Electric Clock-Motors - Caution

From The American Horologist and Jeweler magazine, January, 1946

 Electric Clock-Motors - Caution

An article in your October issue has just come to our attention and in order to correct any false impressions which might be left with dealers and repair men we thought it well to give you our version on the subject in question. The particular item we have reference to is Contest Article No. 92, Page 39 and 40 which has reference to motor noises. The article states "Maybe some have had trouble with noises in Telechron or other sealed motors. One remedy is to drill a small hole in the motor, so it will be on top when the motor is in use. Then clean out, partly fill with a light oil; then seal the hole. This will· even help some motors that are frozen."

We do not recommend such a practice and have done everything possible to discourage it for a number of reasons. If a motor becomes noisy it is either due to the fact that the unit has lost its oil or that some parts have become worn in such a way as to cause noise. In either event we would replace such a unit here at the factory with a completely new one since we know from long experience that it is not practical to attempt to repair units which have failed for any reason. New oil will not correct mechanical difficulties caused by worn parts. Also when drilling a hole into the case shell it is entirely possible that some particles of the copper from the case will fall into the gear train and later become jammed between the small teeth of the gears and cause the unit to stop. It is true that units can be made to run for a little while by such treatment but the unit will stop due to the same reasons that it failed in the first place. The exchange price of a sealed rotor unit to a dealer or repair man would be 86 cents which includes the salvage allowance on the old unit, and it would certainly not be profitable to attempt to repair old units for this amount. Replacement units may be secured from any of our authorized service stations or from our factory.

Our rotor units are oiled during the process of manufacture with a definite quantity of oil sufficient to lubricate the gear train by capillary action. The units are afterwards sealed for life and no further oiling is necessary. 

O.B. McClintock Clock

Here's an electric clock by the O.B. McClintock Co, Minneapolis Minn. 

Signal Clocks Solve Emergency Guard Problem in West's Largest Hospital

From The American Horologist and Jeweler magazine, March, 1942

Signal Clocks Solve Emergency Guard Problem in West's Largest Hospital
By LUCIUS S. FLINT

At Los Angeles, California, County General& ;Hospital, one of the major& ;units in the city's entire hospital preparedness plan and one of the largest situations in the United States, electric clocks are playing a vital part in preparation against air raids and sabotage. One problem was how to summon guards to any given point in minimum time - a real problem in an institution covering 56 acres and having 135 different buildings.

Obviously it would be impossible to have a guard constantly available in every corner. Yet, in case an attempt was made to set fires or otherwise to sabotage the establishment, the lives of thousands, to say nothing of millions of dollars worth of property, would hinge on quick action.

Electric clocks, which are scattered through the building corridors, solved the call problem. These clocks have light bulbs behind the faces for illumination. By replacing white bulbs with red ones and re-wiring the sockets in series, connecting the special circuits with a single pushpull on switch in the telephone operator's booth, the management had an almost instantaneous call system.

The hospital is normally equipped with hundreds of telephones. Since the war emergency arose, scores of additional ones have been installed-some out on the grounds, some on the building roofs and others at equally strategic locations. Thus, should need for a guard arise, the operator, being informed, has only to push a switch which turns on the red light in every clock in the hospital. In a matter of seconds one guard would come within visual range of a clock.

General Electric Presents New Mantle-Type Clocks

From The American Horologist and Jeweler magazine, July, 1946

General Electric Presents New Mantle-Type Clocks

BRIDGEPORT, CONN.-The Rhapsody, the Maestro and the Concerto, three new General Electric mantle-type clocks, are now being shipped in limited quantities, R. O. Fickes, manager of the company's clock division, has announced.

Each of the three new models has a mahogany case, a quiet and efficient G-E mechanism and full Westminster chimes which strike each quarter hour.

The mantle chime clocks are self-starting and their precision motors are sealed in oil.

The Westminster chimes featured on the three models are classic and are said to be based on a theme from the opening of Handel's Symphony, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." The chimes were first fitted into the tower clock of the University Church, St. Mary's the Great, in Cambridge, England, and were later reproduced on a large scale in the Victoria Tower Clock of the House of Parliament. 

Denver Shop Specializes in Electric Clock Repair

From The American Horologist and Jeweler magazine, October, 1946

Denver Shop Specializes in Electric Clock Repair

Time Ltd., 1554 California Street, Denver, Colorado, is the only shop in the city that is fully equipped to repair all types of electric clocks, according to the owner, Mr. H. O. Huntington.

Although Time Ltd., now in its third year of business, is strictly a one man business, Mr. Huntington pointed out that his shop carries the largest stock of electric clock parts in the entire Rocky Mountain Region.

Electric Clock Runs for More Than 40 Years

From Horology magazine, December, 1937

Electric Clock Runs for More Than 40 Years 

Daniel Draubaugh's Product Keeps Regular Time in Jeweler's Office

Lemoyne, Pa. - Swinging a twentyfour pound brass ball for its pendulum, the last of the Daniel Drawbaugh electric clocks, built more than fifty years ago, still is keeping regular time in a corner of a jeweler's office here.

Encased in solid walnut, the clock is one of a half-dozen Drawbaugh built in his Eberly Mills workshop, and the only one of its kind that is known to have turned its wheels for more than forty years of existence.

All six clocks were of the "grandfather cabinet" design and operated on wet batteries, using approximately 5 cents a year of electricity.

The timepiece is virtually the same, if not the identical clock, Drawbaugh exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876 while the patents for which he had applied were still pending.
Said by some persons to have been the "real inventor" of the telephone, Drawbaugh constructed the clocks piece-by-piece, each part molded by hand. 

Unusual Electric Clock Showing International Time

From Horology magazine, December, 1937

Unusual Electric Clock Showing International Time

Many clocks of similar construction have been made showing international time, this clock, however, shows the hours, minutes as well as seconds for each country.

The dial is ten inches in diameter and in order to get the drive for the second hands on each of the small dials as well as the large dials, the clock movement was specially constructed.

In all, there are fifty-five wheels in the train and the clock is driven by a synchronous electric motor. In setting the hands to time, they are all controlled simultaneously from one setting post. The clock was designed and constructed by Norman Utz and Eldon Zeaske, students of the Elgin Watchmakers' College. 

New Variations in Electric Clocks?

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43532031/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/

In between the purely mechanical era and quartz becoming common, clocks that based time on 60 cycle household current were very common.


"Since 1930, electric clocks have kept time based on the rate of the electrical current that powers them. If the current slips off its usual rate, clocks run a little fast or slow. Power companies now take steps to correct it and keep the frequency of the current — and the time — as precise as possible."

In fact, electric clocks can be more accurate than quartz timers.  This type of clock still exists, but is much less common than it used to be.  Increasingly, consumer devices get time from a cable or phone service, or via the internet.

Power companies are now expected to begin experimenting with reducing the corrections that currently keep the power system's frequency steady.

"wall clocks and those on ovens and coffeemakers — anything that flashes "12:00" when it loses power — may be just a bit off every second, and that error can grow with time."