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Panasonic RC-7469 repair: some recent discoveries

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    Panasonic RC-7469 repair: some recent discoveries

    I have a soft place in my heart (some argue that it is actually in my skull) for this model. I had one with a frozen clock motor but otherwise with good radio and good case. I thought I would simply swap out the actual motor with a spare one. As it turns out, the drive gear teeth of all RC-7469 units are NOT the same. Some are more coarse than others. That was the reality in this instance, so a simple swap was not possible.

    I turned attention to ways to unfreeze the motor. I used heat from a 12 volt hi-intensity lamp bulb by directly setting the aluminum motor case on the glass bulb. After that, I then put a single drop of 3-in-1 oil on the gear at the brass bushing, and --padding the gear teeth with a cloth -- used needle nose pliers to grip the gear and work it gently back-and-forth. Eventually I was able to turn the gear completely, though the gear-works inside the motor casing where not yet "fluent." I discovered a tiny machine screw in the center of the circular facing. here ws some lacquer sealant on it. I gently removed the screw and added -- one drop at a time -- 3-in-1 oil directly to the tiny hole. as I continued to rotate the gear with the pliers, I noticed that an air bubble would rise through the oil drop and then pop the surface, indicating that tiny quantities of the oils were making their way into the inner gear work. I did this for about ten times; each time wiping away the excess oil from the motor case surface. Eventually, the movement became freer. I reassembled the unit. The fly-wheel rotor with the spiral black-and-white paper that signals "seconds" still does not want to initiate revolutions simply by adding current flow, but a simple tap of the index finger on the unit base immediately underneath the clock now jogs the clock into operation. It keeps time well.

    #2
    Interesting stuff.
    For most cases, I feel using the oil on the rotor shaft is now the best approach. However, this may be a case that you may need to submerse the rotor wheel (Whirligig) in an alcohol bath. The self-starting feature of these type of motors depends upon the funky looking cage structure under the "spiral black-and-white-paper that signals "seconds"" (by the way, the proper terminology for that is the "Whirligig" .
    If it's too dusty or oily it may not work.
    No guarantees! But I'd try it.
    ~ 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
      Originally posted by QuinnC View Post
      I discovered a tiny machine screw in the center of the circular facing. here ws some lacquer sealant on it. I gently removed the screw and added -- one drop at a time -- 3-in-1 oil directly to the tiny hole.
      On some models, after removing that screw you can use an exacto knife to break the lacquer sealant around the case and remove the aluminum cover. The sealant is just there to keep the grease in and the dust out. Once the cover is off you can clean the old degraded oil/grease out and re oil. You will also have direct access to apply oil to the main motor center shaft.

      As Mackey noted, the motor failing to start is because old degraded oil/grease on the main center shaft is creating drag. You could add new oil (like you did to the gearbox) and free it up, but you would still have the old junk mixed with the new. The best course of action is to use alcohol (or some other waterless solvent) to wash out the degraded lubricants and then re lube. With the gear case cover off you might as well submerge the whole assembly in solvent and work the rotor a lot to get everything out. I actually submerge the rotor in alcohol and turn it on and let it run for a few minutes (submerging a 120v electric motor in liquid may seem insane but I haven't fried anything yet).

      I have a RC-7469. On mine it wasn't the motor that was the problem, but the actual flip clock workings. The whole mechanism was gummed up and required cleaning.

      Jeremy

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