Oddball Lumitime Neon Clock Repair

Рет қаралды 7,928

Ай бұрын

This unicorn electromechanical neon timepiece needs some work - and I discover some unusual things inside. Enjoy!
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- Music by Fran Blanche -
Fran's Science Blog - www.frantone.com/designwriting...
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Пікірлер: 50

@ZylonFPV Ай бұрын

That animated flower looks pretty cool even in 2024

@Petertronic Ай бұрын

I love these clocks. I wouldn't mind the flicker too much - it's part of its charm.

@mikem9403 Ай бұрын

Ooh, I thought would be an amazing Retrobrite transformation but when you took it apart it turned out the plastic actually always was that color!

@marjon1703 Ай бұрын

I love these electro-mechanical devices. They have so much charm compared to modern no-soul products. I am fond of my janky bed side radio-alarm clock that looses tune when I go to the loo and re-tunes when I get back in bed.

@KeritechElectronics Ай бұрын

Lumitime: Gotta catch'em all! Splendid fix. Interesting cardboard and clips idea. Keeps'em apart just fine. I may have my Wago, and you do you :)

@billhines2354 Ай бұрын

Hilarious, the Led Zep reference. My wife and I in our old age constantly one-line song lyrics in our conversations driving each other crazy. :)

@goodun2974 Ай бұрын

The Lumitime theme song for FranLab is "Time Has Come Today" by the Chambers Brothers.

@ZylonFPV Ай бұрын

I use the reverse technique for all screws since I saw it in one of your videos. Think it’s been 200+ screws so far. Thanks fran for the tip!

@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Ай бұрын

Fascinating! Interesting internal design, nice description and internal views of this piece. Thanks!

@wiseoldfool Ай бұрын

I sympathize with those little self-tapping screws. I don't like being torqued down too!

@Allan_aka_RocKITEman Ай бұрын

Fran: *_"This has got some hours on it."_* Being a _clock,_ I would certainly think so...😉

@ASilentS Ай бұрын

The good ole Supco Zoom Spout, never leave home without it.

@goodun2974 Ай бұрын

A pair of teaspoons wedged underneath the Bottom edge of the knobs from opposite sides makes a nice set of levers for prying the knob off, and because you've got a rounded bottom on the spoons they won't mar anything.

@Poppinwheeeeellllllieeeeez 21 күн бұрын

Cool story noob

@jasonthejawman5442 22 күн бұрын

Very Cool❤ i enjoy time peace

@scottthomas3792 Ай бұрын

Pat Pending....one of the Wacky Racers characters....I think. I had a GE mechanical digital clock in high school ( late '70s), that had a single six volt bulb for illumination. It worked until the early 2000s...the clock motor was also the transformer. I probably have seen Lumitime clocks, but I don't remember them if I did. The soot might be from a kerosene heater...the older ones left a sticky layer of soot on things if you didn't use a good grade of kerosene.

@elvinhaak Ай бұрын

Same for newer heaters... I know from experience...

@gregebert5544 Ай бұрын

It's comical how expensive electronic components were back-in-the-day, so mechanical alternatives were chosen. Today, the electronic portion (most of which will last forever) is the least-expensive and mechanical gizmos are avoided wherever possible.

@renowden2010 Ай бұрын

What is the little door with a screw next to the dimmer switch?

@FranLab Ай бұрын

I explain that in part two....

@williefleete Ай бұрын

One thing I realise about the alarm function is there is no distinction between AM and PM

@jbloodwo Ай бұрын

I think my grandma had one of these. So mid 70’s I think

@mikek5633 Ай бұрын

What if you switch the 'direction' of the diode on the brightness control? Would that help with the flickering by making the other element of the neon bulbs the cathode? At least then it would have decent performance on low brightness?

@FranLab Ай бұрын

Wait for part two....

@jamesstout3430 Ай бұрын

Fran, I just luvs your Lumitime videos.

@jezt42 Ай бұрын

If any manufacturers are paying attention and ever think of reproducing these classic clocks, I’d be happy to pay good money for them! Thanks to Fran for keeping alive the memory of these wonderful time pieces. 👍🙂

@sometimesleela5947 Ай бұрын

You could design one for 3d printing and we could all have one :)

@JoshyDaMan08 Ай бұрын

I'm glad you brought up about diodes for brightness control. Yup, it can corrupted their life of the neon lamp. Basically, it can lighted one side of cathode for long period time when lower brightness control. Unfortunately it is not friendly to do so because of flicker. It must have an individual resistor for each neon lamps to order brightness but the problem is their not enough room for it. Well they have diode inside in the place to keep cost down and designed. 💡

@goodun2974 Ай бұрын

What would happen if you used 2 diodes in reverse parallel with each other?

@flymypg Ай бұрын

It's like she's collecting Lumitime Pokemon, and also running a hospital for them! Or is it Tamagotchi? I always get them confused.

@bruceheadley7191 27 күн бұрын

So it's a mechanical gear clock, I'm guessing the gears drive rotary encoders (PCB traces) that select which neon lights to illuminate. A pre-digital digital clock.

@Johnathan_Waters Ай бұрын

I'll bet the "soot" inside is due to it sitting very close to a running CRT Television for many years!

@rikwalton4378 Ай бұрын

Love it! Like, Share and Subscribe! Fran is a KZbin gem!!! Fantastic content 😁

@user-ge4ug9vf3h Ай бұрын

Smoking household!

@elvinhaak Ай бұрын

Lovely design! How does the alarm sound?

@unclefrogy743 Ай бұрын

that clock is interesting, an electro/mechanical marvel but I will never get one I hardly ever pay attention to what time it is. But I will absof'nlutly use a piece of card board why I never thought of such a simple solution to not killing myself I do not know thanks!!

@videogeekin Ай бұрын

Love your videos. * When you are not too busy maybe you could: one thing you rarely see anymore is someone that still has an autoharp. Maybe you could install a pickup on one and demonstrate how they used to be played that way in some folk/rock groups?

@FranLab Ай бұрын

I would be one of those people that has never had an autoharp.

@goodun2974 Ай бұрын

@@FranLab, how about a dulcimer then?

@dhpbear2 Ай бұрын

32:20 - 3D-printing perhaps?

@izzynutz2000 Ай бұрын

My sister got one of these clocks for Christmas as the years went by I ended up with it and I would set it to wake up and it wouldn't do what you were just trying to get it to do from 11:59 to 12:00 and it gets stuck and wouldn't go off so you know what I did with mine I threw it up against the wall one morning when it made me late again in 1984

@JoseSanchez-ht1kc Ай бұрын

Yo tengo uno y no lo puedo poner en marcha porque el motor hace un ruido muy molesto y por la noche no se puede soportar

@apfanco Ай бұрын

Are you able to make a video on how to replace a motor on one of these?

@FranLab Ай бұрын

Replace with what? The motor and gearbox assembly are unique to Tamura clocks, so far as I know.

@apfanco Ай бұрын

@@FranLab replace it with a motor out of a donor

@tedmich Ай бұрын

Nice video Fran! Has anyone had luck reforming the contacts? I've had luck tinning some electromechanical washing machine contacts with solder, but if they're worn copper or bronze maybe not.