The Black Light LP-245

[Mackey]

I finally got my hands on one of these little black light Copals. It's got a lot going for it style-wise. Of course the black light is great. I was very surprised to find the factory light still doing just fine. I did have to pop a new green neon in by the alarm display. I have some new old stock neons that are much better than what I've found new - the color is perfect. Unfortunately there's a crack on the corner of the face of the clock, but it's not too bad.



Not really a restoration but it was interesting to try to figure out how to open this clock up. Seems Copal didn't want me inside of it.



It was advertised primarily around 1977-1979 and seems to be one of Copals last entries into the American Market - a last hurrah maybe.

[Guest]

Nice write up! I had to get clever with my power supply layout on the last one I restored since there is precious little room for it. The original blacklight was dead.

I have another coming from Japan soon.

[flipoclock]

Nice write up indeed! I love the LP 240 and 245, which are effectively the same bar for the flaps and the light.

All 245's I have had/seen had their light still working.

The downside is that the sides of the casing is very brittle and almost always cracks when opening this up for the spots where they interlock are very thin plastic. I am pondering on recreating this case with a 3D printer, but that will likely be a very big job, I might better start with some smaller jobs first . I have several LP-240's which are too badly damages just on this spot to actually use but are 100% ok otherwsise.

If anyone has any tips to minimise the risk of cracking the case when opening it up, I'm all ears!

[Mackey]

If anyone has any tips to minimise the risk of cracking the case when opening it up, I'm all ears!

Well. I thought the video at the end had a pretty good method.

[flipoclock]

Thanks for that, for me, for some reason, this has not been troublefree for me up until now. I guess it also depends on how much sun the casing has had, it makes the plastic more brittle.

[Guest]

The few I have worked on were easy to get apart and didn't seem like they were brittle yet. I suppose I got lucky? Sadly, the fluorescent blacklight and/or the photocell dimming circuit were inoperative so it had to be converted.

[flipoclock]

I have been lucky in that regard. Perhaps I shall apply a bit more pressure next time, pushing the side cover outwards. It feels a bit awkward putting a lot of pressure on it, like it would snap.