Author Topic: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind  (Read 6074 times)
TheUniversalDave1
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The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « on: June 18, 2014, 11:13:16 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
This wonderful clock was made in Cincinnati, OH. I can appreciate it because I was IN Cincinnati on my trip up to Cleveland. I got it at a thrift store for some $4.99. This clock is very big, a good 13-14" in diameter. It keeps perfect time, but for whatever reason, it pulls 120 watts and around 1.3 amps. It doesn't get hot or anything, and makes no abnormal noises. I'm guessing it is from the 1950's.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2014, 11:16:53 PM by TheUniversalDave1 » Logged
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #1 on: June 19, 2014, 12:14:33 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
That's a pretty cool clock. But my god, 120 watts!? That's insane. Is it a synchronous motor movement which makes the seconds hand move smoothly around instead of ticking? I've got a Westclox alarm clock with that type of movement, and it only draws 2 watts, so 120 for a slightly larger clock can't be right...
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #2 on: June 19, 2014, 01:55:15 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
Yes, it is a synchronous movement. The brand is Synchron, to be exact. The label on the back said it was supposed to draw 3 watts. 
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #3 on: June 19, 2014, 02:42:31 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
I personally wouldn't use it, then. Sounds like there's a short in the coil, and it could be a fire hazard. There's no way that much current can flow through a small coil and it not eventually combust.
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #4 on: June 19, 2014, 02:52:24 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
But it's so cool to see the second hand go around smoothly!

Fine. I'll unplug it. :(
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #5 on: June 19, 2014, 02:54:07 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
You could replace the movement with another one. Or maybe even rewind the coil. I've never played with synchronous motors, though, so I don't know for certain. It would certainly be expensive to run, at the very least.  :P
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #6 on: June 19, 2014, 02:59:42 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
I checked it again and found that is is only drawing around 95 watts and draws around .95 amps of current.

Now it's back to 115 watts and 1.19 amps! Why would it be varying up and down so much?

What the heck?! I turned off all of my fluorescent lights, and now it's only drawing 22 watts and .18 amps! Has my Kill-A-Watt gone on holiday or something?
« Last Edit: June 19, 2014, 03:03:24 PM by TheUniversalDave1 » Logged
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #7 on: June 19, 2014, 03:02:44 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
A short can be unpredictable. It could also possibly be arcing inside.

Yay, I'm a senior now.  :D  :P
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #8 on: June 19, 2014, 03:07:28 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
I turned off every discharge light source on the circuit and now, it's drawing 3 watts and .07 amps. What is going on here?
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #9 on: June 19, 2014, 03:10:25 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
What the heck? The clock is the only thing on the Kill-A-Watt, right? That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard. Try various individual and combinations of lights - maybe a particular one has a ballast that's emmitting some sort of interferance that's playing games with the Kill-A-Watt?

On the upside, you have a perfectly fine clock.  :D
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #10 on: June 19, 2014, 03:16:35 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
The clock is the only thing getting power (besides the VCR clock) on the circuit. Whichever light I turn on, the power goes up on the Kill-A-Watt. For example, if I turned on my All American Shoplight, the Kill-A-Watt reads 24 watts! When I first tested it, all my lights were on, so I got 120 some watts.

According to the clock/Kill-A-Watt, the only light I'm allowed to have on is the 8' striplight. It's really dark in here.
« Last Edit: June 19, 2014, 03:21:10 PM by TheUniversalDave1 » Logged
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #11 on: June 19, 2014, 03:20:02 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
Hmm... I'm wondering if you have a defective Kill-A-Watt. Malfunctioning filter circuitry, or something. I don't know what Amazon's return policy is, but if it won't cost you anything, it might be in your interest to return it as a defective item and exchange it for another unit.
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #12 on: June 19, 2014, 03:37:26 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
If they made a million Kill-A-Watt meters, and one out of every million was defective, I'd be guaranteed to get the defective one.
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #13 on: June 19, 2014, 06:18:30 PM » Author: Larry
Something just don't sound right.
Those little clock motors should not draw that much current.
120 watts is about .16 HP. :o
Your Kill- A- watt may be defective.

If you use a Amprobe on it, it should just come off the zero only a tiny bit.
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Re: The awesome-est wall clock in the history of mankind « Reply #14 on: July 06, 2014, 04:01:30 AM » Author: randacnam7321
Modern Kill A Watts (not the Kill A Watt EZ) are supposedly very failure prone.  Check to see if the motor ever gets above 'warm to the touch.'  If it does, something is wrong.  Another option is installing a 125mA to 250mA slow blow fuse so that any shorts in the motor will blow that before anything nasty happens.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2014, 04:04:11 AM by randacnam7321 » Logged

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