Clock motor

[Aussie Zed]

Oh no, not another bloody 'my clock doesn't work' question... :stupid:

From what i've read on this the main problem with Z clocks is that they get all gummed up and stop working. Well, i took mine apart and it looks brand new - see the attatched pics. This leads me to believe that it is the motor that has stopped working as from what i've read this is the other bit that goes. It is from a 260Z and the motor is integral with the spindle thingo (i think).

Question: does anyone actually know how to fix this themselves, i'm pretty keen to have a go myself and learn something new rather than take it to a watchmaker or something.

[Alan Pugh]

This looks just like mine when i took it apart.

In my case I did a resistance test on the resistors and found one that had a different resistance value to what it was supposed to.

I took it to an instrument repair shop, 2 days and $56.00 later it was workuing perfectly.

Hope this helps.

[Aussie Zed]

Thanks Alan, i'll have a look at the resistors and see if they are correct for a start.

[Aussie Zed]

I've checked the three resistors, which, anticlockwise from top left on the pic above are: 670 Ohm, 620 Ohm and 20,000 Ohm as they should be (easier to see the colours in real life). I've also checked that the fuse hasn't burnt out.

I'm not sure but I think the copper winding (don't know proper name) has an open circuit somewhere in it. I could just be missing the ends to measure and i don't even know if it is supposed to be like this.

Any further ideas?

Jon

[Alan Pugh]

Jon,

I couldn't measure the winding either, the problem will be in the circuit board somewhere, it's just a matter of which component.

Alan.

[Aussie Zed]

Bump!

Anyone got any ideas??? Surely someone knows?

[gnosez]

Not to be a smart azz, but why not just put in another clock? Is the supply that low in your neck of the world?

I replaced my 240 mechanical clock with a quartz one from a 280 and used the face plate from the 240 to keep the OEM look. The clock has never failed to give the correct time in 4 years. The only issue is the little green light dome has to be removed as the quartz works are larger. They make small green bulbs these days that work fine as a replacement.

[EScanlon]

Connect power to the clock, and check to see if the flywheel moves at all. If it doesn't at all, then try giving it a light flick. If it doesn't seem to be rotating smoothly, then carefully adjust the pivot points for the axle. Usually a very very small "tweak" of the screws top and bottom of the spindle is all that is needed to get the pendulum to move. Then compare the distance of the magnets on the pendulum to the coil. You want them as even as possible.

Lastly, check the advancement gear (don't know if this is it's correct name). That's the funny color gear with the very thin gear teeth that are spaced out on the circumference of it. In the first picture you post, it's the "peach" or "pink" looking gear (orange in mine). It gets driven by a very interesting gear attached to the pendulum's axle. This new gear is basically a "threaded" gear. It "catches" one of the teeth of the orange gear, and as the pendulum rotates, it pushes the orange gear forward. Then on the return swing, this threaded gear once again shoves the tooth over. When the cycle repeats it grabs another tooth.

It may be that that "threaded" gear has had it's "threads" knocked out of alignment with the orange gear. Watch this to ensure that it IS transfering the movement. In the clock I have, once I realigned the threaded gear, the clock worked again.

For what it's worth.

Enrique

[Aussie Zed]

Thanks for the tips. I have thought about changing to a later clock but i just don't like to get beaten by my car. Plus, if i can fix it for next to nothing i'll save some money, which is never a bad thing.

When the flywheel with the magnets on it is given a very gentle flick everything seems to move and work very well - just like clockwork (sorry couldn't resist) and it all seems well balanced, etc. The pink/orange gear does turn and if you keep flicking the flywheel, the clock hands do move. All the resistors are getting a voltage across them too. The magnets weren't really centred but i've rectified that by adjusting the screws at the end of the shaft.

Still no life. Any more ideas?

Thanks again.

Jon

[Aussie Zed]

Hey just found this on ZCAR website, i reckon that this must be it. The only parts that i havent tested are the capacitors and what looks like a diode. The ZClock bloke had this to say:

"The second non-quarts type clock is the hybrid. It has a small circit board with several components that drives a fly wheel. Basically this is an oscillator circuit that energizes the coil, which creates a field, which attracts or repels the magnets on the fly wheel, thus turning the gears.

What goes bad are the capacitors. The working value on the caps are lower than the supply voltage of 12 volts (design errror). Replacing these will usually correct the problem, but not all the time. Caution: if you are not use to soldering with a 10 watt soldering iron and do not have a microscope you can destroy the board and the coil on the board in 5 seconds. Again , no joke, this is a very tricky operation. Even after you replace the caps you may find you need to adjust some of the mechanical parts to keep the clock running or just to get the clock to start."

Here's the link to the rest of the post:

http://www.zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=1&i=250513&t=250332

So i'm going to try changing the capacitors and i'll see how that goes.

Jon

[zclocks]

Well Assie Zed, if you had written me with your question I would have told you where to start. Mechanical clocks are not simple and can be very time consuming.

The capacitors are the first to "dry out" and cause the problem. Also , if you over heat the ckt board trying to remove the capacitors you can damage the coil attached to the ckt board.

Again this is the first place to start and if you get lucky that will cure the problem( coil to magnet alignment doesn't matter). I do repair this kind of clock, but the accuracy and reliability is not acceptable (my opinion). The best is to convert your clock to a quartz version and I also do this for the 70-76 Zcars. I also specialize in converting the 240Z clocks to a quartz unit and you can't tell the original 240 clock from my conversion(well you can as mine looks better).

If your interested in a quartz clock or would like your mechanical clock repaired please contact me at: www.zclocks.com. I don't mean to sound conceded, but I do the best work, work exclusively on Z clocks, have a very large supply of parts, guarantee my work and ship all over the world.

Let us know how you repair turns out....

Zclock www.zclocks.com

(aka: Zclock bloke) :surprised

[GatorJ]

http://www.zclocks.com/expertise.htm

This was the clock I sent in from my 1970 Fairlady Z. Ron (ZClocks) does great work.