber to the top of a battery once to try and achieve the same result. However, as I turned the case back it ripped the rubber off the battery and dumped it on the coil. I'm amazed it didn't trash the watch completely! But it's still going (this was in my wife's Kirium). A battery spring would definitely be the best answer.
 
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I feel your pain. in desparation I tried gluing a thin piece of rubber to the top of a battery once to try and achieve the same result. However, as I turned the case back it ripped the rubber off the battery and dumped it on the coil. I'm amazed it didn't trash the watch completely! But it's still going (this was in my wife's Kirium). A battery spring would definitely be the best answer.
thank you so much for your help. I will hunt for the spring, and I may also have an issue; why it eats batteries. I am very patient, I want to fix it to 100%.
 
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