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Cleveland clock


big E

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A client brought in a cleveland clock the other day that he said he found in a "junk store" , he wants us to repair the neon on it and as he put it "get it workin" . ( for some reason in the south we do not use the "g" on words, jumpin, workin, barkin, ) . Back to the topic ,I have worked on a few neon clocks though granted they were "modern" once I opened this clock up I realized that I was looking directly in to the past ( I am an old fart but not that old) . So how do I preserve the antique quality and at the same time conform to modern standards and code?

Wiring and electrodes : It has two neon units in it, 12mm blue, one borders the interior and one borders the exterior,they are connected directly to the metal frame of the clock on stubs that protrude from its sides. All four electrodes enter the back of the unit through a hole that is just big enough to fit them through, they are grouped together,and I do mean grouped,picture taking four electrodes and holding them in your hand. The electrodes on the right are wired together and connected to one of the secondary leads off an open coil and core transform as were the ones on the left.see picture.

The clock motor is a 220 V.A.C. 50 Hertz 3 watt , oooook that is interesting,

I would appreciate any suggestions,comments or hysterical laughter .Also I tried to find the clock on the internet but could not,I did find some information on the Cleveland clock company however. post-2500-0-88977700-1441804651.jpgpost-2500-0-00812900-1441804701.jpgpost-2500-0-07146700-1441808805_thumb.jp

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  • !llumenati

No hysterical laughter from here. Nice Clock. I would venture a guess that the way the trodes are wired together - probably done by a hack during the last 50 years or so. Hopefully you can still find a c/c transformer? You could probably try and use an electronic - but due to the proximity of the trodes - you might end up with capacitance issues. Back in those days there were no silicone boots - use those, looks like you'll have room - even if you have to cut them down somewhat for length. You won't be able to meet code doing that - but there is nothing you could do to make the clock up to code ---. Use the silicone boots, use a length of masters tubing and do your splices to the tranny, or elsewhere INSIDE of the tubing. Again - not quite up to code, but if the boots and sleeving are approved for HV, then it would work nicely for the splice. I've done it many times - again, not code, but will be mucho safer than what used to be done - as seen in the pics. Tape, secure, the sleeving in place to avoid shifting. Your nice little clock will last forever -- and you can sleep at night knowing that its okay. Oh yeah ---- wire the clock properly when you do the repair!! Put a bit of spacing between the neon and metal - using cork (if you can find any), or make some silicon wafers and put between the neon and metal.

As for the clock motor, if it needs one ----- good luck. It might still work!

gn

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If the nameplate is correct - the clock won't work in the USA - 220Volts - 50HZ is not the power standard in the USA. I would assume the same about the neon transformer - clock must have been made for export.

Reading a little about the "Bichronous motor" looks like it was made in around the time of the depression.

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The motor must have been a hack repair at some point in the past. At first I was like HUH ? .It was wired in a 120v configuration,the transformer is 120v so why would the clock motor be 220v 50 cycle. After investigating this perplexing conundrum I found that the mount holes on the clock face did not align with the the motor housing. The clock face has four mount points,the motor in question had only two mount studs. The conclusion was that at some point in the past someone attempted a repair,attempted being the key word. Wisdom is not knowledge and from the looks of the transformer and wires it must have been one hellva day when they put 220v on to that poor unit.

So now I am on a quest to find the correct clock motor for this unit which is turning out to be no simple task. If anyone has any advice or just happens to know were a 120v 60 cycle Hammon clock motor might be give me a shout out.

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A four hole mount might be a Hansen movement - available here

http://www.american-time.com/products-by-family/clock-parts-and-repairs/motors-movements/synchron-type-c-electric-movements if the clock was any larger - my firm www.electrictime.com which makes larger clocks could help you.

You may also want to try the NAWCC forum

http://mb.nawcc.org/forumdisplay.php?20-Electric-Horology

My suspicion is someone stuck a clock movement from an imported UK clock - on this US clock and even if you used a step up transformer - it wouldn't work - the clock would run 6/5 (60HZ/50HZ) fast.

BTW - if you intend to throw out the clock movement - I would take it (and pay for shipping).

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We have done a lot of restoration work here. With this one since it was hacked long ago you only have 2 options. The first one and by far the best is to find all origional parts not easy but worth it. The second depends on the client being good with it. Do a total gut and modern set up. The value of the clock will go to $0.00 but it will be safe and work as a disply item.

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