# Why would my magnetic watchband stop “working”? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285 "2022-10-15T03:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/1 "2022-10-15T03:56:17Z")
I’ve had an Apple Watch with a watchband that holds together by using magnets the length of the band. Over the last couple of months, the “strength” of the band, IOW, the tightness which holds the 2 bands together has steadily decreased. It got to the point where slightly bumping my wrist would cause my watch to come off. There was no visible damage to the band. I really like the band when it works properly so I ordered another one. The new one works just like it should. It holds tightly. How is this possible? I’ve never heard of magnets losing their effectiveness. [Amazon link for clarity.](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087Q5DVK6) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/2 "2022-10-15T04:03:09Z")
Color me surprised. > **[Does magnetism decay over time?](https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg24732911-800-does-magnetism-decay-over-time/)** > > Does the strength of magnetism of bar magnets and magnetic ores decay over time, like radioactivity does? > **[Questions and Answers - Permanent magnets can lose their magnetism if they...](https://education.jlab.org/qa/permmagnet_02.html)** > > An answer to the question: Can something be turned into a magnet by banging it a specific way? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/3 "2022-10-15T04:07:26Z")
I was so predisposed to the idea that magnets are forever (or at least close enough to it for human purposes) that it didn’t even occur to me to google it. I guess the daily “snapping” the bands together cause the magnets to weaken. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/4 "2022-10-15T04:09:38Z")
Did you change which strap lays on top of which, possibly by reversing the straps at some point? The link says that the order matters: [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OynXuA--L._AC_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OynXuA--L._AC_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/5 "2022-10-15T04:20:09Z")
No. When you try it with the wrong band on top, it doesn’t work at all. It’s not like its functionality is just diminished. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/6 "2022-10-15T04:39:37Z")
Ok. The diagram just says it “will feel weak”, but I guess it’s worse than that. Impact can make a magnet loses effectiveness, but the amount from a watch band clanging shut, especially one with a cushion, seems very unlikely to me. Maybe the magnets are moving around inside. I don’t know how they’re contained within the strap, but conceivably they could rotate or shift in some other way over time, perhaps exacerbated by the flexing of the strap. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/7 "2022-10-15T06:12:17Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I was so predisposed to the idea that magnets are forever (or at least close enough to it for human purposes) that it didn’t even occur to me to google it. I remember as a kid you could buy little packs of several different magnets in the toy aisle. The horseshoe always had a little block of metal attached, but I didn’t know why until way into adulthood: > **[Magnet keeper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_keeper)** > > A magnet keeper, also known historically as an armature, is a bar made from magnetically soft iron or steel, which is placed across the poles of a permanent magnet to help preserve the strength of the magnet by completing the magnetic circuit; it is important for magnets that have low magnetic coercivity, such as alnico magnets (0.07T). > Keepers also have a useful safety function, as they stop external metal being attracted to the magnet.\[clarification needed\] Many magnets do not need a keeper, s... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/8 "2022-10-15T07:16:30Z")
I have seen somewhere that those watchbands use flexible magnets, IOW refrigerator magnets. They are not very strong since they are a mixture of plastic and magnetic material that is not very dense and subject to demagnetization. Strong magnets may re-orient the magnetic material so it is effectively demagnetized. The material may also be low quality that loses its magnetic orientation simply from vibration and impact. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/9 "2022-10-15T15:38:48Z")
That’s a reasonable theory. It just never occurred to me that any magnets can change over time. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/10 "2022-10-15T15:40:38Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > > > I was so predisposed to the idea that magnets are forever (or at least close enough to it for human purposes) that it didn’t even occur to me to google it. > > I remember as a kid you could buy little packs of several different magnets in the toy aisle. The horseshoe always had a little block of metal attached, but I didn’t know why until way into adulthood: > > [Magnet keeper - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_keeper) That’s interesting. I always just assumed that the bar was so you’d have something to play with. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/11 "2022-10-15T16:55:09Z")
Something I learned on the Dope. I knew they could demagnetize but had little understanding of how they were magnetized and demagnetized. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-my-magnetic-watchband-stop-working/973285/12 "2022-10-15T17:51:52Z")
A lot of metals can magnetize or demagnetize. The heads of a cassette tape player could magnetize, and that was one cause of players “eating” tapes. At least, that’s what the guy at Radio Shack told me. I had a player that I took to Radio Shack once to ask why it had started eating tapes, and the manager ran what he called a “demagnetizer” over it while it was on PLAY (without a tape). Worked fine after that. Not only that, but I discovered that a cassette player can trigger the stolen book alarm at a library. Also, if you run a cassette player through the thing that keeps books from triggering the alarm, it can erase them. Since the books have a metal strip in the spine, I assume there’s some process of magnetizing and demagnetizing going on when they are returned and checked out.