I bought this little gem for only 10 euro as an item “for decoration only” aka not working. After a very long restoration got it fully working again (albeit not entirely original).
It is a small clock, about 14 x 14 x 9 cm, with the day of the week (in French) that also serves as an AM/PM indicator (dark/light background). It has a 12 hour alarm. On the front it reads “Fashion, Japan” and on the back “NO.121”. I could not find any reference to this model or brand. I did though find some similar clocks with the same mechanism by Digimate and Hamilton.
As said, it was not working when I bought it. A look in the battery compartment showed some stains, a missing negative contact and a loose wire. At this point I still thought this might be an easy fix.
Getting into the clock wasn’t easy. Most screws were stuck. Someone before me clearly had tried to get in, so now most screws were stuck AND damaged. Once inside the full extend of the damage became visible. The complete content of a battery had leaked and formed a puddle at the base of the clock!
It’s foul fumes had corroded everything that could corrode over time. The buzzer, alarm switch, most screws and frame parts were all in a bad state. Luckily the clock mechanism itself had largely escaped this ordeal. A quick check showed that the motor still would run, make the clock tick and turn the wheels.
On to the repair:
The battery holder was easy to fix. I bought a new holder and transplanted only the spring.
The buzzer was a different story. For a start I needed to drill out a screw to free it from the case. Then Removed most of the rust first by scraping and sanding, and then by leaving it overnight wrapped in tissue soaked in vinegar. The adjustment screw broke off, so needed this to be drilled out as well. Replaced it by a wood screw (not original but it works). It buzzes again but not very loud.
The alarm switch was damaged beyond repair. This I replaced by a new switch. This had different dimensions, so I needed to slightly adapt the mounting points. I fitted the original button to the switch using Gorilla plastic.
The alarm mechanism has two sliding electrical contacts (one on the right side out of view). These were also badly corroded. I used contact cleaner to clean that up.
When opening the clock I had to drill out a screw. When I tried to fix that I made a mistake and destroyed one of the brass posts that connect the two body parts. Now if I had a lathe I would have replicated that post, but alas I don’t, so I got creative with Gorilla plastic:
Now I thought the work was done, but soon it appeared that the one thing I thought had survived, the motor, was not working reliably. When opening it up I found the cause: one of the brushes had largely worn away.
These Nissei DC motors are not produced anymore for a long time and I could not find them anywhere.
In my first attempt to fix this I replaced it with a DC toy motor of roughly the same size. These are plenty available and dead cheap. My initial worry was that this motor might not be strong enough, but the opposite was true: it was so strong and fast that the mechanism immediately jammed.
In my second attempt I tried to fix the original motor by replacing the brushes with some that I salvaged from another old toy motor. Although they had a totally different construction they accidentally fit quite well. This fix worked, the motor runs fine again. Minor pity was that for the first attempt I had to drill out the worm wheel, so now I had to fill it up again to fit it one the smaller shaft of this motor. Again Gorilla plastic came to the rescue (by now you probably think I have shares in this company, but no. It just my favourite goto material for difficult fixes
)
And here is a final overview just before closing the lid.
It was a long journey. Was it worth it? Absolutely! I love solving puzzles and this was a box full of puzzles. Learned a lot on the way and ended up with a very nice clock as a bonus.
Final remark to whom it may concern (probable not his audience): never ever leave a battery in a clock (or any device) when you store it!
It is a small clock, about 14 x 14 x 9 cm, with the day of the week (in French) that also serves as an AM/PM indicator (dark/light background). It has a 12 hour alarm. On the front it reads “Fashion, Japan” and on the back “NO.121”. I could not find any reference to this model or brand. I did though find some similar clocks with the same mechanism by Digimate and Hamilton.
As said, it was not working when I bought it. A look in the battery compartment showed some stains, a missing negative contact and a loose wire. At this point I still thought this might be an easy fix.
Getting into the clock wasn’t easy. Most screws were stuck. Someone before me clearly had tried to get in, so now most screws were stuck AND damaged. Once inside the full extend of the damage became visible. The complete content of a battery had leaked and formed a puddle at the base of the clock!
It’s foul fumes had corroded everything that could corrode over time. The buzzer, alarm switch, most screws and frame parts were all in a bad state. Luckily the clock mechanism itself had largely escaped this ordeal. A quick check showed that the motor still would run, make the clock tick and turn the wheels. On to the repair:
The battery holder was easy to fix. I bought a new holder and transplanted only the spring.
The buzzer was a different story. For a start I needed to drill out a screw to free it from the case. Then Removed most of the rust first by scraping and sanding, and then by leaving it overnight wrapped in tissue soaked in vinegar. The adjustment screw broke off, so needed this to be drilled out as well. Replaced it by a wood screw (not original but it works). It buzzes again but not very loud.
The alarm switch was damaged beyond repair. This I replaced by a new switch. This had different dimensions, so I needed to slightly adapt the mounting points. I fitted the original button to the switch using Gorilla plastic.
The alarm mechanism has two sliding electrical contacts (one on the right side out of view). These were also badly corroded. I used contact cleaner to clean that up.
When opening the clock I had to drill out a screw. When I tried to fix that I made a mistake and destroyed one of the brass posts that connect the two body parts. Now if I had a lathe I would have replicated that post, but alas I don’t, so I got creative with Gorilla plastic:
- I first made a roll of plastic with a screw and a nut embedded, this becomes the detachable end (the nut was not really necessary in hindsight as the plastic is already strong enough),
- Using the screw I attached it to the bottom of the case,
- Then held the other end in hot water to soften it up,
- Then put the two halved together and using my fingers moulded the soft plastic around the other mounting point in which I had placed a screw to provide some grip.
- Let it cool down, fits perfectly! Not as original, but it works.
Now I thought the work was done, but soon it appeared that the one thing I thought had survived, the motor, was not working reliably. When opening it up I found the cause: one of the brushes had largely worn away.
These Nissei DC motors are not produced anymore for a long time and I could not find them anywhere.
In my first attempt to fix this I replaced it with a DC toy motor of roughly the same size. These are plenty available and dead cheap. My initial worry was that this motor might not be strong enough, but the opposite was true: it was so strong and fast that the mechanism immediately jammed.
In my second attempt I tried to fix the original motor by replacing the brushes with some that I salvaged from another old toy motor. Although they had a totally different construction they accidentally fit quite well. This fix worked, the motor runs fine again. Minor pity was that for the first attempt I had to drill out the worm wheel, so now I had to fill it up again to fit it one the smaller shaft of this motor. Again Gorilla plastic came to the rescue (by now you probably think I have shares in this company, but no. It just my favourite goto material for difficult fixes
) And here is a final overview just before closing the lid.
It was a long journey. Was it worth it? Absolutely! I love solving puzzles and this was a box full of puzzles. Learned a lot on the way and ended up with a very nice clock as a bonus.
Final remark to whom it may concern (probable not his audience): never ever leave a battery in a clock (or any device) when you store it!
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