Cautionary tale of a stuck  Watch band

[MacInWin]

I have an AW6. Contemplated yesterday trading it in for a new AW8. Went to Apple, entered the serial number, had to answer a couple of questions about the watch to get the trade-in value. One of the questions was something to the effect "Does the band slide and lock into the watch case?" I answered "yes" and moved on. They offered $120 for it in trade.

But the question intrigued me as I have not removed the band in a while, so I decided to verify that all was good. This is where you cue the foreboding music....

One side was a bit sticky, but the band, a third party metal band from a very reputable company, did come free. There was a bit of "cruft" in the slot, which surprised me but which, on reflection, wasn't THAT surprising. The band has been on the watch for a while, I wear it all the time, including while working out. So it gets sweat on it. But I also wear it in the shower, so I thought the sweat got rinsed off. The band itself is pretty clean, so I had no reason to be worried because it seemed to be working to keep it clean.

However, the second release button would not move. Uh, oh. Tried everything I could think of, including using a plastic spudger I have in my tool kit to try to depress the button. No movement. Looked online, found several suggestions. Tried the easiest, which was warm soapy water, worked in with a soft brush. No change. Moved to WD40 on a cotton swab (Q-tip), let it soak for a bit. No change. Moved to isopropyl alcohol on a swab, and added the alcohol swab to the join where the band slides in. No change. Tried using dental floss to get between the pieces, but the fit is so tight it won't slip in.

So, I, being curious, I went back to the Apple trade in and re-entered my watch but answered the question, "no" and the new trade in value is $25. So, Apple is aware there is a problem with watch bands getting stuck and thinks it is at least a $95 problem. Not covered by AppleCare, of course. One guy online said Apple removed his stuck band for $200. That seems a bit expensive for the job, but I guess if I was desperate, I might pay it. But not to get $120 in trade.

So, my caution is that if you have an  Watch, remove the bands periodically, clean out both the band and the locking mechanism carefully and reinstall the band. That way you may avoid the problem. I would use warm soapy water and a nice microfiber cloth to get the slot and mechanism as clean as I could.

As for me, I have the band back on the watch, gave up on the exchange idea and will live with it. If the band breaks, I'll drill it out of the watch as I won't care about it any more at that point.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I had something similar happen with my previous AW. One side was fine, but the other side was definitely stuck and took some effort on my part to get the band off. I use my AW during workouts and all day wearing, so definitely a lot of sweat and stuff.

My current AW7 is OK right now and I do tend to clean it out routinely.

My wife's AW7 would never have this issue since she has a variety of bands and swaps them out constantly based on her outfit.

 

[MacInWin]

Yeah, I posted because I wanted folks to know to change out often enough and to clean out the channel for the band connector to keep it from happening. My wife keeps saying take it to a jeweler/watchmaker, but I don't think they do  watches, do they?

 

[lclev]

My wife's AW7 would never have this issue since she has a variety of bands and swaps them out constantly based on her outfit.

Hey! I am just like your wife when it comes to bands. I swim every morning using a silicon band that matches my suit (I have a few). I then come home and switch the band to one that matches what I am wearing that day. It's all about complimenting the outfit of the day!

I did have the stuck band issue on a watch of a co-worker. He had never changed his band. I had a couple I was giving away and he liked one of them. One side stuck but I finally got it to remove by using a pointed spudger, silicon spray and a lot of wiggling and tugging. After I got it out I cleaned both sides with rubbing alcohol and then lubed them with the silicon spray. I was amazed at how much crud was in the grooves.

Lisa

 

[Slydude]

Thanks for that post. I have an SE series watch. I hadn't thought of this as a possible issue even though one of the two buttons has been a bit more difficult to push. It's not very difficulty and has been like this since day one,

 

[pigoo3]

One of the questions was something to the effect "Does the band slide and lock into the watch case?

I went back to the Apple trade in and re-entered my watch but answered the question, "no" and the new trade in value is $25. So, Apple is aware there is a problem with watch bands getting stuck and thinks it is at least a $95 problem.

Wow what a insane drop in trade-in value for something not even related to the operation of the watch itself.

Kind of like having a MacBook Pro that's worth $500 trade-in...but if it has something simple wrong with it like a damaged port, scratch, or dent...then only worth $100. Crazy!

Nick

 

[Slydude]

With that kind of drop in value I'd either keep it or pass it on to someone who has been wanting to try the Apple Watch.

 

[MacInWin]

With that kind of drop in value I'd either keep it or pass it on to someone who has been wanting to try the Apple Watch.

WITH the band, of course!

 

[pigoo3]

If this is a common problem...it would be interesting to see how many used Apple Watch 6's are being sold on eBay with this watch band issue.

I just looked...and trust me...it ain't $25 bucks!

Nick

 

[pm-r]

As for me, I have the band back on the watch, gave up on the exchange idea and will live with it.

Well, I guess one has a pretty serious problem when neither WD-40 nor Isopropyl Alcohol will do what one would think they would do...

Good warning, but I guess I don't have to worry too much with my basic date/time Timex and the under $4 watch band I got for it from China. It works amazingly well.


- Patrick
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[Slydude]

If this is a common problem...it would be interesting to see how many used Apple Watch 6's are being sold on eBay with this watch band issue.

I just looked...and trust me...it ain't $25 bucks!

Nick

If I got hold to a recent one for that price I'd grab it for SWMBO. Her second FitBit is due to croak soon. If I can figure out how to enter her running workouts in intervals the way she wants them I think she would buy one.

 

[pm-r]

So, my caution is that if you have an  Watch, remove the bands periodically, clean out both the band and the locking mechanism carefully and reinstall the band. That way you may avoid the problem. I would use warm soapy water and a nice microfiber cloth to get the slot and mechanism as clean as I could.

That seems to be excellent advice and also seems to have worked for many users, so you certainly aren't alone with the problem:

At least you didn't have to use bolt cutters or equivalent to remove the strap...



- Patrick
=======

 

[pigoo3]

If I got hold to a recent one for that price I'd grab it for SWMBO.

I'd get two!!!

 

[Slydude]

At that price I would.

 

[MacInWin]

Patrick, I had seen that video and I'm betting he started with an unstuck band for the demo. I used water, soapy water, WD40, isopropyl alcohol, over and over. He held it in the water for a couple of seconds and it just slid right off. Yeah, right!

But there is news. I finally worked the band off. What I did was to keep repeating the soapy water and isopropyl alcohol alternately, work it a bit, then let it dry for a bit before coming back to it. I used a spudger to press the watch button, and eventually one end seemed to depress. The way the band works is that there is a little oval "hole" in the watch into which an oval plunger on the band is to click. To enable the band to slide into the watch, the plunger is retracted into the band, and as it slides in, a tapered button on the opposite side pushes the plunger down through a very small spring. When the plunger and hole align, the plunger enters the hole with a gentle "click," and the band is locked on. The small button on the watch pushes out a small counter-plunger that makes it smooth again and the band can be slid out. Apple really over-engineered this, but it is clever.

What happened for me is that the plunger on the band was corroded into place and could not be pressed out of the way. But apparently somewhere in the process it broke in the middle, so one end COULD be pressed, and that let me get the band started to slide in that direction. When the other half of the plunger reached the edge of the hole, the aluminum of the watch carved off enough of the softer material that the plunger was thinner and eventually got mashed out of the way and the band could be removed. The watch was none the worse for the ordeal and cleaned up nicely. The band end, in addition to being broken in half, had a lot of crud in addition to the corrosion, so I cleaned it up, used a toothpick to clean out all of the debris and now the band attaches, albeit without a lock, just fine. I have a new band on order, coming on Saturday, so I only need to use it this way for one day. The friction where the band attaches is probably good enough for that day. It seems pretty secure right now, but I'll check through the evening. I do have an older band I could put on if it starts to slide out.

Now I have a reminder set for once a week to take the new band off, clean it, and reinstall it. I've learned my lesson through all of this!

 

[Rod]

A great maintenance reminder Jake. I have the Product Red version of the AW SE2 so of course it has a red silicon band. Because red goes with everything , I've never been tempted to change or remove it. I too wear it 24/7 swimming, exercising etc, except about 2 hrs in the morning when it charges. So, motivated by your post I did remove the band and like others here, I found one side harder to remove than the other. Was it the "top" side for you? That is; the side that corresponds to the top of the face when worn on the left wrist?

Anyway mine did come off and after removing it I cleaned the little buttons on the watch back. I found after cleaning that repeated depressing and releasing the buttons would produce more crud to wipe off. Of course I kept repeating until no more appeared.
So a timely reminder Jake, thanks for the tip.

 

[MacInWin]

Rod, it was the top fitting. I don't know if that is significant or not, though. Not sure why that end would be more prone to it than the other.

Here is a picture of the two ends as they exist right now:


The left one was the stuck one, the right one came out easily. You can see that on the right there is an oval silver plunger in the center of the mount that is extended by the tapered button on the other side of the slide. The left one is where the plunger was broken and is now gone. You can just see the bottom of the tapered button on the left side. The band is holding on now, probably because the tapered button on the other side is kind of wedged into the watch. The slots on the watch itself are very clean now as I have done the same thing, Rod, exercised it until the crud stopped showing up, then blasting it with some canned air. The plunger on the right side is still covered with some crud on the sides of the plunger, but it works when the buttons are pushed, so I'm going to ignore it until the replacement band arrives Saturday.

Won't say this was fun, but it was educational. All told, I worked on it about 8-10 hours to get it out, cleaned up and ready for the new band to arrive. And to avoid that going forward, the band and watch will get cleaned weekly.

 

[Rod]

I wonder if it was the "top" for everybody? I'm sure that would be significant in some way but I can't imagine how myself.
Anyway, I too will pay a little more attention to this area of maintenance, especially if it can potentially make such a difference to the trade in price. According to Siri (on my Apple Watch) $20 is only 16.7% of the initial offer of $120
The other thing is if you neglect to divulge this in the questions they will simply adjust the price after they receive the item. That's happened to me in the past where they found an issue that I had missed.

 

[pm-r]

He held it in the water for a couple of seconds and it just slid right off. Yeah, right!

Yep... Just like in all the movies... It all goes just right... Until it doesn't!!! ;-)

But there is news. I finally worked the band off.

Well that's good news... and I guess your patience paid off and you ended up with success

Now I have a reminder set for once a week to take the new band off, clean it, and reinstall it. I've learned my lesson through all of this!

I am not very up on or aware of Apple Watches and/or their straps and attachment method, but is it any big deal if the straps don't come off easily, especially if one is not planning to change them very often, if ever???

Just curious...



- Patrick
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[MacInWin]

Some people have dozens of bands, change them to match outfits, or activities. I have just one and never changed it. But the trade in value of the watch went down seriously if the band mechanism doesn't work. So, yes, it's a big deal.