General > General Technical Chat

Cheapo clock tear up.

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CatalinaWOW:
Lots of entertainment for such a limited subject.  I have taken apart quite a few of this type of movement and the number of minor variations on the basic idea is actually kind of impressive.  Why bother looking?  Standard answer, the same curiosity that led me into an engineering career.

While I have several times contemplated programming up a micro to do some fancier functions than these things do, i just keep buying one of these movements when I want to make a clock.  They do the job very well.  In my experience they are usually accurate enough to last until the next daylight savings time forced adjustment and they are far cheaper than the pieces I would have to buy for functionality that isn't that compelling.

edavid:

--- Quote from: DrG on January 04, 2022, 11:32:56 pm ---So, beyond the crystal oscillator, it would seem that electromagnet pulse width needs to be fairly precisely specified so that only a single gear-tooth move is produced - that is what I think is so neat.

--- End quote ---

The mechanism is designed so the pulse width doesn't matter.


--- Quote ---Instead of anything resembling a civil response which would include ADMITTING that what I said here is absolutely correct:

"Movement is accomplished by two magnets. One is a permanent magnet inside the base of that first gear. The other is an electromagnet (i.e., that coil). Energizing the coil creates a repelling magnetic pulse that moves the gear".


--- End quote ---

I think that statement is so vague, that you can't really say it's correct or incorrect as a whole.  However, the part where you say the coil repels is incorrect, so doesn't that mean the statement is not "absolutely correct"?

Even if we agreed it was correct, I don't see how it's useful in understanding the mechanism.


DrG:

--- Quote from: edavid on January 05, 2022, 02:54:41 am ---
--- Quote from: DrG on January 04, 2022, 11:32:56 pm ---So, beyond the crystal oscillator, it would seem that electromagnet pulse width needs to be fairly precisely specified so that only a single gear-tooth move is produced - that is what I think is so neat.

--- End quote ---

The mechanism is designed so the pulse width doesn't matter.


--- Quote ---Instead of anything resembling a civil response which would include ADMITTING that what I said here is absolutely correct:

"Movement is accomplished by two magnets. One is a permanent magnet inside the base of that first gear. The other is an electromagnet (i.e., that coil). Energizing the coil creates a repelling magnetic pulse that moves the gear".


--- End quote ---

I think that statement is so vague, that you can't really say it's correct or incorrect as a whole.  However, the part where you say the coil repels is incorrect, so doesn't that mean the statement is not "absolutely correct"?

Even if we agreed it was correct, I don't see how it's useful in understanding the mechanism.

--- End quote ---

Well, I believe you went you say that you don't see how it is useful and that is OK, but I don't think your post is useful in understanding anything that interests me - not unlike your inability to understand that you alone are not the only one who understands that a 6501 is not the same as a 6500/01 as from your missive from a few weeks ago. Thanks so much for reminding me of your nickname.

DrG:

--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on January 05, 2022, 02:13:04 am ---Lots of entertainment for such a limited subject.  I have taken apart quite a few of this type of movement and the number of minor variations on the basic idea is actually kind of impressive.  Why bother looking?  Standard answer, the same curiosity that led me into an engineering career.

While I have several times contemplated programming up a micro to do some fancier functions than these things do, i just keep buying one of these movements when I want to make a clock.  They do the job very well.  In my experience they are usually accurate enough to last until the next daylight savings time forced adjustment and they are far cheaper than the pieces I would have to buy for functionality that isn't that compelling.

--- End quote ---

So happy that I could be the source of entertainment for you. I have lots of material :)  When I searched on that little clock box, I found hundreds of examples and was in the process of trying to locate the patent on this one.

One thing that I do want to comment on is your statements

--- Quote ---Why bother looking?  Standard answer, the same curiosity that led me into an engineering career.
--- End quote ---

Now, I am not trying to insult you and I trust you know that I would not be too subtle if I were, but those statements whether intended or not, really illustrate to me, some difference between an EE and a Behavioral Scientist. Now, I am happy that curiosity about anything captured your focus, I always am happy to hear about that, assuming the curiosity was not about unscrupulous activities.

I was going to throw the clock out. It was old and crusty and somewhat yellowed. Yes, I did fix it (if you call identifying some oxidation on a contact and cleaning it off, fixing), but that was not going to rejuvenate the age and I did not care to find out if it lost even more accuracy. My point is that such an experience, for me, was driven by a simple curiosity that I have had all my life about anything and it would never inspire me to go into EE.

Instead, the pathological  behaviors (my opinion) of folks who become keyboard warriors believing that they are operating anonymously is just one of a kazillion aspects of human behavior that inspired me to go into and stay into the Neurosciences - something I have never regretted over decades of work which I call the best work a person could have - trying to understand the nervous system.

Hey, different strokes for different folks - just saying and, of course, it is what it is :)

MK14:

--- Quote from: joeqsmith on January 05, 2022, 01:56:02 am ---I still ask myself, why....

--- End quote ---

It is a bit like the question, does Bill Gates bother to pick up a $10 note, he accidentally drops ?
Which he got asked (or similar), and he said "He would", if I remember correctly.
I guess we learn (and/or keep in practice) from doing such repairs, and somehow it feels bad/wasteful/sinful to just throw such items away.
I'm often curious how they work. How come they are so cheap to manufacture ?
But especially, how come they manage to last, for perhaps a year, on a relatively small AA battery, despite (slowly) spinning round all those hands, throughout the year, with a (usually) inefficient motor (or stepper mechanism).

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