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Other Vintage Household Electrical or Electromechanical Items For discussions about other vintage (over 25 years old) electrical and electromechanical household items. See the sticky thread for details. |
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1st Apr 2020, 2:28 pm | #1 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK
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Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
I have a lovely old Temco clock here, from the 1930s I presume. It works very well, but has developed quite a load tapping (or ticking sound), like a dull knocking.
I thought it was time to have a look inside and see what is going on. I can dismantle most stuff but am so far failing, I have little experience of clocks TBH. I pushed the metal tabs in hoping the glass fascia came away, but it only manages to pull the movement back, complete with hands. No way to get under the glass at the front etc. I removed 4 screws and was disappointed to see they merely secured the clock numbers to the backing board Do I just carefully pull it off, removing the hands in the process? Presumably once the movement is out I can get the backing board / clock face out - or can I |
1st Apr 2020, 2:37 pm | #2 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK
Posts: 1,765
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
Hmm, I may have answered my own question here. I need to somehow get the tabs out properly to also remove the glass...
May as well post more pictures so this thread has a point. Will add some in a little while Last edited by PsychMan; 1st Apr 2020 at 2:45 pm. |
1st Apr 2020, 2:59 pm | #3 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
Any tips on removing the hands?
Last edited by PsychMan; 1st Apr 2020 at 3:07 pm. |
3rd Apr 2020, 11:40 am | #4 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
Hope this is of some interest of use to anyone who encounters a similar clock.
Well I got the hands off. Both were push fit. The hour hand required a little more effort - it has a collet (?) on it which is pushed onto a brass fitting only accessible underneath the clock face. Which of course needs the hands to come off to remove. I had to use a small terminal screwdriver and get it between clock face and movement and get it into the gap between the black collet and brass fitting to lever it away. I will post some of the pictures I took in the process of the clean and relubrication, including a video of the movement running - pre clean and full of gunk! The whole mechanism was dismantled, the cogs, bearings and worm gears cleaned thoroughly with alcohol. Clock oil was used on all bearings, light lithium grease on the worm gears and "3 in 1 Motor bearing oil" (not the regular stuff) used on other parts, including the motor. As seen in the video the motor shaft is clearly a bit worn, and unfortunately it seemed impossible to dismantle it for further investigation. I oiled it as best I could and put it back. https://youtu.be/0JdesYyJt58 I noticed the wires for the motor had cracked and insulation was brittle and damaged. For this I decided to carefully pull off the insulation and sleeve over it with silicon sleeving. This was mainly for safety concerns, I.E if the insulation began to break away more it could cause the metalwork of the clock to become live. Last edited by PsychMan; 3rd Apr 2020 at 11:45 am. |
3rd Apr 2020, 11:41 am | #5 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK
Posts: 1,765
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
more pics
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3rd Apr 2020, 11:43 am | #6 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
and more...
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3rd Apr 2020, 11:44 am | #7 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK
Posts: 1,765
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
Last lot
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7th Apr 2020, 11:57 pm | #8 |
Triode
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Posts: 26
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
Thanks, PM, for documenting your work so well. I have a Smiths clock of similar appearance and vintage but the movement is completely jammed. I bought it cheaply and it has been sitting on my to-do shelf for many months. When I got it home it resisted my first attempt to disassemble it but your post has encouraged me to have a closer look,
regards, Steven |
8th Apr 2020, 9:34 am | #9 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
Hoped it might help someone. I often take pictures as I go for my own benefit, makes re-assembly so much easier if you get stuck.
I did manage to damage the face slightly under the hubs of the hands in the process of removing them. Despite using cloths to pad the leverage. Has to be said I don't have proper hand pullers as I'm not really a clock person. All in all I'm pleased with the results and might give the cabinet some Danish oil. While I believe the "tick" noise was due to a worn motor shaft, I did oil the shaft at both ends as best I could. When I first run the clock after I finished, the tick was still present. After some time this has stopped COMPLETELY, and its run silently since. Perhaps the heat from the motor got the oil to flow to the right place. Either way it runs smooth as is seen by the rotation of the arrow wheel, before the work you could see a slight stutter to it. |
25th Apr 2020, 11:15 pm | #10 |
Dekatron
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Location: Bewdley, Worcestershire, UK.
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
Yes indeed, well done! That's a nice clock. Despite the clock's Art Deco pre-war appearance, the movement looks quite similar to later Ferranti movements from the early 1950s with the two worm-and-wheel gearing arrangement.
I work on lots of synchronous clocks, and getting the hands off can be a bit tricky, even with the proper hand pullers. I have four pullers, although none are truly universal.
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Phil Optimist [n]: One who is not in possession of the full facts Last edited by Phil G4SPZ; 25th Apr 2020 at 11:21 pm. Reason: Update |
29th Apr 2020, 11:02 am | #11 |
Dekatron
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
Hi,
I've got an old round pin plug made by 'Temco', wounder if there's a connection? Also some later 13 amp plugs marked 'Volex-Temco'. Cheers, Pete.
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29th Apr 2020, 11:59 am | #12 |
Dekatron
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Re: Temco Clock Movement Dismantling Question
There is a good deal of information about Temco synchronous clocks, including a picture of the same model as yours, here: https://lespook.wordpress.com/synchronous-clocks/temco/
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