Sankyo 431 - repairs possible?

[Tofufi]

Hi everyone,

I've just joined, as I have just been given a non working Sankyo 431 in a wonderful mustard colour. While I'm new to these clocks, I've got a bit of experience with older clockwork clocks, cars and generally taking anything in the house apart..



Anyway, the previous owner of this clock said one day it stopped and made some smoke. On dismantling, there's no burnt motor smell, but it does nothing when plugged in. Have checked the resistance of the motor and it's about 8.8 kohms. But don't know if that's right!





Would really welcome any suggestions on the best way to troubleshoot it or get it running again.

I'm in UK, it's a 50hz clock for 240v, though does have a European plug on it.

Thanks!

[Guest]

The Sankyo Intermatic motors are rebuildable. Usually, the gearset, under that silver cover, will have a chipped tooth or cracks. Also, the grease used is probably hardened.

Arrow Ball Clock, Kit Cat, WG-1420, Sankyo, Spa, Intermatic Motors, Repair Kit. | eBay sells rebuild kits, but only for 60hz motors. Many times the motors are the same for 50 and 60hz with just a gear change to account for the different frequency instead of building a whole different motor.

Sometimes whole motors become available on Ebay if you search for Sankyo Intermatic.

[Johan de Jong]

As an alternative to the kit I found a way to replace the small gear that is often cracked, see this post: https://www.flipclockfans.com/forum/...nning-too-fast
It is not a perfect fit, but it works. I repaired three motors this way.

To remove the cover you have to carefully bend the lips in the lower-left to the left and the one in the lower-right corner to the right. Usually that is enough to lift the cover at that side and then slide it from underneath the lips on the other side. At the bottom left corner there is a small indent that makes it easier to lift the cover.

The U shaped cover around the gearbox can also be removed by just bending it a bit outwards, see picture below.

[Tofufi]

Thank you both for the help, it's much appreciated.

Following the advice you've given, and the Youtube video, I've removed the motor cover and found the small gear, which is a part of the larger gear, (not the one on the motor spindle) is damaged.

It looks like I'll need the kit from eBay, so I'll contact the seller tomorrow and make sure it'll work for a 50hz clock motor.

Having plugged the motor in, the motor spindle spins when plugged in - so it still has life

Cheers,
Jim.

[flipoclock]

Nice that you found out what was/is wrong with it. The seller on ebay, as far as I know, only has this kit for the 110v/60hz motor, but it does not hurt to ask...

[Tofufi]

Nice that you found out what was/is wrong with it. The seller on ebay, as far as I know, only has this kit for the 110v/60hz motor, but it does not hurt to ask...

Thanks! I asked if it would work for 50Hz and he seemed happy that it would. Fingers crossed!

[Tofufi]

P.s. I've just spent an enjoyable 10 minutes counting gear teeth, and the ones in the eBay photos do seem to have the same number of teeth! (8/80 and 12...)

[flipoclock]

that is good information. Also, if you have counted the teeth and they seem the same, I would just go for it... Good luck! Let us know how it works out for you!

[Daddy-O]

Hi

I have the same issue with my Sankyo digital. The large gear is fine but the small one is both cracked and mashed. Unfortunately the link to AliExpress no longer works. Searching for plastic gears yields hundreds of results. How did you find it?

Cheers
Mark

[Johan de Jong]

The first time I found it after a veeeery loooooong search.

Tried again and they are still on AliExpress: searched on AliExpress for 'gear 12T 4.2mm'. The seller is 'kikifly store'.
I hope this link works: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/33046...You_92441612.1
Not sure how to properly link to a product on AliExpress.

[Johan de Jong]

Oops, see that my link is to the Dutch AliExpress.
This should be the link for Australia:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33046588581.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.349649b8PSsbGF&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreThisSeller&scm=1007.13339.169870.0&scm_id=1007.13339.169870.0&scm-url=1007.13339.169870.0&pvid=0681a54d-280e-499e-a87c-bd29b71ad270&_t=gps-id:pcDetailBottomMoreThisSeller,scm-url:1007.13339.169870.0,pvid:0681a54d-280e-499e-a87c-bd29b71ad270,tpp_buckets:668%230%23131923%2373_668%23888%233325%234_668%232846%238113%231998_668%232717%237565%23727_668%231000022185%231000066059%230_668%233468%2315618%23910

[Daddy-O]

Thanks mate. The link works perfectly. Hopefully so will the repair!

[Tofufi]

Hi again folks
Just a quick update - the eBay gearset arrived this afternoon.

The small gear on the motor, which according to the instructions always fails, was still good. The other one supplied was a perfect replacement for mine.

Clock now works and seems to keep good time. Just need to give it a polish, and it'll end up on my bedside table

Thanks to everyone for the assistance! I now have a saved search on eBay for similar clocks, which may be fun...

[flipoclock]

Nice that you managed to repair your clock!

Be careful when buying the Sankyo clocks, they were supplied with 2 different type of motors, on the outside (as far as I know), you cannot see which one is inside. The one you have now is more rare and you will not find very often. The other one is a sealed motor, which is next to impossible to repair, lubricate or refurbish without specialized tools or parts. If you are lucky, it might work (albeit noisy), if you are unlucky, it will have seized. Just something to keep in the back of your mind and this is also the reason why I almost never buy these clocks although they do look nice.

[Daddy-O]

I was tempted to buy one of those eBay gear sets for my Sankyo but what eBay charges for postage to Oz was almost as much as the purchase price. Now that is a rip off given the size of the item. I'm still waiting for my small gears from Aliexpress to arrive.