Cleaned my clock!! - Literally

[copper]

Well, another small battle won. The war continues.

After 10 years in storage, my clock, among other things was non functional. After reviewing the tech sheets on repair, I decided to have a good look at mine.

My solder points were good, so I knew it wasn't an electrical problem. I ended up cleaning it, and lubing some of the mechanical points (specifically the silver coil spring post) and presto! She started ticking...

Ahhhh. So nice to sit there and hear the faint mechanical ticking of a 35 year old VDO...

As I said, another small battle won. I'm moving forward and one day, I will win the war.

Jim

[oldE]

Well done Jim! How accurate does it seem to be? The clock in the "old E" loses about 15 minutes/day. I guess I've got another project for the winter.
Les

[4to8m8]

Bravo!! Good on ya.

[sayah]

Who knows the origin of the phrase "clean my clock", exactly?

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by oldE

Well done Jim!

How accurate does it seem to be?

Ditto

and I think the clock will self correct if you tweak the time to correct time.

[v9ff]

My 20 year old clock in my 1984 911 read the exact time eversince I've owned it... only had to adjust it for daylight savings. I've always been amazed at how accurate it was considering it's age.

[copper]

Les

It seems to lag about the same time. In studying the mechanism, if you have the same clock, (three nuts on the back to release the case) there is a small gold post with a slot in it. This adjusts the tension on the wound silver strip spring which controls the seconds. Adjusting this seems to increase/decrease the spring tension, thereby adjusting the revolutions for the second advance. It should be just a matter of playing with this adjustment until I get it accurate, or damn close.

If you turn this, you will see it pivot the lever that holds the plastic bushing retaining the spring. You will see the coiled spring expand or contract as you turn it. I set mine to the middle, now just have to figure out if expanding the spring makes it tick faster, or if contracting it does.

A small feat, but it feels good.

Jim

[joehahn]

Jim, what did you clean it with? I understand wd-40 is NOT the wapon of choice correct? Also, what did you apply it with?

joe 68 L

[copper]

WD 40 seems to gum up and collect the dust. You need something to simply lube it that doesn't have the same collective properties.

In my case, I used Duralube. It is more like a synthetic oil with penetrating properties. Seems to be able to repel the gunk and is much thicker than WD40.

The bottle I have is a tall cylindrical bottle with a pump dispenser on top. Not pressurized like WD40, just comes out in a stream when the pump is pushed. Aimed it right at the seconds gear mechanism and stem and in about 1/2 a second, she started up.

It's been about 15 hours now. Still ticking. She's about 20 minutes slow, so I made the adjustments to the coiled spring and sped the seconds up a touch. Have to wait another 12 hrs and measure again.

Once I sprayed on the Duralube and she was going, I blew into it to remove any excess. Could have used compressed air, but with the small pieces and a delicate mechanism, I didn't want to use too much pressure. A good gust from the lungs is all it took. You can tell by looking if there is too much and where it is.

Jim

[copper]

Les

Again, if you have the same clock, when holding it and looking at the mechanism with the clock face down, the white plastic gear post of the seconds mechanism is what is adjusted when the gold post is turned. I've now turned mine to the far left. This seems to have increased the seconds, but I'll know better in another 12 hours.

If you need pics, let me know.

Jim

[copper]

From the word-detective.com

ORIGIN of "cleaning someone's clock"

To begin at the beginning, "clock" has been slang for the human face since the mid-nineteenth century, based on its supposed resemblance to the face of a clock. "Clock" as a verb has also been slang for "to punch in the face or strike violently" since the early 20th century, again based on the clock-face metaphor.

Elsewhere in the world of fisticuffs, according to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, "clean" has been slang for "vanquish" since the early 19th century. The Random House dictionary also lists "fix someone's clock" as a slang term for "to finish someone," first attributed to the writer O. Henry in 1908. Curiously, the first citation for the whole phrase "clean someone's clock" comes only in 1959, but we can assume it had been around for awhile before that.

Even with all this evidence tying faces and punches together, I must say that there is another possible source for "clean someone's clock." In railroad slang, an engineer who applies the train's air brakes in an emergency is said to "clean the clock" or "wipe the gauge" as the speedometer needle drops to zero. It seems logical that such a graphic metaphor would be the perfect way to describe stopping an opponent in his tracks, and even if this is not the source of the phrase, it may have contributed to its popularization.

(The Word Detective, published by Algonquin Books)

And now we're all a little wiser...

Jim

[joehahn]

Jim, I have my clock out as it stopped. I sprayed wd-40 (i know, i know but it was all i had) and she fired back up so i think too much crud had collected. i was wondering what the results of the gold screw adjustment were? Mine was 5-10 slow per day. am i going clockwise w/ the screw? did it fix yours? thanks

joe 68 L

[Joe Bob]

Wait until it winds down,,,,then there is that subtle explosion.

[copper]

Joe

Here is what I have figured out.

The tuning is very fine. I've had mine fast, slow, and from 20 min/day to 2 min/day off.

If you have the same clock I have, look at it sideways. You will see the mechanism that sweeps and meets the arm where the electrical connection is made to send it back. Go right from there. You will see a silver wound (coiled) spring. Not a normal spring, but a spiral, as if looking down at the grooves on a vinyl record.

Controlling this piece is a white plastic piece which adjusts the tension. You will see this piece is attached to an odd shaped arm which goes to the gold screw.

Moving the white plastic tensioner to the right makes the clock faster, to the left, slower.

In your case, you want to turn the screw so the white tensioner moves right just a bit. Minute movements can make a lot of difference, so give it just a little at a time. Takes numerous days of fine tuning to get it accurate.

Good luck!!

Jim