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York Flip Clock - Wanting to get rid of the radio portion.

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    York Flip Clock - Wanting to get rid of the radio portion.

    Hey guys,

    I just want to start off by saying that this is a pretty nice website, so kudos to the creator.

    Ok, on to my question. I found a York Flip clock w/ radio alarm at the Salvation Army for $3 and I am really wanting to chuck the radio portion of the clock as it has a pretty weak speaker and gets awful reception as well. Not only that, but it makes the clock very bulky. I am wondering if anyone has done this before, or has some knowledge of the wiring of the clock. I will attach some photos of what I've gotten so far. I have gotten the housing off without too much fuss, so now I just need to know how to proceed to cut the radio wiring and then that's where I am not sure what to do next.

    Thank you for any guidance!

    #2
    Hello hughman
    Just wondering what you'll do with the clock after you get rid of the radio. Are you going to put it into another case?
    If I were doing that I would just find all the wires leading to the circuit board and cut them and tape them off. Yet, most likely, the clock runs off the main current. If so then you can just remove the whole mechanism by tracing the leads to the motor back as far as possible and cut them off. The OMRON switch can then be removed from the clock, or just clip the wires and leave it there.

    But in the end my opinion is that you should consider trying to restore the clock radio the way it stands. Often the switches for the radio and/or the volume control simply need to be cleaned with electrical contact cleaner.

    ~ Mackey Site Administrator
    If you have any questions/comments Contact Me
    If you're not a member, you should consider joining!

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      #3
      Yes I was planning making a wooden case for the clock, which would be much smaller than the original and much bulkier casing with the radio.

      My initial plan was to restore it and replace all the guts for the radio with a bluetooth speaker, but I am not too saavy with electronics and would need to quite some reading on how that would work. I bet there are some others who have done this before that I can read up on. If you know of any and can pass the reading on my way, that would be awesome! If you think I should restore it instead of tearing it apart, I'm not opposed to it, I just have no use for a radio.

      Here's a picture of the front of mine with the case, she isn't much of a looker, and that's why I'm not too attached to the case.


      Click image for larger version

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        #4
        I personally don't modernize the flip clocks, although I do appreciate the look of a clock someone has put in a new case. There's a guy on Etsy who does a good job of this. Here's one of his things:

        Click image for larger version

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        My feeling is that there are much better devices to play bluetooth music than a vintage flip clock. But again, that's my thing. I'm hoping someone else here can answer questions in that regards for you. But I'd personally like to see up "upcycle" the clock.
        ~ Mackey Site Administrator
        If you have any questions/comments Contact Me
        If you're not a member, you should consider joining!

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          #5
          Hi @hughman, in order to get the radio fully "airworthy" you should replace all the electrolytic capacitors on the pcb with new ones of the same value of uF and higher voltages. After that, if you are lucky the radio will start to works as the old days.
          An important rule is to replace the capacitors before turn on the radio. This procedure will save the radio from burns or electrical failure on the first startup.

          Regards

          Mattia

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