Save the clock tower ... Back to the 56

[klogsdonjr]

The 56 Motochron turns out to be a very simple clock setup. The motor sites on top and provides continuous movement, there is no spring windup in the clock itself. No winding, no resistor down to 6volt.

According to one of the links above it should only draw about 40 milliamps. I still don't have power lead so just working on cleaning decades of gunk at this point. It's likely this clock has been pulled before given the second hand is painted red instead of white.

[klogsdonjr]

Wire ordered. Cleaning and oiling underway. Gears moving better. Took opportunity to return hands to correct colors. Should be able to test motor and gear movements via battery soon.

[klogsdonjr]

this is a good pic from previous link for the oil points - BUT dont forget to oil the other end of the posts as well.

oil points.JPG (24.28 KiB) Viewed 1466 times

the white second hand really looks better now that its been repainted.

[klogsdonjr]

Clock is all cleaned and oiled. It clicks around the clock easily by hand, so feeling good about the gears. I should have an alligator test wire today that I can attach to my tacklife T8 battery. Then I can see what this motor does.

I'm eager to see it move. The overall motor and clock assembly is really straightforward and simple. No chips, no resisters ... Next post should be news!

[klogsdonjr]

so the plot thickens ... i did in fact get the clock and motor assembly put together. i have a 12v power source and the clock worked ... but in double time. it may be that even though the clock housing says 12v, that someone swapped in a 55 6v clock at some point? so now im looking into resistors to see if i can drop down the 12v to 6v as a test and see if that clears things up.

one special note, when the motor assembly is put back together be sure to get the springs to cross correctly. if you simply place the shaft back through the springs without crossing them then they will touch BUT they will be on the wrong side of the shaft and reverse the polarity (or try and turn the clock the other way in error). the pic below shows how the springs return to neutral when the shaft is removed - just be sure to cross them as you put the shaft back on.

[T-Bird Bob]

Hello KlogsDonJr.,
I could really not find what the difference between a 6 and 12V Clock is.
Gil's Garage recommends:
"Install a 125 ohm 10 watt resistor in series with the 6-volt clock to drop the voltage to 6 or 7 V..."
here:
https://www.ctci.org/battery-for-6v-to-12v-conversion/

So maybe Ford did this in your car already? (Try to measure with a multimeter from clock supply back to the battery to see what you get.
If not, just add that resistor.

Good luck!

Bob

[klogsdonjr]

Bob, thanks. I also can't find what the real difference between the 2 clocks were either. I'm very familiar with that post and have been looking for best options on that spec resistor. Tho I am surprised at the specs given he also measures the ohms to be only 4 ohms draw.

Unfortunately my clock was not attached to any wire. My working theory at present is the original clock stopped working. They found another clock mechanism but used the original motor assembly. They plugged it in and wondered why it was going twice as fast, not realizing they had a 55 clock mechanism. So they pulled the wire and left it.

I'm still a bit perplexed at the difference in the 55 and 56 clock mechanism. I would have thought the only difference would be the motor assembly and if you supplied the right voltage then it would run right. My casing clearly says 12v. And I clearly applied 12v to it. But the second hand is clearly going twice as fast.

Ken

[klogsdonjr]

the more i think about this ... im betting the original 55 and 56 clocks mechanisms were the same. the difference was the motor assembly. the 55 was 6volt and positive ground. the 56 was 12volt and negative ground. so in my case with everything working but the clock ticking twice as fast - im thinking that at some point they must have tried to change out a bad motor and ended up with a 55 motor (expecting 6v but getting 12v).

all my local spots to get a 125 ohm, 10watt resistor this weekend turned empty - so i tried an ignition coil resister (2 ohm) from NAPA and hooked it up as a test ... i dont think it did anything. in fact my multimeter read the same 12 volts across the circuit both before use and after hookup.

I still dont know why it needs to be a 125 ohm resistor given the clock only seems to draw 4 ohms. But i will follow the sage advice and try and order one off the net.

So this project creeps forward ...

[paul2748]

You might consider having the clock changed to a quartz movement. I had Willliamson's Instruments in Arkansas do two ( 54 Ford and a 56 Bird)and ten years later they run great

[klogsdonjr]

so 4 AA batteries is equivalent to 6v (dont know why i didnt think about this earlier). so connected them in series, verified i was at 6v and then connected them to the clock. the sound was less than when connected at 12v. BUT the clock tracked around at essentially the same speed - just a little quieter and less forceful. the 12v might gain more time over 24 hours but over a minute it was essentially the same whether 6 or 12v. and the fast/slow adjuster had little affect.

the clock mechanism works fine - its just the power, winding speed seems to be too much.

i think im going to reach out to ClockWorkz and see if they have any opinion or thoughts on this.

[T-Bird Bob]

Hello KlogsDonJr,
Sorry I have not much to contribute but here are two observations:
1) You stated that the clock draws 4mA current at 12V. In the Article about the 6V clock it also draws 4mA. Since an electric motor makes its torque from current, 4mA are 4mA are the same speed (voltage is only provided and will result in a current depending on resistance). I don't know how the motor works and there might be a different mechanism for speed regulation.
2) You said the speed adjuster didn't do much, however, I would like to understand what is behind that speed regulating mechanism. Is it mechanical or electrical? Usually clocks tic because of a mechanical oscillator that vibrates at a certain frequency with springs and masses. Is this speed adjuster preloading a spring to change frequency (it is not actually preload, but some kind of changing the springs constant)?

If you have more insights int how the clock works, I would be really interested.

Btw, I think the Internal project of moving the entire fleet from 6V to 12V is probably older than the T-bird development project. So in 1954 when the T-Bird design and specs were finished, I bet Ford knew that they have to change to 12V electrics in 1956. So it makes sense that they ordered a clock from Motochron that is capable of working with 6V AND 12V. I mean, they ordered one that can be switched from positive ground to negative ground, right?

Just curious...

Bob

[klogsdonjr]

Bob - the 55 and 56 clock have a small flathead adjuster at the top of the 12 on the clock. rotating clockwise will (supposedly) make it faster and counter will make it slower. this connects to a mechanical gear that rotates, moves an arm, and appears affect a small spring. im assuming this tension or release of tension adjusts the friction/resistance within the clock. its all manual and mechanical.

the 4a i was quoting was from that article - i have only measured volts.

i did call Clockwrks, but didnt get past the front desk. She immediately said she thought it was a broken escapement and that they could do their cleaning and repair to fix (they break down the whole clock and build it back up again). $99 for the work, $15 for the shipping. $20 for expediting the work (1 week, otherwise 4 weeks).

Ken

[klogsdonjr]

I've spoken with Clock Works and with D&M Restoration. Both indicate there is likely something broken that will be difficult to fix DIY without access to the right parts. Discussion with D&M leads me to think the main spring (just below the balance wheel) is not working properly (and likely damaged) - since that is part of the clock that maintains the correct speed for the clock. Very hard to see small parts - but mine might have been severed from the bar that it attaches to and maintains tension/resistance.

SO ... i sent it off to Clock Works (4 week turnaround). I will post back when I know something new.

[klogsdonjr]

... week 2 waiting on clockworks ...

[klogsdonjr]

... week 3 waiting on Clockworks, hopefully will get some news this week ...