Easy S30 Clock Fix

[Ed260Z]

For those of us who have an S30 with a mechanical clock, here is a quick fix for most of us. This should take about 10 to 15 minutes if you take your time. (No pun intended)

 

Remove the front lens from your clock, and then take the 3 5.5mm nuts off the back of the housing.

 

Carefully slide the mechansim away from the housing. Inspect the gears to see if anything looks broken in there. You shouldn't have anything flapping around loose in there.

 

Carefully spray some silicon lube on all of the gears, as well as the elec motor.

With a pick gently start moving the gears a little. Start with the big gear by the motor. spray some more lube, and work your way up the chain. The higher you go the more pressure you will need to spin the gears. BE VERY CAREFUL those gears a delicate.

 

Once the gears are moving freely connect the clock to a power source of some kind. I used one of my R/C 7.2 Volt battery packs. But I guess that as long as it's not more than 12 volts it will be OK for this test. With and luck you will here it tick. FFFFeeeeewwww

 

Clean up your mess, and put back in your car.

 

Pat yourself on the back.

 

The fact is that most Z clocks are not "Broken", they just need some lubrication. These Clocks are not know for keeping great time. That said my clock is off by about 1 min a month. Not bad for a 32 year old clock.

[PeterZ]

Good job with the silicone. I just found this thread after replacing my clock. I put in a Quartz clock from a 280. I took mine apart and put the 280 dial and movement into the original housing and bezel. The only problem is the illumination bulb no longer has enough room to fit in the original hole. I will take it out later and install another bulb, maybe LED. My 240 clock was terribly slow but now that it is out I'll try to lube and retest it. I think the clock runs on a pulsed 12 volt source (voltage regulator) to minimize battery drain. I have one of each style clock and I was hoping to find a voltage regulator in the JY so my electronics girlfriend could find out just what fails on them and then adjust for proper operation. Somebody had a good idea to use the clock as a mount for his boost gauge.

[BrandonsZ]

My clock ticks off about 1 minute per hour, but I thought that was the result of traveling near light speed and time/space was warped.

 

Go figure I could just re-lube it.

[Ed260Z]

This is wierd. It's been getting well below 25 deg lately at night, and my clock stops. I guess it's so cold that time is standing still. Once it warms up it will run fast for about 1 hour until it gets close to the actual time. WEIRD

[Here comes trouble]

The old silver Z has a clock that keeps perfect time .... and about the only mechanical that still works

[BrandonsZ]

Japaneese aren't known for perfect timekeeping.

[nienberg.11]

Somebody had a good idea to use the clock as a mount for his boost gauge.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only one to do this, but yeah, after my 3rd clock went out on me, I figured I'd make better use of the space in my dash and adapted the boost gauge into the clock housing.

[Guest Z Draci]

I know a few guys who simply replaced the tick-tock gear wound clock with the internals of a small cheap desktop clock. Of course, it runs on a battery so you'd have to replace it once in a while. For a couple bucks and a AA battery, you get perfect timekeeping!

 

I just love how the original 240Z clock ticks. The only problem with mine is that it only moves when it feels like moving. LOL

[datsun79z]

Having spent many years as a watch repairman, may I offer some advice? While silicone seems like a good idea, there are better. The purpose of oil in a watch/clock is not to lubricate, but to reduce friction. Initially the silicone will do this. However as time passes the silcone will attract dust and contaminates. The silicone will thicken up with these particals and you will now have an abbrasive paste in the gear train. Kinda like adding steel filings to you oil. Depending upon where and how much silicone you put in the gear train, your time piece will gain or lose time and may even stop in cold weather.

 

You are on the right track though. When it comes to lubrication you want to use a premium grade synthetic watch/clock oil (before synthetics, oil from the head of Sperm Whales was used). It's usually sold by the 1/2 oz. Last time I priced it, it was $32.00 for a 1/2 oz. Expensive, yes but a container this size will last for years. You use very, very, little of it at a time. You can probably obtain some from your local watch/clock shop. He/she will most likely give you the amount needed.

 

It is very important to get the gear train clean before starting. A highly refined cleaner that leaves NO residue needs to be used for this purpose. Considering this time piece is not a navigational instrument, a cleaner like Brake Clean or it's equivilant could be used. Don't use the spray tube! It has too much pressure. Just use the nozzle at a distance of about 10 to 12 inches. You intent here is too flush out the old lubricant. Let it dry naturally or by using compressed air at a VERY LOW pressure setting like 1 or 2 psi. VERY LOW. You have now successfully cleaned your time piece. It is now time to lubricate it. You will notice the gear train is "sandwiched" between two metal discs. One is the upper plate and the other is the lower plate. You will notice each gear has a "shaft" running thru it. At each end of this "shaft" you will have a very small pivot, two per shaft, an upper pivot and a lower pivot. THESE ARE THE ONLY TWO POINTS THAT GET ANY LUBE. A very small drop will do (you might tell the clock repairman what you are doing and ask him to show you what is concidered to be a small drop, you might be surprised). Reassemble, cleaning the electrical contacts. If you are succesfull, your clock should give you years of useage.

 

Mike Hintz

[big-phil]

I sprayed the lub on the gears, now the clock is about 2-3 hrs fast every day?