Hot Rods 6 volt clock test?

I have a 50 Ford 6 volt clock I need to test but do not have a 6v battery. Will a 9 volt battery "spark" it? Thanks

 

Try four AA in series……1.5v x 4 = 6v. The 9v may work…..as I recall, the ‘electric’ part just rewinds the clock periodically……not sustained power.

Ray

 

this would work and not very pricey
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rayovac-Zinc-Chloride-6-Volt-Battery/50146316

 

12v will work, too. The coil is designed for 6 volts, but it will operate on 12v, and it is on such a short time that it won't have a chance to get hot with the extra current flowing through it.

A 9v battery probably does not have nearly enough current to make the coil pull hard enough to wind the clock. They're made to power transistors, not solenoids

 

The one I rebuilt for my Plymouth used particularly heavy gauge wire (and still stuck and burned out like they love to).

Modern alkaline batteries have a much lower internal resistance than they used to, you should get a nice click out of a little 9V square battery. It'll pop a decent spark off the terminal, too.

 

I use a 1 amp fuse and a 6 volt lattern battery .

 

changed my 55 over to 12 Volt about a year ago and the clock has been working fine every since. I don't think it's a problem to use a 12 Volt power source, it only uses power for a split second to wind then runs on the clock spring for a few minutes till it winds again. As mentioned, you will hear a click when it winds.

 

I have been running my 6 V clock in my 49 Buick on 12 V for 6 years with no problems.

 

check it with a 6/12 volt battery charger...

 

Thanks for all the replies.

 

I think the voltage just winds the spring. Mine for 1-2 seconds about every 5 minutes. The points that carry the current need to be clean..

 

I use a 4 amp 6v charger to test all my 6v parts and it works great without any damage..

 

This is the inside of a 6 volt clock .At the top is the solenoid that moves the plunger out ,tripping the points at the lower right .

 

So, the Pos. lead from a 6V Rayovac to the wire & the Neg. lead to a ground & it should work instantly?

 

I don't think old clocks care about polarity. If you switch the leads it won't run backwards.

 

It’s funny they were called “electric”. They were electric “wind up” spring and functioned mechanically.

 

I have a 12V clock that stopped working. At the suggestion of a HAMBer, I discovered that a brass internal ground strap was oxidized enough to lose conductivity, and the tungsten points that rewind the mechanism were dirty from 50+ years of use. Cleaned them both up and it worked like new again. If yours doesn't click when you apply power to it, it might be something to look for if you decide to open it up.

 

So, if you apply a 6V battery to one, is there a lag time between the "wind up" & when the needles actually start moving to keep time? When I hooked up the positive lead to the wire & the negative to one of the mounting posts, all I got was some sparking from the lead to the post. No needle movement. I don't want to open the thing up to see if there's anything obvious going on if I don't have to...like a lag time between power & the finished winding procedure. Am I missing something?

 

I don’t know, when it winds down the points touch and a solenoid winds the spring so it continues to work on my 56 which is 12v neg ground. As it runs, the spring winds down and the points touch staring the process over again.

 

When the spring winds down and the points close the solenoid activates, the spring rewinds in a fraction of a second.
This same action also opens the points and removes power to the solenoid. When the spring is wound and the
points are open, there will be no spark or arc at the wire terminal. If you have an old clock and you touch a hot
wire to the terminal and no spark or arc is present, open the clock up and begin the checking process with
the points, solenoid, and winding spring.

 

And a 1 amp fuse is a good idea as well

 

Doesn't seem to matter, but is it a negative ground car?

 

Yes, but the clock is not in the car.