I May Have Bitten Off More Than I Can Chew Here

[Daddy-O]

I was offered this English Gents GPO 36 master clock for next to nothing and could not resist. It requires complete rewiring as the old rubber coated wiring is shot - and there is a LOT of wiring!. It is probably from the late 40s or 50s. It runs on 4 volts as far as I can tell but I'm still trying to get my head around the wiring diagram. Once it is working I will use a 3 volt slave movement that came with it to make a wall clock. It has a really nice glass-fronted oak case and a vintage look that comes with decades of use. Naturally, it weighs a ton. These clocks are quite loud in operation and so it will probably stay in my workshop. Wish me luck - I'll need it.

[flipoclock]

Wow, these clocks are beautiful just to look at, but repairing one would not necessarily be my cup of tea Good luck!

[Performa]

It looks like the foundation for something stunning! Good luck to you, and keep us posted as you go ahead with it!

[RetroFlip]

This sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, looking at this type of clock. Good luck on the restoration.

[Daddy-O]

Well, there has been some progress. I have now stripped out the old wiring and replaced it. What a horrible job. The insulation just fell off as soon as I touched it. Interestingly, each bundle of wires was tied and knotted with a hard cotton twine every centimetre or so. It took ages to get it off. They really had pride in their work back in the day. My wiring is nowhere near as neat. Anyway, I'll have to do some reading now as to what to do next. Here are a couple of before and after photos. The wiring really was dangerous even if the clock operates on a low voltage.

[flipoclock]

Perhaps not as neat as it might have looked, but it does look good!

[Daddy-O]

Well, I finally got around to firing up the Gents GPO 36. It only requires around 3 volts to run. Unfortunately, it has a short somewhere and so I'll need to track that down before it will work. This is a bit of a steep learning curve for me. On the positive side I sourced a large Smiths mains powered wall clock from the 1940s with a bad movement and converted it into a slave clock using a 3 volt driver. Getting the original hands to fit was a bit of a challenge but it cleaned up nicely and looks good with a fresh coat of dark green paint. Pity I have nothing to run it yet.