Sony TFM-C660W, the Cadillac of Cyclometers

[cyb3rbyte]

I bought this Sony about two months ago on a hunch that I could maybe fix the gearbox inside and make it really nice, knowing nothing about the clock's mechanisms or how they worked. Well, I was dead wrong, and when it showed up, the motor inside was completely dead.

Luckily the rest of the clock was in great condition, including the Blacklight, which are apparently no longer available. I was still interested in saving this clock because of it's day date feature, and it's fantastic radio. This is one of the best older clock radios I've ever heard, and it made the case for Sony clocks for me. I'm now convinced that one of the things Sony clocks from this time period do best are their radios, and Panasonic has better movements, unless they're Copal-powered

After receiving a replacement motor from a forum member, I set to work, and removed the broken motor, oiled the new motor by drilling a hole in the case where there was an impression from the factory (I was SUPER careful with a drill press), then filled it with clock oil, and proceeded to let it drain out, and used a "custom" bit on a drill to spin the rest of the oil out so it wasn't a mess inside. Given what I know about gearboxes from cars, I figured a splash oiling would do this gearbox some good, and allow it to function for a bit longer. From what I understand, all these clock gearboxes fail at some point, so it's a time bomb, but it's here for now. They're also quiet noisy when operating, something I'm used to with cyclometers.

When bringing this up from my workshop to take some pictures of it, my mom stopped and said "that thing's as big as a Cadillac!", and I agree, it's big as a Cadillac, but just as nice and complex too!

[Guest]

The 770 would be a bit larger than the 660...so maybe the 660 is a Lincoln and the 770 can be a Cadillac , but really, they are about the same size, but the 770 is "wood".

Yeah, every single one I have worked on was noisy...when it worked. Be careful of those sealed Omron (Telechron copy) motors. Some of them have plastic/Delrin gears in the integrated gearbox and manually spinning them externally will send them to the grave. Strangely, some have been all metal inside so possible they were cutting corners at some point to reduce costs.

[cyb3rbyte]

From when I opened the dead one to try and save it, they were plastic. I didn't dare try to spin this other than using the drill or when it was in the clock properly connected to the coil.

[Jumblejeff]

That clock looks great. I’m glad you were able to see it working again. That motor came out of the wood grain version. It is amazing you have one with a working black light. The donor clock black light was toasted.

[cyb3rbyte]

That clock looks great. I’m glad you were able to see it working again. That motor came out of the wood grain version. It is amazing you have one with a working black light. The donor clock black light was toasted.

That was one of the things that shocked me about this clock as well. Perhaps the motor failed early and put it into an early "retirement", hence the blacklight didn't get used as much. That's just my theory. Could go out tomorrow, which is why this clock won't be in my care much longer lol. It's been a problem child from day one.

[flipoclock]

I still have one of these laying about (110v version) for a potential resto, this is good information. Must get round to looking at it soon, at least to see whether the motor and/or light is still working.

[flipoclock]

I took some time to have a look at the one I have here and it's actually not so bad, everything seems to be working fine apart from the blacklight. It's not showing anything. It seems to be getting 46/47 volts, is that correct? Is there anything else I can check whether the bulb is powered or whether the bulb itself is 'shot'? When it's the bulb which is bust, what would be an alternative? LED strip in black light? I mean, there's room for a power supply in the case, that's not the issue.

[Guest]

flipoclock The OEM blacklight should be running at a much higher voltage, but, honestly, the OEM blacklight is not worth trying to revive. At this age, they are probably close to the end of their lives. Fluorescent lamps do not run long in these types of applications. A neon blacklight would have been a better choice at the design studio.

Plus, the circuitry to run the blacklight is powered by a series of voltage dividing resistors that generate a lot of excess heat. That whole circuit should be tossed and replaced with a low-voltage LED power supply.

Here's the one I did awhile back (Note that the blacklight isn't that "purple" as the camera overly-enhanced the color): https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsaOQcfoYygTgZRg...YbHTw?e=MkzDBB

The LED blacklight was a strip of 6 SMD 12-volt.

[cyb3rbyte]

flipoclockFluorescent lamps do not run long in these types of applications. A neon blacklight would have been a better choice at the design studio.

Plus, the circuitry to run the blacklight is powered by a series of voltage dividing resistors that generate a lot of excess heat. That whole circuit should be tossed and replaced with a low-voltage LED power supply.

For this reason, if I were keeping this clock, I would put a switch inline to the glow bulb, or, just replace with LED's.

[flipoclock]

Thanks, that's good info. I could go with regular lights, but it looks so much better with blackish light. I will see what the options are to 'rip out' the old lights completely and put in something new.

[Performa]

I'd be curious what the best method to run LEDs in there too. Seems the black lights on all but a few of these burned out ages ago.