VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Radios, Tools, Accessories 1950 Styleline Deluxe Clock

Well, after some tid bits from another clock thread I took mine apart, LIGHTLY cleaned and oiled it up and it started running.....good for a couple days and then stopped.
I took it back apart yesterday, gave the little "wheel" a spin and its going again and was still running last night.

At this point I don't know what to do.....oil it some more? or let someone who knows more than I do have a go at cleaning and getting it to keep running. (Anyone here that cleans and works on them?) I haven't seen anyone.

...OR do I spray it down good with brake cleaner, re-oil and see what happens?

Comments welcome.

I am not a clock expert but when I gave mine to someone that was for repair when he returned it he gave me the following advise. Only oil it sparingly . If you add a drop to a moving part and it drips you have put too much. Once it has been cleaned and properly oiled don't touch it until it stops working correctly. Then clean and re-oil .

These are not 7 day clocks. I have to wind mine every day. I can not find a specification in any of the Chevrolet literature I have for how long a full wind of the clock spring should last, so I assume that 30 hours is likely.

Chevy50jim, I didn't time it but it did seem to be a little more than a day (24hr) and as I stated in my first post i use 3in1 oil LIGHTLY.... I have a tube of it with a very small tip on it.
I checked it this afternoon, it was still ticking so i wound it up and will check again later. Personally, I think it needs a good cleaning before a LIGHT oil. Thats whay I suggested brakeclean....it cleans and dries fast and LIGHT air pressure it may work. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.....good or bad!!

Achipmunk,
I agree with you about the brake cleaner. Just be careful with the spray not to distort the very thin coil spring on the balance wheel. Also keep it away from the dial and the plastic hands as it will likely stain them.

It sounds like your clock is working fine. They need to be wound once a day. I was asked once why I didn't replace mine with an electric one. My answer is that winding the clock every time by the time I get to the end of my street is one of the rituals of driving an old Chevrolet.

hey alvin they are good for 24-30 hours tops so you have to wind them a little every day dont over wind or else you have to take it apart and move a little lever to take the tension off the spring i found out the hard way i took a couple to my local jewelry shop friend of mine he went thru them and both work fine i myself the electric ones are garbage from what i heard they only last a couple of years tops the wind up ones are better remember dont over wind andy in ohio

Using brake cleaner works well since it does not leave a residue when dry but the best way to truly get a clock scrupulously clean is with an ultrasonic cleaner. I have gotten many clocks, electric and the windup clock in my 51 to run beautifully this way. Just be careful not to get the face wet since some clocks have water based paint on the face. It only takes a minute or two in the solution to really get the entire mechanism spotless and then, as was said above, a very small amount of clock oil on just the ends of the shafts to lubricate. I used to also bring a clock to my jeweler friend who did the ultrasonic cleaning for me but then I found an inexpensive cleaner at a rummage sale that I now use.
Jeff

thanks guys, I "get it" about the wind up deal. I let it run down over the weekend and when I wound it today i think it took me about 25 "half twist" on the stem. I feel it getting tighter, and if I drove it every day, which I will someday, I'll just wind it till I feel it tighten up........however, in my "test runs" i have wound it tight and stopped. I know better that to keep twisting it to try get another wind out of it. Every time it starts back ticking....except for the time I decided to start this thread. Even today, after the weekend, I wound it till it stopped winding and the clock started right up.

I'll keep it on my work bench and keep watch on it. If it stops again I'll give it the old brake clean treatment.
...........and I my know a hobby friend that has a sonic washer. I'm familiar with them back as early as 1974.
Yep, I take the face ect. off and it out of the housing when I work on it.

Thanks to all who replied. I do appreciate it. We'll see how it goes from here.

50 Chevy clocks were designed with a 30 hour spring.