1970s Keeping the clock cool

[_Cap_]

So with a bunch of experimenting I figured out my problem with my clocks, they are getting too hot in my car. At first i thought it was a voltage thing, but its not. They only stall whenever its very hot.
Right now i have my dash taken apart, making the clock exposed which is probably why its getting hot sitting in the school parking lot during a Florida summer.
My guess is the heat expands the gears slightly which causes extra resistance in the system, and stalls the old motor.

This issue might be fixed once i put my dash back together, however I don't think I want to take that chance if i don't have to.

Im looking for ideas on how to passively cool the clock? My guess would be to put some kind of foam or stick on padding to help dissipate the heat?

[James Landi]

I've fiddled with these clock mechanisms on various occasions over many years... my take.. as you know, the "winding mechanism" creates a sharp spring action that provides kinetic energy for a relatively short period of minutes for the clock escape mechanism to unwind, and OVERTIME, various wear points  develop that are hard to discern, yet they cause the mechanism to jamb... failure I've observed occurs when the armature locks on to the electric points causing the electromagnet to heat, begin to melt, and eventually burn out the coil.  Some lubrication will extend the life of the clock, but the "service life" when new is relatively short, lasting only several years. I think your observation regarding tropical heat and clock mechanism failure is likely more a symptom rather than a cause of the failure. There are several options available... Rebuilders have been mentioned on this forum, and I've read about electronic substitutions that can be fitted into the existing shell. Hope this helps.  James

[_Cap_]

Ive thought about the fact that the clocks could just be going bad, but my issue with that is I can have them running for over a week perfect in my room, or when its cloudy. Could be the heat just impacting the already bad motor. However the second my car cools down, even by only a little bit the clock goes right back to working.

I would send it off to get a quartz inside put in, but those installers cost a small fortune, and I don't have that much to be spending at the moment.

When i get my car back from body work, I'm going to try and put a towel or something over the clock to imitate the dash and see if i even have anything to really worry about

Thanks though, i did not know those clocks had such a short life span, figured that coil could last ages, along with the rest of the mechanism, except that drive gear, guess not.
-Morgan

[dn010]

Being in Florida, I don't think there is much you can do to keep components of the interior cooler when it gets so hot inside. If it's 120 inside, everything will be 120 except things exposed to the sun which would be even hotter. If the clock is exposed, then put something over it, maybe some cork tape around it if it is a concern. Also as mentioned above, I like to take the cover over and hit the moving parts of these old clocks with some WD or PB. Seems to make them work a lot better, I've even brought many clocks back to life this way.