Early Clock Repair Help

t6dpilot · t6dpilot's Garage

I have a VDO clock dated 2/71 that I would like to repair. I am sure it is the low temp solder fuse connection that needs to be resoldered. Plus a good cleaning... My question is this - how do you get the plastic cover off the back of the clock?

Yes, I have searched the forum and yes, I have read the clock repair tech articles so don't refer me to those. Neither address specifically how to remove the plastic housing on the back of the clock. It is very close to the Type I shown in one of the tech articles, but that clock (from a 914) has three nuts holding it on - mine has two and seemingly some round smooth piece. It is that round smooth piece that seems to be still connected an preventing me from removing the housing.

Anybody here with experience on a similiar clock? Sure would appreciate the assist. Let me know if you need a pic for clarification.

clarkd · 09-18-2011, 04:04 PM

The round piece was an anti-tamper cover for the 3rd nut on the back of the VDO clock in my 73. I gently broke it off to access the nut. Cover slipped right off after removing all three nuts.

t6dpilot · t6dpilot's Garage

Thank you!

petercory · petercory's Garage

Why not leave it to the Pro's, Morris @ West Valley Instruments or Hartmuth @ North Hollywood Speedometer!!

swade · swade's Garage

Do it yourself, it took me about an hour start to finish to repair the solder fuse. That was 6 months ago and it is still keeping time. There are links to the repair in the tech section Pelican Technical Article: VDO Clock Repair...

W

swade · swade's Garage

Sorry for linking to the repair after you saying not to. Following that like is what I did and it worked fine.

W

Evans, Marv · 09-18-2011, 08:03 PM

I gave up trying to find the low temp solder. Can't remember why, but I tried everywhere I could think of & couldn't get it. I soldered the points together inside the clock & put a 3A fuse inline to the clock & it worked fine after that. One option if you can't source the right solder.

bfunke · bfunke's Garage

+1 Marv. I also gave up on the low temp solder. Whatever alloy formulation Porsche used in the 60s seems to be unavailable here in SC. I sent my clock to NH for the quartz update. Looks great and keeps perfect time. Now if I could just figure out how to get the second hand working...

Sarcasm - I know it's a timing marker not a second hand!

Evans, Marv · 09-20-2011, 06:59 PM

It's a manual second hand. You have to rotate it with your fingers.

cvillegas71 · cvillegas71's Garage

Can you show pics of how you integrated the 3a fuse into the clock. I have to work on mine soon and am was going to look for the low temp solder but now know better.

t6dpilot · t6dpilot's Garage

I would like to see exactly how the fused link gets soldered together. The pics are not all that clear in the tech article. There seems to be a small button with a small, flat piece of metal coming off that at an angle. Just above this is a copper piece that points towards the button and angled metal. This copper piece has a circle on the end, but does not look to ever had solder on it.

What do you solder if you are going to do the repair?

clarkd · 09-21-2011, 10:56 AM

I can't tell from the picture I took, but I thought both of the tabs you describe had holes in them. Look carefully to see if you still have old solder present. Whatever the case I used TIX solder which I could thread through the hole(s) after clamping the tab edges together. I think the TIX melts at 275 deg F which is slightly higher than the original. The solder flowed very quickly when I put my iron tip to the connection.

I think the quantity of solder present plays some role in how fast this link opens. I would like to add an inline fuse to my clock for extra protection, but I would only be guessing at the type and rating.