Repairing '65 T-Bird clock

[JBird66]

"As far as adjusting the clocks go, moving the hands less than about 10 minutes has no effect except to change the time. Adjusting more than that will cause the mechanism to change. With a bit of patience, the clock will run correctly."
Okay that is very interesting ..never would have thought that. I don't see how that works but sometimes its easier not to think. Thanks I'll give it a go.
..I'll have to share this with the fellows on the NAWCC message board ..but perhaps they already know.

[paulr]

Re Paul's post a couple back....the points arc every time they spring open, watch them in a dark room. When the field collapses in a relay coil, there is a voltage spike that can be several hundred volts every time. This is a main cause of burnt points. A simple fix is to put a flyback diode across the coil. Very easy to do and will extend the life of the points enormously.
As far as adjusting the clocks go, moving the hands less than about 10 minutes has no effect except to change the time. Adjusting more than that will cause the mechanism to change. With a bit of patience, the clock will run correctly.
Terry
64HT

Both points, things I never considered. Maybe with my losing about a minute a month, I should disconnect the battery an hour at a time, resetting the clock to accommodate. Wonder how much of that it will take to soak up my slack?

[apines]

A simple fix is to put a flyback diode across the coil. Very easy to do and will extend the life of the points enormously.

This is an excellent idea but be sure to put the cathode (striped end) of the diode toward the positive end of the coil (toward the + side of the battery, not towards chassis). If you want to make it last forever you could also add a resistor/capacitor snubber circuit across the contacts but that's probably overkill.

As far as adjusting the clocks go, moving the hands less than about 10 minutes has no effect except to change the time. Adjusting more than that will cause the mechanism to change. With a bit of patience, the clock will run correctly.

I find this fascinating; I had no idea it did this and have no idea how it does this. Now I need to do some research.

[JBird66]

I find this fascinating; I had no idea it did this and have no idea how it does this. Now I need to do some research.

I've got the winter to experiment and going to go under the cover and adjust the clock.

[Terry64HT]

I didn't go into detail about the installation of the diode, but alpines is correct. It must be installed the correct way. I use diodes on all the relays I've installed. Headlights, widows, dash lights brake lights and probably others.
Section 15-4 of the manual talks about adjusting the clock. I can't find my notes on clock adjustment (I'm in Florida for the winter), but I think I got it backwards in my previous post. An adjustment of less than 10 minutes will cause the mechanism to slow down or speed up and a larger time change has no effect. This is so changing an hour for daylight saving time will not put the clock out of adjustment.
MY clock has been disassembled, cleaned in naphtha and lubricated with proper clock oil. It is a unique oil, available on the internet for a few dollars that will give you enough to do every clock you ever come across. I can easily adjust mine to be accurate to a minute every month or two.
Hope this helps
Terry
64HT

[JBird66]

From the guys over on the clock forum ..." There's a stop on the stem that will engage the adjuster if it's moved far enough."
I was just happy to see the second hand function ...now I'm excited to see the clock keep proper time.

[RedBird64]

That's great Joe. My clock was dead for many years before I finally replaced it. Just one of those little things that makes the car all that much nicer.
I did a little experiment and kept the battery connected in order to check my clock. Since my post on Dec. 22, it has lost 15 minutes.
But at least it runs!

S

[Terry64HT]

Keep adjusting it every few days and it will eventually keep proper time.
Terry
64HT