Restoration of the Panasonic RC-7462 - The Black Lighted Clock

[Mackey]

Restoration has begun on the Panasonic RC-7462 - The Black Lighted Clock. I've been wanting to get a good running version of this clock for some time. But, as with many clocks, you have to get two to make one good one.



The clock has a blacklight tube, that simply Must be bad for you. No telling what's in that thing, but I'm sure it's not good for you. . Besides, it's not working well at all.



The tube is glowing to some degree, but I couldn't tell until I opened up the thing.




Well, here it goes. Here's a video summary from out YouTube Channel. More updates as they become available.

[Mackey]

Recently completed a rather long video detailing the disassembly of the Panasonic RC-7462. LONG. This was without question, the hardest clock to work on. The video has already helped me begin the reassembly but I'm still not finished. Putting the ball bearing (yes, ball bearings) back about killed me. And trust me. You shouldn't de-string that radio dial unless you have no other choice. I think it took me an hour to get it back together. After this episode, we should see the finished Black Lighted Panasonic Flip Clock.

[whitaker717]

Man that looks complicated!

[Mackey]

Man that looks complicated!

It was crazy. Getting it back together about did me in. In a way I'm glad I did the re-stringing. I learned how it's done. It would be easier if I ever had to do that again.
I may get some time tomorrow to finish that clock. I'm taking a day off tomorrow and I feel like getting that done. The wife has seen the numbers lit up with the black light and she want's it in our room.

[whitaker717]

Nice. Well you better get that done before she changes her mind. Lol

[Mackey]

Finally, I have finished that crazy clock. I highly doubt I'll ever do another. Or at least I won't tear it down as much.

[Mackey]

Got me some of this:
50' Mil-Spec 24-AWG Twisted-Pair Silver Plated Electrical Wire Teflon US-Seller


Some of these:
10 x LED 5mm UV / Purple Ultra Bright Round Top LEDs Light Lamp RC Car PC T1 3/4


A few of these:
470 Ohm 1/4W 0.25W 1% Metal Film Resistor (25 pack)



And several of these:
(10) Pcs: 5mm LED Bezel Holder Chrome Metal Pack of (10) USA Seller!

In order to re-do the black light for this clock. I am just obsessed with getting this thing as right as I can. Using the LED festoon bulb was not as good an idea as I expected. The project is forcing me to learn more about LEDs whether to arrange them in series or parallel (I'm going with parallel in hopes that the draw off the board is less ... but we'll see). At least I'm having fun. All of the above is costing me $30 bucks. At this point, I wouldn't sell the clock for less than $200.00 but I plan on keeping it.
I'll be able to use the extra stuff, especially the wire in other applications. I got the wire today. It's pretty awesome stuff. Very high heat rating. I can't believe they got 19 strands (they did, I counted) in a 24 AWG wire. And silver plated copper too. I'm guessing the guy I bought it off bought a lot of military surplus.
Anyway. The saga continues.

[whitaker717]

Hey Mackey, do you think this clock has some of the more complicated wiring you have seen? What year was this model of clock made?

[Mackey]

Hey Mackey, do you think this clock has some of the more complicated wiring you have seen? What year was this model of clock made?

The wiring is basically the most complicated I've seen. The clock was probably make between 1970 and 1975. The first real flip clock, The Solari Cifra 3 was designed in 1965 and released in 1966 in Italy. The 1970s really was the decade of the flip clock. By mid-1980 I don't ' think anyone was making flip clocks any longer.

The Solari Cifra 3 from the Museum of Modern Art

[Mackey]

Well, update to the history of this clock. In the October 16, 1972 issue of the magazine "New York"

The following advertisement appeared:

[Hav79]

I initially tried to convert to led when I bought the rc6030. I used these in the link below as they came pre-wired and in 3 led strips:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/warm-white-12v-ip65-5cm-led-strip-n91na

They were far too bright so ended up going for a standard filament type bulb. Those above look far more suitable so wish I'd looked info it further.

[Mackey]

Well, Finally finished my custom LED module for this clock (the Panasonic RC-7462 Black Lighted Flip Clock). I created an Article here which goes into detail of how I did it. I just have to get it into the working clock and maybe post a video of it working. Man ... lots of work on this baby. But it's very satisfying.

Custom RC-7462 LED Module - How To Article