Wenger Battery Replacement

Have a few non-smart watches to wear that occasionally need replacement batteries installed. With an inexpensive watch repair kit and some patience, this is a simple task.

The Wenger Swiss Military watch uses a type 371 battery with the battery lasting around 3 years between replacements. The current watch battery had been consumed quite some time ago, and after confirming which battery was needed, found one at a local big box hardware store.

The watch repair kit comes with a special tool to remove the screw on back cover, with a variety of pin tip sizes and adjustable spacing to line up with the slots in the rear cover. Rotate counterclockwise to remove or clockwise to install the rear cover.

With the rear cover off, a single small screw can be seen holding down a bracket leading back to the watch mechanism/chassis. Removing the screw allows the bracket to be lifted slightly, allowing that side of the battery to flip up and out of the watch. (The battery is held on the opposite side with a couple of fingers. It won't lift up on that side.)

The screw is out and the battery ready to be removed from the watch.

Here is a shot of the watch with the battery removed. The two clips holding the right side of the battery can be seen in this photo.

The new battery is installed, and the screw reinserted. Use caution to not let the screwdriver slip and damage the watch coil/winding just to the upper left of the screw's mounting point.

A quick peek at the watch face shows that the second hand is running again. Almost done!

Put the rear cover back in place, hand twisted a turn to get the threads lined up, and then used the rear case cover tool to gently tighten the rear cover back into place. Check that all rubber seals are in place before cranking it closed...

Here's a better shot of the inexpensive watch repair kit. It has basic tools only and I've supplemented mine with a few extras used regularly when working on watches (band pin extractor and extra tweezers). I keep my extra metal watch band links in this kit for safekeeping as well. These watch repair kits can be found in the $10-15 USD price range. The tools are inexpensive (cheap), but used carefully, can get the job done.

That's it for today's watch repair. The new battery is installed, and the Wenger Swiss Military watch is back in the lineup again.

Also shown above is an eye loupe with two magnifying levels. These are inexpensive and very handy for not only watch battery replacement, but pretty much everyday looking up-close at things.

With a simple kit and a little patience, almost anyone can replace a watch battery. Hoping this helps you to get your favorite watch back in service and being worn again!

Author photos taken with an iPhone-16e.