Jump to content
Due to a large amount of spamers, accounts will now have to be approved by the Admins so please be patient. ×
IGNORED

TZ Clock mod


Recommended Posts

I have a replacement single PCB cfor the TZ clock. I have looked at the parts drawing and figure I need to remove the outside casing. Just wondering about the cogs. Will they or should they remain intact or am I gonna see the old BONG! with cogs, E-clips and whatever flying around my place?

 

Has anyone done this mod? If so can you give me a head-up on what to expect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're a bad man Jacob....my misfortune is always gonna be your source of amusement. Good to see you have a good sense of humour......BUT no laughs for on this one....I hope!!

 

I spent 2 hours rebuilding your original TZ clock only to find out that you bought a new clock board..............wise choice rob, those old pcbs copped a good toasting with the original globes and the leds look better in my opinion, give me a bell if you get stuck.Dave;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Installation of the new board was no trouble whatsoever....but did it work??? Nah! Well all lights and movement but opto 45 minute no go. Did some checking and noticed a washer missing. So I put in something I thought would work....opto fails only 60% of the time. Sooooo I figure the minute hand must be shuddering or something every now and then as the fault is not consistant with any time. Finally loosened the back screws and tightened and loosened and tightened a little differently and not it works 98% of the time. This clock is a bitch and more tempermental than my wife and that's saying something. Anyone else had a similar experience (with the clock that is, not my wife!!!)?

 

BTW the LED lighting really sets off the clock in a much better way than the old PCB. Also installed the piano mod. I think its money well spent to cover that ugly blank metal area above the piano slot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What happens with the clock is the tabs on the hands are not deep enough to properly interupt the infrared sensors consitantly. And to make matters worse if the hands are a bit loose they will sometimes interupt the sensor and sometimes not - I think this is what is happening with yours and was the case with mine

 

What I did was put in a slightly thicker washer so the hand didn't wobble so when it passes the sensor it now always interupts it fully and problem is now 100% fixed. If you dont have a washer you could always extend the tab on the hour and minute hands so that it goes a bit deeper, maybe glue a bit of plastic to it or even shrink some heatshrink over the existing tab

 

I seem to recall it is only one of the hands that has this issue - think its the hour hand - In your case as you have replaced the board this may not be the issue. Mine was with the original clock board that came with the game

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What happens with the clock is the tabs on the hands are not deep enough to properly interupt the infrared sensors consitantly. And to make matters worse if the hands are a bit loose they will sometimes interupt the sensor and sometimes not - I think this is what is happening with yours and was the case with mine

 

What I did was put in a slightly thicker washer so the hand didn't wobble so when it passes the sensor it now always interupts it fully and problem is now 100% fixed. If you dont have a washer you could always extend the tab on the hour and minute hands so that it goes a bit deeper, maybe glue a bit of plastic to it or even shrink some heatshrink over the existing tab

 

I seem to recall it is only one of the hands that has this issue - think its the hour hand - In your case as you have replaced the board this may not be the issue. Mine was with the original clock board that came with the game

 

I totally agree. To be sure, you can test the optos with the clock dismantled, if they are all registering then you know its not an opto fault. As silverbak mentioned, the tabs are often not deep enough to interupt the optos, I have heard that you can heat and bend the hands in a little but have never had to do it myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree 100%. There still is a little play in the minute hand. This is the one with the problem as it seats over the locking pin. I have installed a washer thats 0.8 thick but the specs ask for 0.9 that's how close I am to perfect. The optos are perfect. I leanign towards extending the tab with a bit of insulation tape to test the theory. The manufacturer suggests heating the arm on bending it a little. I have found the clock malfunctions more so on first power up and improves as the clock housing heats up a it....maybe twisiting the arm a little. I also found tweeking the back screws helped with performance as maybe they distorted the PCB out of square or something. I'm sure I'll get there in the end. I've pretty much discounted the PCB as being the problem.

 

Remember its the minute hand (the outside hand) that does most of the work especially in fast mode, and can vibrate a fair bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had to come back to this topic and re-read the suggestions as the minute hand and opto's are working perfect now but the hour is maybe playing up. I see the hour values flicking between numbers at certain positions or times.

 

Can anyone tell me the sequence of parts that make up the clock assembly as I think the manual may be in error. I have the following setup on mine.

 

PCB; clock face; hour hand; washer; pin; minute hand; e-clip. The manual has the washer after the pin, but I can't see how then the minute hand seats over the pin. Am I correct?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Bally, but the manual shows a washer between the pin and hand. So I think I have the correct sequence where it is washer, pin then minute hand otherwise its impossible to slot the pin in....unless the washer I have is way too big in diameter??? I'll have to check
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...