Toshiba VA-82 motor not working

[owcschafer]

I purchased a Linden model 966 flip clock from a vintage store today knowing it was non functional and decided to try to fix it. Please keep in mind I have no experience with repairing any clocks of any sort, but I have some experience in basic electronic repair and whatnot.

The light works and all the mechanisms seem fine. The motor (Toshiba VA-82) doesn't turn when powered and can't be turned by hand (apart from a little wiggle). I can confirm it is receiving power, as I can feel a little vibration when it's plugged in. It seems that pretty much all of the info on this motor is from this forum and I've read as much as I could find.

I'm assuming the problem is that it needs to be oiled, and I'm currently trying the pvc tube hair dryer strategy from here. No luck so far though. Still doesn't turn by hand. I'm leaving it to sit with a tube full of oil overnight just to see what happens.

As far as I can tell, replacements for this motor are nonexistent. Apparently the Telechron Type S motor is very similar. If I bought one with the same specs (3.6 RPM, 60 Hz), is it likely to fit and work? I don't have much hope for saving the original, but I also don't want to spend money on a motor that might not fit.

Any help is appreciated, let me know if any pictures of anything would help with assisting me. Thank you!!!

[Johan de Jong]

If the outgoing gear has the same number of teeth and the same dimensions, I think a Telechron S could work. As I read here the Toshiba is slightly larger, so you would need to make some adapter to keep it centered in the coil. Whether it runs you can easily test by holding it in the coil. It just needs the magnetic field to run and does not need to make contact with the magnet. Would be interesting to see if this works, so please let us know!

If you can't get the Toshiba running again with the tube-hair dryer method, you could consider to open up the case. I did this with a few Sankyo and Tamura/Omron motors like described in this post: https://www.flipclockfans.com/forum/...n-motor-repair
Regretfully the one time I tried it on a Toshiba it did not work and I had to resort to a more forceful method: https://www.flipclockfans.com/forum/...-toshiba-motor

Hope you get it working!

[owcschafer]

Thank you so much, Johan!

Still no luck with the oiling sadly. The outgoing gear seems have the same number of teeth and dimensions as far as I can tell, so I'll just go ahead and buy it. Will update if it works or not! If not, opening up the Toshiba motor will be my last resort.

Really appreciate the help!

[Mackey]

Also. You should Not be able to turn that output gear by hand. You risk stripping gears by attempting that.

[owcschafer]

Hi again!

I just got the Telechron motor in and it unfortunately has not solved my problem. First of all, it doesn't fit in the coil, which is unfortunate but could maybe be fixed. I was able to get it in a position where I could feel it vibrating though, and the outgoing gear didn't turn at all. Same as the original Toshiba. Assuming this new motor is working, I'm thinking the problem might be in the coil assembly, although I'm not sure what the issue could be or how it could be fixed. If this is the problem, the original motor could be fine after all. On the other hand, the coil does seem to be working fine. I held a screwdriver in the middle and I could feel the magnetic field strongly, and as I've said it makes both motors vibrate a little. Here's a picture if it helps!

If nobody has any more ideas, I'll try opening up the Toshiba motor.
Also, I appreciate the info about turning the gear by hand, I didn't use any significant force but I'll stop trying to turn it from now on

As always, any help is appreciated, and thank you!

[owcschafer]

Well... I decided to try to open up the Toshiba, and I worked at removing the seal for about 20 minutes. I took a break from the tedious scraping and thought I could test the motor in the coil one more time. Miraculously, it just worked! Maybe a few gentle taps on the table were all it needed to come back to life. I reassembled the clock and it seems to be working perfectly now. I wish I knew what the problem actually was, but I'm happy it's solved, and you all for the help!!

[Johan de Jong]

That is a nice surprise! Apparently it just needed a little kick to get started. Fingers crossed it keeps running reliably now.

I'm still curious about you attempt with the Telechron S motor: when you say "it doesn't fit in the coil", do you mean the diameter is too large? Or is the height of the canister not right?

I can't think of anything that could be wrong with the coil assembly. Clearly the magnet is working as you can feel the force, so it should be able to get the rotor spinning. One thing that I forgot to mention is that is needed to center the rotor fairly well in the magnet and at more or less the right depth. If it is too far off the magnet exerts a lateral force on the little rotor in the coil and the friction that causes may prevent the rotor from spinning.
It might also be that also this rotor needs a little help to get going. If it is new stock then it has been lying on a shelf for a very long time and the lubrication may not be in the best condition anymore. Possibly a little heat can help to make the oil more fluid and get the thing started.

But this is all "mustard after the meal" (Dutch saying, don't know the English equivalent ), the main thing is you got your Linden up and running!