55 Fargo Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 Hi all, with the help of Shel, I have taken apart my clock, cleaned and gave her a little oil in key areas. It is running great on the bench, will let her run a few days with a lantern battery to make sure she will run properly. These clocks are the neatest things to watch with there cover off, had never seen one like this from the inside.................Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splat1955 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 Hey Fred, It's pretty cool when the clock starts working, huh? Shel helped me get mine going too, just shy of a month ago....and it's still tickin'. If Mike is the official " guru " on the site for locks, then Shel's got to be the official " guru " on the site for clocks! I've even had to disconnect the battery a few times and after hooking the batt back up, I always kind of flinched, wondering if the clock was still working.. And each time I'd stick my head through the window and hear the " tick tick"...Funny story though. Almost 3 weeks ago, I made a final adjustment, just to speed it up a little. In 3 weeks, it looks like it had only lost about a minute. So, yesterday I just barely tweaked the adjustment a little bit and reset the clock....so in a month I will check it again. But then I remembered I wanted to disconnect the batt to see if my electric choked worked. I could swear that I had the batt disconnected for at least 3 minutes...then I remembered I had just set the clock so I went around to reset the time so I could monitor it for a month....and it hadn't lost any time. Now, I may be wrong as to how long I had the batt disconnected....maybe it was only a minute...maybe less...but even so, that was just eerie. Probably just me.....and age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martybose Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 The dash clocks only use the battery to wind the spring occasionally, so disconnecting the battery wouldn't affect the time unless the spring coincidentally ran down. Marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splat1955 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 Yeah, thanks Marty....I was pretty sure that was the case...I just hadn't had the battery disconnected long enough to let the clock wind down. The dash clocks only use the battery to wind the spring occasionally, so disconnecting the battery wouldn't affect the time unless the spring coincidentally ran down.Marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_shel_ny Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 OK now, don't try to give me a big head. You guys did the good things to your clocks. I have fiddled with a couple of clocks and have some pics and pointers that I passed on. Tim A is the true clock guru here on the forum and has passed on much good info. I have absorbed a little of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Shel, Not only have you been a big help, you are a humble man on top of things..............Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Hi does anyone know, what size of fuse is used for the clock, I know it's a 3 amp fuse, but my question is the fuse holder, how big is it, how long is the fuse that goes in it. I may just go buy a new fuse lnk and be done with it, what have some of you done on this forum...............Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splat1955 Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Hey Fred, I just measured the fuse I am using and I'm using the stock set up....it's about 9/16 in length. Couldn't really get an accurate measurement on the fuse holder, but, with the fuse installed I'd say that it's about 1 1/4 inch in length...maybe a hair less. I almost went the route of replacing the fuse holder with the longer type cause the first auto parts place I went to didn't have a short fuse in 3 amp but the longer fuse in 3 amp was plentiful. I went to Napa ( one of the few times I was satisfied when I left) and they had a few of the short fuses. The only problem I could see when I was looking at changing to the longer fuse holder was that the wire feeding and exiting the fuse holder was a thinner guage than was runs through the stock holder...probably something like 18 guage, but the wire could be removed I'm sure and a more appropriate guage used in the longer holder. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Thanx Splat, up here in Canada you can get the fuse holder with 14 gauge wire for a $1.99, if I can't find a short fuse at Napa, thats what I will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splat1955 Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Your welcome Fred..........Yeah, I think if you can't get the short fuse, then you'd be good to go with the longer fuse holder with 14 guage wire. Good luck and I'd like to hear that another clock was working again. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splat1955 Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Good point Shel.....your right, and now that I think about it, and have gone out to look at my fuses, mines a 2 amp as well.....Sorry Fred ....it's a 2 amp fuse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted September 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Well, I was congratulating myself a little too quick on this repair. The clock runs 5 minutes then stops, what is up with this, not sure, any ideas..........Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splat1955 Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Hey Fred, I had the same problem.....oiled what needed oil, etc...Put it back together and it would run until the it unwound. That's when I believe the clock is supposed to get hit with a little voltage and swing the counterweights back to rewind. Use a circuit tester to see first that you are getting voltage to the fuse....or to the Batt terminal on the back of the clock where the fused wire goes. That was my first step. If you are getting voltage to the batt terminal on the clock, then the clock requires tearing down a little further. I learned all this thanks to Shel. But check to see that the clock is getting voltage first...we can go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted September 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Its geeting voltage and is grounded well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 If the clock is getting voltage supplied on the stud, and the body is grounded..then chances are the elctrical contact inside the clock is not making contact or if touching is corroded and will need burnished. (high resistance) The contacts are supposed to close and rewind the clock while there is yet some tension on the spring to keep the clock running. I did a test once and verified that the clock has enough tension to run 40 odd seconds after contact and no power applied. Also..it could very well be that the clock still has some drag within the movement and not quite getting to the rewind stage when it stops completely. Take a good look for dried oil on the balance wheel staff, the pallet fork and the teeth of the escape wheel...dried oil here on these parts where drag is felt will definitely slow or stop the movement when less spring tension is present as is the case when nearing the engagement of the contacts. When I clean the movements I remove the electrical contacts and coil assembly so it can be immersed in cleaning agent without fear of breaking down the windings of the coil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splat1955 Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Well Fred, sounds to me like it's time for surgery on the clock. Not really too much to it, but I don't know how far you have taken you clock down before. I assume you have taken the rear cover off? Have you taken it out of the case and down as far as the clockworks? I'll be off an on today cause the phone company is coming out and doing some work on phone lines in our area. And I have to go offline now, but email me and let me know how far you've taken the clock down to. I can send you the info by email that Shel sent me. It's what I needed to do to get mine going...sort of. Remember though, I will be offline for a few hours so I may not get your email or be able to get back to you for a while today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Cleaned and oiled another clock last night, it seems to run well, tonight will get test leads with alligator clips and hok it up to a fresh 6 v lantern battery. I will then let it run a few days, should I hook it up as pos grnd, or does it matter for a test.............Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 it is just an electromagnetic coil..no matter on polarity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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