Battery Powered Panasonic RC-7580

[Jeremy]

I have never seen a battery powered flip clock radio. Too bad someone left batteries in it, probably be a serious challenge to get it up and running, but perfect solution for all those over seas flip clock fans struggling with voltage issues.

[Mackey]

I've wanted one of those for a while. Well, I used to, I think I can live without it now.... I really like the look of it except for it being a little on the boxy side. That particular clock looks like a train wreck. I'd consider getting it if the price didn't go to high.
But it's not like I need another project (Lord knows!).

[RetroFlip]

Yeah isn't it kinda of a weird duck? I'll do a post on my RC-7580 when I get some time, it needs minor cleaning and case repair including work in the battery compartment. (That one above makes mine look mint) And I might try whitening the case while I'm at it...

Various things:
One thing I've noticed is that 90 degree boxy shape leads to a case that is prone to damage along those sharp edges.
Check the battery door when buying, sometimes they get "remade" as they got lost. Should see some text below the latch.
Also a quirk is it has one battery just for the clock and four others for the radio, they are not shared and are labeled clock or radio.
Has a start and stop lever underneath.
The battery case has a red ribbon to help remove batteries.

Here's a scan of a vintage Panasonic catalog with info about it.

[Jeremy]

The tuning fork mechanism must be super low power to run the clock for a whole year on one battery.

Jeremy

[Sunboytoy]

I have one of these Panasonic RD 7580 radios which I bought on eBay about a year ago. It looks new! And the radio sounds really good. However, the flip clock stopped working a few weeks ago and I opened it up to attempt a repair. To my surprise it was mechanically very complex Inside. The Clock motor Is encased in a plastic enclosure. I have ordered a repair manual and I will eventually repair it and post the results on the forum. The engineering that went into some of the early 1970s radios from Sony and Panasonic is truly fascinating.

[mduyam]

@Sunboytoy

Did you ever have luck fixing your RD 7850? I just picked one up and the radio sounds great like you said, but the flipper isn't working.

... also anyone know what this model might sell for on ebay?

[Performa]

Just saw this thread, and managed to wrestle the following images out of eBays cache for posterity.



A little easier to see the detail on this one from there. Interesting that (being battery powered) it would have a light-up clock indicator.



Bottom plate, the only other image I was able to wrestle out of eBay. Hopefully this information may prove useful to someone out there.

[jellyjam]

I have one of these Panasonic RD 7580 radios which I bought on eBay about a year ago. It looks new! And the radio sounds really good. However, the flip clock stopped working a few weeks ago and I opened it up to attempt a repair. To my surprise it was mechanically very complex Inside. The Clock motor Is encased in a plastic enclosure. I have ordered a repair manual and I will eventually repair it and post the results on the forum. The engineering that went into some of the early 1970s radios from Sony and Panasonic is truly fascinating.

any luck getting yours fixed? I’m having issues.