Flip Clock runs but won't flip

[Joseph S]

I have a Copal model 226 that lights up and spins but the numbers recently quit flipping. The gears and everything on the clock look to be in excellent condition. Any ideas on what is wrong?

Thanks,
Joseph S

[Guest]

Likely a stripped gear in the gearbox. The teeth on these are quite small so not easy to see when the teeth or slightly damaged.

[flipoclock]

Hi Joseph,

That's a nice small Copal clock you have there!

When it stopped spinning, there can be numerous things going on.

The most common is that your motor stopped turning due to lack of lubrication. It could potentially be that there is an issue with your motor, the coil could have gone bad (not very likely) or a gear could have worn out in the gearbox (not very uncommon). Theoretically it could be that there is an issue in the clockmechanism itself, but that is not very likely at all, although not impossible.

The only way to found it what it is, is by opening your clock. Luckily your clock is easy to open up.

Once opened up, you should carefully pull off the wheel on the side, undo the screws which hold the clockwork in place and you can take out the clockwork. When you now plug in the clock to the mains, you can see whether the main wheel on the clock (the one with the sticker on it) starts turning or not, this should give you a clue.

Let us know how it goes!

[Guest]

If it spins then I assumed the stator wheel is spinning, but the brass spindle gear (inside the gearbox itself on the other end of the stator wheel shaft) is no longer engaging the first reduction gear anymore.

[flipoclock]

True, missed the 'spins' part . Stripped gear is the most likely scenario in that case.

[Joseph S]

Thank-you both for the input. I will check closer later tonight to see if the teeth are worn on the gears. I will keep you posted.
Thanks again!

[Guest]

Watch for the first plastic gear that is powered by the brass spindle gear coming off of the stator shaft into the gearbox.

Also check the final large drive gear that spins the shaft of the final output gear on the outside of the gearbox. Sometimes those get worn and the shaft that is pressed into them cracks the sleeve.

Spin the stator wheel and watch for any gears not moving...some will move VERY slowly while others more quickly. For slower moving gears you can mark gears with a black Sharpie felt pen and see if the mark moves as the motor spins.

[Joseph S]

The 1st plastic gear looking from left to right that contacts the small brass gear coming out what I believe is the gear box is in perfect condition as are all of the other gears. When I manually spin the Stator wheel with the sticker on it, none of the gears move. So basically when I plug it in the Stator wheel runs great and so does the light but no movement on any gears.

This clock was at my grandparents house when I was little and about a year ago I found it while going thru some old boxes of theirs we received when they passed. I have been using it quite a bit since then until it recently quit flipping. Hoping to get it going again .

I appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks again,
Joseph

[Joseph S]

After taking another look at the clock the visible gears all look great but I tore into it a little deeper and took the dust cover off and exposed the 1st set of gears and found a stripped gear and a crack in another gear like you said would probably be the problem. Do you guys have any suggestions on what my best fix is at this point? Can you get replacement gears or would I be better off looking for a new motor/gear assembly?

Thanks again for the help,
Joseph

[Guest]

The rivets holding the gearbox to the motor housing will have to be popped so the gearbox can be removed and the gears replaced from a donor motor...if you have any spares. The process isn't hard, but it takes a certain finesse to get right. I've done it (as well as other users here) many times. It revives the motor so you keep it alive and running and don't have get a total replacement.

[Joseph S]

Ok. Thanks for the advice. I will start looking for spare parts. Easier said than done.. Right.