Vintage Wall Clock

[Joey0027]

Good evening

I wonder whether anyone would be kind enough to assist me with the repair of an old battery wall clock which I am currently attempting. I initially thought that it was going to be a simple case of re-soldering the battery terminals & fitting a battery but unfortunately this has not been the case. It's trying its best to get going & occasionally may run for a few seconds but will struggle & give the impression that the battery is flat which is however brand new. I have stripped it down as shown & can find no mechanical faults with the gearing. I am however not that great when it comes to the circuitry & wonder whether there are any checks I can carry out with a multimeter on the handful of components on the board to identify any possible problems.

I would be most grateful for any assistance.

Many thanks & kind regards, Steve.

[Robsradio]

If all the joints are good, there isn’t much else to test.
It looks like the magnet is off it’s spindle, is the magnet loose on it? If it is, then it need fixing to it as the magnet may be spinning on the spindle or may be rubbing on the coil stator?
Also make sure there isn’t any sticky oil on the pivots or plate holes, clean and re lube with light clock oil.
Good luck.

[McMurdo]

I'm not a clock expert, but is the pcb around that chip brown, eg overheated? Difficult to tell

[Joey0027]

Originally Posted by Robsradio

If all the joints are good, there isn’t much else to test.
It looks like the magnet is off it’s spindle, is the magnet loose on it? If it is, then it need fixing to it as the magnet may be spinning on the spindle or may be rubbing on the coil stator?
Also make sure there isn’t any sticky oil on the pivots or plate holes, clean and re lube with light clock oil.
Good luck.

Many thanks for your reply Rob, much appreciated.

I see what you are saying, so the small nylon drive should be securely fixed to the centre of the magnet before sliding it on to the spindle?

[Joey0027]

Originally Posted by McMurdo

I'm not a clock expert, but is the pcb around that chip brown, eg overheated? Difficult to tell

Thank you for your reply Kevin, much appreciated.

I think that it is probably the lighting & the shadow from the chip that is giving the appearance of a burnt board but I will double check this.

Thanks again.

Steve.

[Hartley118]

As an electronics guy rather than a horologist, I’ve had success lubricating clock bearings (pivots) with Servisol switch cleaner. Just as it does on switches, it seems to remove old contamination and leave behind a protective film of low friction lubricant.

Always best to check beforehand with plastic components though that the Servisol isn’t going to dissolve anything.

Martin

[Robsradio]

Originally Posted by Joey0027

Many thanks for your reply Rob, much appreciated.

I see what you are saying, so the small nylon drive should be securely fixed to the centre of the magnet before sliding it on to the spindle?

Hi, that’s correct, a very small amount of adhesive is all that is needed to secure the magnet to the nylon pinion, it would have been bonded when built, but the adhesive has failed.
Rob

[Joey0027]

That makes perfect sense now, thank you Rob. I am guessing it doesn't matter which way the magnet goes?

I've also just located a tiny nylon washer which I didn't notice when I disassembled, I presume that this goes under the magnet on the spindle in order to reduce friction.

Many thanks for your help.

Steve.

[Joey0027]

Originally Posted by Hartley118

As an electronics guy rather than a horologist, I’ve had success lubricating clock bearings (pivots) with Servisol switch cleaner. Just as it does on switches, it seems to remove old contamination and leave behind a protective film of low friction lubricant.

Always best to check beforehand with plastic components though that the Servisol isn’t going to dissolve anything.

Martin

Thank you for the tip Martin, much appreciated.

Steve.

[Joey0027]

All sorted & running perfectly again.

Many thanks for all of the comments & massive thank you to Rob for spotting the problem straight away.

Best regards, Steve.

[Robsradio]

Glad it fixed it Steve

[Nickthedentist]

Impressive stuff chaps, well done!