First, batteries. Huh? What do batteries have to do with a clock? Everything. All time keeping devices need power. Whether it's a hand-wound mainspring in a ridiculously overpriced Rolex, or the solar charged batteries that power the atomic clocks on a GPS satellites, they all need some form of power. For most quartz watches, the small button batteries they use provide a lot of power density and can run your wristwatch for years. For larger wall or mantle clocks, it's usually the plain old 1.5 volt AA battery. The AA battery has the capacity to power a modern quartz movement for over a year. That's where my problem started. I've got larger (8") desk and mantle clocks scattered around the areas of my house that I spend a lot of time in - my ham radio shack, my computer room, etc. Since my XYL doesn't share my affinity for timepieces, especially ones that look like they were just ripped off the bulkhead of a WWII battleship, I keep them out of the common spaces of our house.
I have two Chelsea quartz clocks sitting almost side-by-side down in my computer room. One is intended to go into my shack, but I'm doing some re-configuring down there, so I placed it next to it's brother. They have different faces, but the movements in both are the same - a pretty good US-made quartz movement that Chelsea has used for years.
With these two clocks side-by side, I can take both in with a single glance. Yesterday I noted one was running 5 minutes slow. Hmmm... must be time for a battery change. I popped the clock open, looked at the movement, and let out a stream of words my grandkids should never hear. The alkaline AA was leaking. Not a lot, but enough to cause some minor corrosion on the contacts. I'm surprised it was still providing enough voltage to keep the clock running; I must have caught it early in its failure cycle. Alkaline batteries have been on the market for over 60 years. Why the hell can't the manufacturers figure out how to make them so they don't leak?
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| Two Chelsea 6"Patriot clocks. Same quartz movements, different faces. These are intended to 'hearken back' to the mechanical clocks Chelsea made by the thousands during WWII for the Army & Navy. The clock on the left suffered the leaky battery, but both are running on lithium cells now. So far they are staying in pretty good sync (focus on the minute hand, not the second hand). Yeah, I know, I need to dust... |
Many of the clocks I own, while not expensive, are somewhat rare and very hard to find. This includes a small number of 24 hour wall clocks made for the US military, and small 3" or 4" diameter military communication center clocks. These show up very rarely on auction sites like eBay. In fact, it's far easier to find a good condition WWII era mechanical communications center clock or Navy deck clock made by Chelsea or Seth Thomas, than it is to find these small communications center clocks with quartz movements. So, it's worth it to take care of them. These make pretty neat ham shack clocks. They are true Army surplus, and were designed during the Cold War for use in communications vans, bolted to a bulkhead. Plus, with clock faces between 3 1/2" & 4", they are an ideal size to sit on a desk next to a radio.
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| The Franklin clock (right) is all plastic with a simple friction fit housing. The Timecrafters (left) is a very sturdy and complex aluminum housing and mount. Franklin is still in business, but Timecrafters is long gone, and there's no info about the company on the web. I suspect it was connected in some way to Timex |
It's interesting that these two clocks carry the same National Stock Number (NSN), but their cases are completely different designs. The Franklin is all plastic, with a simple friction fit mount. The Timecrafters is a delightfully Rube Goldberg-ish contraptions that includes a machined twist-fit mount with a spring loaded keeper, and a small aluminum billet that holds the AA battery in-place when the clock is bouncing around in the back of a comms van. It also has instructions on the mount that aren't just stickers, they are curved, stamped aluminum pieces with what looks to be silk-screened text. Well designed, well executed, and probably overkill for the intended purpose of the clock. But who cares, I love it! Both clocks utilize German made movements, and both keep excellent time. I've run the Franklin for almost a year, and it keeps time to within 2 seconds per month.
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| The Timecrafter's off its base. Note the details on the base, including the brass spring loaded detent for locking the clock to the base, and the aluminum billet that holds the AA battery in place. Unnecessarily but delightfully over-built! |
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| The Timecrafters movement. This is the only quartz clock movement I've seen that incorporates a 'hack' feature - the Stop - Start switch. I wish other quartz movement manufacturers incorporated this in their movements |
What about the wooden stands these two clocks are mounted to? They are just appropriately sized bookends I got off of Amazon. They look good and work well as clock stands.
I'll wrap this up by answering the question many of you may have - do they glow? Why yes, they do! Each of these clocks have hands and numerals that have been painted with lume. I'm assuming it's not radioactive, since these fade out fairly quickly after being exposed to light. But the fact that 40 year old clocks can still glow is neat.
What's next? Well, I'd like to find at least one spare, either a Franklin or Timecrafters. Each of these are the only ones I've ever seen come up for auction on eBay, so I'll continue to haunt the auction sites and on-line dealers to see if I can score at least one more. If anyone out there knows where I can find one of these, or a similar design, I'd love to hear from you!
W8BYH out
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