Oil the Clock?

[zclocks]

The attached photo goes to the post I made in 2005. This is what oil does to the gears in the 240 mechanical mechanism.

 

If you can remove all the contamination as shown you have a chance of getting the clock to work , that is if the motor is good.

[zclocks]

Another problem I have seen lately is that the bearings, and there are about 5, can become worn and cause problems. What happens is the shafts attached to these bearings will start to wobble and the associated gears bind and lock up.

 

Again the wear is associated with the oil that attracts the dust and dirt and reacts like sandpaper on the bearings / rotating surfaces. Replacing the bearing(s) is the only solution. These are very small and difficult to work on.

 

I do have refurbished 240 mechanisms 4 -sale on my web site, zclocks.com/sale-items.html

 

Hope this helps....Ron

Edited June 21, 2015 by zclocks

[Patcon]

That is fascinating. It is amazing that such small imperfections will stop the clock.

[Chickenman]

Ron... I have a question about the clock in my 1976 280Z. When I got the car last year it was losing about 15 minutes in a week. I took the clock out and adjusted the screw that makes it run faster. At first this didn't seem to make a lot of difference and I hand to keep advancing the clock hands manually.

 

Now however, it seems to be keeping pretty close time.

 

Question is: As you manually adjust hands to correct time, does this somehow add or subtract a " compensation amount " ?

Edited June 24, 2015 by Chickenman

[djwarner]

Always set a clock by turning the hands past the current time and then back to the correct time. ie if the clock is 15 minutes late and reads 6:35 when the actual time is 6:50, advance the clock to about 7:15 and then back to 6:50. 

[hr369]

Wow ancient post over 10 years old. Ron, in the 10 years since you posted this, have you ever hooked up a scope to an oscillator to see how many pulses per second it's sending to the clock?

If I get enough interest I'll write a weekly article on "how to" for each of the four generation clocks. Like what goes wrong, how do fix it, what's interchangeable, how do I clean it, what kind of paint to use and so on.

Hope this was helpful and please give me feedback.

Thanks.........Ron

[zclocks]

let me see if I can answer this without getting in toooo much trouble.

 

If you have tried the adj screw and it doesn't work then you can have one of three  problems. 1) the adj clamp on the main spring has slipped, 2) the screw on the main spring is loose or broken. 3) the ckt board is failing and needs to be rebuilt.

 

What might have happened is that you didn't wait long enough after you made and adjust to see if the time was correct. Adjustments should be made in very small increments and you should wait 4-5 hours before you decide to make further adjustments. 

 

If you set the clock 15 min ahead of the correct time and it continues to loose time in 24 hours then you have a problem as I just described above.

Setting the clock ahead of time doesn't compensate for anything.

 

What I have learned over time is that we seem to think there is one problem when there is really 2-3 or 4. Clocks are not magic but it can seem like it. 

Edited June 24, 2015 by zclocks

[zclocks]

Also, hr369

I did measure the pulses from the ckt board years ago and they are determined by the design. I don't recall what the count was but if the clock is slowing down or has a hard time starting then the transistor or the caps are the problem. 

 

Don't know why you asked but if you try to change the design or add additional pulses you will over drive the transistor and cause a failure. 

 

The original article I wrote was for the 240 clock which is 98 % mechanical and has no electronic ckt .Oil / contaminants are the main failure cause.

Oiling any of these clocks is a NO-NO. There are metal and nylon (self lubricating) gears in all the clocks. Oil only causes problems unless you want to pull your clock every 6 months for cleaning and re-oiling.

 

Hope this helps....

[dhayes5]

I am thinking about cleaning the clock in my 72 to see if I can get it going again.  I have noticed that I can set the time and it will keep time for a little while after so maybe the motor is still good and it needs cleaning.  I have a product I use for electronics called Deoxit.  It flashes off quickly.  Would using something like this be advisable?

[zclocks]

dhayes5,

Deoxit is basically a contact cleaner and should work. However, most of the 240 mechanisms I have seen look like the attached  photos . Most cleaners are not aggressive enough to remove all the grease, oil, and dirt. The other problem is bearing wear . The best way is to completely disassemble the clock , clean , and inspect for damage. 

Hope this helps

[240260280]

FYI:  I just sprayed 2 dead clock's workings with brake cleaner, now they work. I did not disassemble.  I just removed the 3 nuts and front plastic/glass. then pulled the grommet free so that the works could be pulled far enough to spray. (The Black- and Blue+ wires still passing through the back).

Not sure for how long it will last but this easy to do trick definitely made a significant change.

The clocks I sprayed have the electric motor.

Edited July 18, 2019 by 240260280

[zclocks]

You may have just ruined the clock motor and the other bearing parts made of nylon and plastic. Most brake cleaners contain Tetrachloroethylene , ACETONE and chlorine all of which are great grease and oil removers, but detrimental to most plastics. 

Just  a FYI