Restoration of a Meccano clockwork motor from 1920s-1930s

This Meccano prewar clockwork motor (later type number 1A) was quite clean but totally dry of any lubricants. The motor was noisy and running time was 28 seconds with free load.
The spring is very powerful. It is important to protect hands and eyes when working with it. At first, I tried to secure the spring with strong nylon cable ties but they broke suddenly, without warning. I eventually ended up using a steel hose clamp.
I used brake fluid for the first time to clean the unpainted parts. It wasn’t very effective, so finally I cleaned the gears and small parts with benzine. Painted surfaces were vulnerable and I cleaned them with universal cleaning wipes and mild soapy water.

[@user-rf9me7xm1w]

Fascinating, I had the later model which had a reverse mechanism. I can vividly remember getting the skin between my thumb and first finger being trapped between the cogs on the edge of the motor. I had to reverse the motor drive shaft with my other hand to get it out. OUCH.

[@johnmeccanitian]

That's really OUCH!

[@BaldyMakesStuff]

Lovely video. I'm surprised you didn't get a significantly better performance after your restoration.

[@johnmeccanitian]

Thanks! I was bit frustrated the final performance after quite a hard renovation. Specially the noise was disappointing. However, it was interesting and instructive journey inside the No. 1A motor. Let’s see how the motor will work in practice in my upcoming project.

[@spacemanmat]

Actually I think it turned faster, hence was more noisy. So both faster and longer would be a good result

[@meccanoman]

Excellent video!! Soap and water can work wonders. Bet you get another 100 years outta that sucker.

[@johnmeccanitian]

Thanks Meccano Man!

[@keithammleter3824]

if it got noiser, perhaps a heavier oil should have been used. The slightly longer run time and the sound indicates it was not running faster. When I was about 6 one of my father's workmates gave me a large collection of used Meccano parts. Included was one of these motors. I used to build tower cranes and mobile cranes about 2 or 3 feet high and the motor proved to have totally inadequate power. I built a Mecanno truck about a foot long with gearbox and differential and this motor proved inadequate for that too. Then I tried hooking it up to turn a toy DC electric motor, expecting it to function as a generator. Naturally that didn't work. It would have needed to turn at several thousand RPM, which being only 6 I didn't appreciate. After that I ignored the motor. But I reckon that building things out of Meccano parts gave me a much better learning and thinking exercise than the following generation of kids that used pretty plastic Lego.

[@johnmeccanitian]

I have also later thought that a heavier oil would have produced a better result. Thank you for the interesting story.

[@Saulsoto]

Woooooow!

[@SteveSmith-wk9dx]

I've acquired a couple of these which need a bit of TLC. One is single direction, the other has the reversing mechanism. Both are in running condition, but grotty inside and prone to sticking (especially the reversible one). I'm wary of the powerful spring and many small components, so thanks for the video. Are there any resources for identifying the age of Meccano motors? These came in a job lot of bits, clearly from many sets with some of them perhaps decades apart. I doubt either is as old as the one you have there but it'd be nice to get an idea where they came from.

[@johnmeccanitian]

Meccano history is very interesting! Visit NZMeccano.com gallery site: www.nzmeccano.com/Gallery.php . Write “clockwork motor” in ‘Search of Images’ window and browse search results. There are plenty of clockwork motor images and information. Hints and tips can also be found on Timothy Edwards' Meccano site: www.meccanoindex.co.uk . Look for example under the title “Meccano Ltd Brochures”. Both sites are excellent databases of Meccano history and information.

[@SteveSmith-wk9dx]

@@johnmeccanitian Extremely helpful, thanks again. I've tentatively ID'd my non-reversing motor as 1931 (dark red case, oval transfer, domed bulge on the back of the winding axle), and 1937 for the reversing motor (dark blue case, round transfer, flat case-back).

[@johnmeccanitian]

@@SteveSmith-wk9dx Oh! Prewar motors - always great!

[@aeromodelisme45]

Merci pour le partage !

[@derekswingler9595]

Was it worth it?

[@johnmeccanitian]

No. But it was an interesting and instructive journey inside the No. 1A clockwork motor 😀

[@derekswingler9595]

@@johnmeccanitian my light hearted comment well answered. I myself spent 2 years repairing a chiming mantle clock which was still unreliable due to spring damage. Replaced movement with an electric system and went onto building a spitfire in Meccano, it didn’t fly!