Replacing (quartz) clock mechanism

My quartz clock in the lounge is running fast (which I did not think was possible) and I would like to replace the mechanism with radio controlled. The clock is made of carved wood but the mechanism looks pretty standard plastic. What are the chances?

Any number of quartz clock mechanisms available. The only thing you have to get right is how long a spindle it needs to match your clock face.

Unless you are averse to setting clocks modern quartz movements can be trimmed accurately enough that a 60kHz receiver is overkill. Most now are smooth moving second hands rather than a tick tock noise.

Yes, I've just hit an eBayer making the point it's all about micrometer measurements ...

Which makes actively searching for a ticking mechanism a real PITA (but definitive proof that Google don't do AI :) )

But now I have that key info - the name from the mechanism - I appear to have a plethora of choices. Let's hope I can find a UK based one ...

I can't begin to imagine why you would want one that made an unnecessary gratuitous ticking noise when silent ones are now available.

Norman showed you the syntax to control what you don't want to see.

Google is a fast associative word search algorithm - it has no idea what any of it means only what searches like it have previously occurred.

Amazon or ebay has zillions of them. Choosing one with the right sort of hands for the clock you want to repair is the other thing that is needed. It is highly unlikely the old hand will fit a new movement.

Let that be my problem - plus that of the obvious market for ticking clocks that the suppliers of mechanisms I have found are serving.

(In my case I have to time eye drops and the least faff method is to simply count the ticks)

Anyway, now I've found suppliers for the mechanisms (which makes it much more a DIY posting :) ) I'm a much less grumpy bunny.

just for lolz, I stripped down my clock to get all the dimensions (including removing the backplate which secures 3 cogs in place) and close inspection of a loupe type didn't reveal any wear in the gears I was expecting. Unless we are dealing with something imperceptible.

So for the sake of a couple days wait for posting, I've blown, squired some PTFE lube into it and reassembled for a trial run. I doubt it's fixed it, but it's fun to see.

Growing up, my Dad used to repair mechanical watches as a sideline hobby. mechanical tick tock clocks are fascinating.

That's usually the issue.

I had to replace a quartz movement on an old clock (made in GDR!). The original was probably more than 30 years old, so it had done well. None of the "bare-bones" quartz movements from the usual suppliers came with hands of the right design and length. In the end I bought a cheap clock from The Range - making sure the quartz movement was screwed on by a nut, and not just a push fit, and used that. Four years on it is working well.

That's what I thought until a couple of days ago when one of my clocks stopped working.

Most mechanisms I've come across have an externally threaded tube surrounding the shafts, with a female nut on the front of the face behind the hands. But mine has an internal thread in the mechanism casing, and a flanged externally threaded tube which is fitted from the front of the face, and screws into the body. Apparently, my sort is known as a Euroshaft movement, similar to this:

Removing and replacing the mechanism is relatively easy - especially if the hands are accessible and not behind glass. The outermost hand (second or minute depending on how many hands there are) is likely to be be held on by a domed nut. Having removed that, the other hand(s) are a push fit on their respective concentric shafts, and simply pull off. Then the movement can be detached from the face by undoing the nut or flanged tube, depending on what type it is.

Since this is a DIY NG, having removed the movement, the OP may care to see whether it can be mended. If he knows where he can get a replacement, it's not too disastrous if he breaks it completely. It may just need a drop of lubricant on the moving parts.

Mine was working intermittently, and I suspected a dry joint. I managed to prize it apart sufficiently to be able to access the place where the battery strips are soldered to the internal electrical bits. One of the joints did look dry and, after re-soldering, the clock seems to be working again.

So, in return for several hours of my time tatting about with it, I saved myself about £9 for a new movement. To some, that might not sound like too much of a bargain - but how do you measure satisfaction?

Well for 10 minutes tinkering, it's all reassembled and ticking nicely in time. Let's see in 2 weeks time.

I wonder if rejigging the cogs might have done something ? If so it would be a rare example of sods law in reverse :)

Problem I found was that the shaft was too short to get the nut to go on. They are so cheap I put it aside and bought another with a longer shaft

and whether your existing clock has a standard hole size or not. And whether you need a high output clock mechanism for large hands. Ignore those & most times you'll be ok, but not always.

I had one of those radio clocks. Not once in its lifetime did it correct itself.

NT

I had a Remington Wall clock that went erratic after a few years due to wear too. At one point in the 80s you used to be able to buy a kit to help you fit all the bits into an existing but knackered wind up clock. It was obvious that the mechanisms were imported from the far east, and the conversion kits were made here and put together and sold. I never tried one, but I'd have thought a word with small companies that make novelty clocks might let you know where to get them from. Certainly people like Jersey Pottery use them, but Im sure there are others. Brian

Well all the recent ones I have still tick, and seem to revolve around, or not revolve if you see what I mean ona small armature being partly rotated against a spring then being sprung back and this operates a kind of ratchet device. My Remington that went wrong was fast, it ran out of adjustment with the screw, which either altered the tension of a spring or moved a contact, I cannot recall now.

Brian