I've decided to pull out my non-working clock and do some troubleshooting. After I'm done, I'd like to hook it up to a battery, outside the car, and test it before re-installing it. Does anyone have a schematic or rough drawing of what wires need to be connected and where they go?

 

Battery power to the + terminal, ground to the - terminal. Not sure which is which but you should be able to figure that out when you remove it. Originally had an orange wire for + and a black waire for -.

 

Battery power to the + terminal, ground to the - terminal. Not sure which is which but you should be able to figure that out when you remove it. Originally had an orange wire for + and a black wire for -. Hope that helps

 

Sorry can't comply to that particular request but I can say this: When I had my dash apart last summer, I spent the 69.00 or whatever it was at MidAmerica. Got the quartz upgrade and now it keeps perfect time and it is quartz movement too.

It was worth 69.00 worth of time for me to avoid troubleshooting a 30 - odd year old item.

 

Unless the sweep movement is a problem as it's non-original compared to the "tic-toc" movement of the original.
The old clocks took power and wound the spring that would move the clock internals until the next wind was needed. As these old ones go bad the winding mechanics stick and sometimes cause a battery draw that will kill your battery over time.
My quartz keeps perfect time and has been trouble free for years.

 

Whatever you do, don't reverse the leads. Then time will run backward and who knows what the implication of that may be. We all get younger?

Seriously, I disassembled the clock in my '68 to the point where I could get accsess to the movement, sprayed it with brake cleaner and then took a toothpick, dipped it in WD-40 and put a drop of oil on each of the axles in the movement. Then I took some fine sandpaper and cleaned the contact points. The clock runs like...well...a swiss watch. It keeps decent time too and doesn't stop other than when I disconnect the battery cable.

 

I cleaned mine and hooked it to my batter charger for power and let it run a few hours before i reinstalled it. work's good now.

 

I just did mine. Followed the directions here...it was pretty easy.

http://members.aol.com/jjneyjr/clock/grepair1.htm

good luck!

 

I did the quartz replacement several years ago. Works great!

I just realized that I had my old clock movement sitting right here on my desk beside my digital camera, so here are some shots to show you what you will find when you get it apart.

 

When you have the clock out, the ground goes to the body of the clock and the power goes to the lead. A quick exam will tell you very clearly, which is which.

The first thing I would do, once the clock is on your work bench is to take the clock out of the case, just as you see in the photos above. Be sure that you have removed the hands and face since the silk screening can be washed off. The hands will pull off - just ensure that you pull softly, steadily and STRAIGHT up.


Next, open up the points and lightly file them with a points file. If you don't have one, borrow your wife's/girlfriends's/boy friend's finger nail file and gently file the points smooth.

Next, use an electrical contact cleaner and flood the clock movement to clear out any accumulated dust and dirt. Allow it to dry and drop some VERY SMALL drops of fine oil on the shafts that the gears turn on. Too much oil is as bad as too little.

Do not use a battery charger to check operation. Too much amperage. You know those little 12 volt ac to dc converters that so many gizmos like CD players, etc, come with? Use one of those to power your clock. Cut the male plug off of a spare one. If you are like me, you probably have a dozen of them just sitting around. Go to Radio Shack and buy two tiny alligator clips and crimp them onto the the wires for the ac/dc converter. Use this as your power source and you won't fry the mechanism.

This whole cleaning/filing/power up takes less than an hour. Two years later and the clock is still ticking. Btw, I do have a battery disconnect so that the power is completely off when I flip the switch.

Gary

 

Great info Gary. Thanks. I'll definitely use my boyfriend's nail file.

 

ok, the clock is wired in the car to a 12v batter. theres nothing in the line to stop it from getting all the amps it wants from the battery. so just how will use'n a battery charger fry the mechanism?
it's not going to give any more amp to it then it needs to run. just like it get's from the battery in the car.
The only real problem with use'n a battery charger is that it does not filter out all the ripple of the 120ac. and i dont think the 25 yr. old technology that is used in the clock will be fried by it. didnt fri mine after 6 hr of running sit'n on my table hooked to a battery charger.
Now if it was full of ic circuit that are static sensitive it'ed be different.

 

Hook the pos to the terminal on the back of the clock and the neg to the case. Just make sure the rubber grommet for the terminal is completely in place. If the terminal is touching the case, even a tiny bit, it will spark and scorch the case. Don't bother asking how I know. BTW, I went with the quartz upgrade.

 

one more thing. look at your wiring to the clock. 12v wire from the fuse box with a 20 amp fuse at the box.
so were is this magical thing that stops it from friing the mechanism??
by the way, the battery charger i use is a 10 amp charger.
So one more time, just how is the battery charger going to fri the mechanism??

o ya look close if you use one of them little 12 volt ac to dc converters.
99% of the one's i see are 9v not 12v.