How to remove Copal screw cover caps without breaking them?

[Johan de Jong]

Some Copal clocks (227, RP-161, RP-170, and maybe more) have these round plastic caps that cover the screws that hold the case together. The appear to be just glued to the case. Is it possible to remove them without breaking them?
As you can see in the picture I did a pretty bad job at a 227

[flipoclock]

Would you believe that the ones on the right are not glued (at least they shouldn't be), they are clipped in with 2 clips.

With regard to the glued on ones, it is a bit of a hit and miss. I usually just try with a flat bladed screwdriver to put a little bit of force on the flat side where you have a bit of access and they gently try to put a bit of force on them. Let's say that I have an 80 to 90% success rate.

EDIT:

I have to add to that that it also depends on who put your clock together and perhaps also which day of the week it was. I have had a 227 here which I was unable to actually open up for they had used so much glue that the screw itself was glued to the housing. Since the housing had a large crack in it I ended up breaking it apart to get to the motor and the clockwork, but still...

[Johan de Jong]

Then this one must have been assembled on a Monday after the holidays ;-) I tried it as careful as I could to separate them from the case, but the glue was stronger than the brittle plastic. I think I've seen quite some clocks on offer that were missing these caps (my other 227 did not have them for example).

Good to know the caps on the RP-161 are different. I had not yet opened it.
Thanks Robert!

[flipoclock]

Not a problem, just sharing my experiences. It is interesting to see that there are clocks out there that have never had the caps on them, no glue residue, no remnants of broken off caps, nothing.