Replacing Clock Mechanism on Battery Operated Clock

Several years ago, my sister invited me to go play bunko with a group of women. I have my own group for Bunko but she was in a different group.

One of the prizes was this clock. I wanted it as it matches my dining room table. It has the spiral carved base and chairs and has the little decoration at the top like the chair tops. 

My sister actually won the game and got the clock but it was around my birthday so she gave it to me for my birthday. I have loved having that clock on my dining table for years. 

Click here to see a post about my table and see more how the clock matches it.  

One day it stopped working and I took a look in the back to find that the battery had leaked acid and it had seeped into the workings of the clock and I tried for some time to repair it but it was beyond my ability to fix it.

I didn't want an "un-working" clock there so I kept my eye out at second hand stores in hope I would find a similar clock to use the part to fix my clock. 

I even searched online and at some craft stores to see if I could find a similar one that would have the swinging pendulum ability that mine came with. 
 
I found several but when I tried to put them in, they were too large to fit into the back of the clock.  Or, the pendulum was too long and hung down below the clock face where the parts could be seen.
 
I have probably spent more on used clocks looking for a replacement part than it would have been to replace it with a new clock but I have never seen one like it before and even online, there are millions of black clocks.

I was THRILLED when I saw this brown "Coo coo" clock at a second hand store new for $2. The size and mechanism looked right. Knowing it was new was good so that I didn't have to take a chance that the part wouldn't work as I have purchased used ones before that had the same problem as my original. 


To remove the clock parts to replace them or to get the new mechanism out of the new clock, pull the hands straight off the face of the clock. 


Be careful not to bend them if they are metal. They will bend if you pull from the hands so make sure you hold it in the center. 

Then, there is a little screw / nut that has a weird shape around the base holding the clock mechanism in. I have never had to use a tool but just use rubber gloves if needed to get a grip on it and unscrew it. I use my fingernails but you could also use pliers or two screwdrivers angled in the slots if needed.

I wanted my minute and hour hands to be black and they were white on the bird clock so I just took a Sharpie and colored them black. The regular black worked better than the Poster Paint Sharpie so just use regular black or different color Sharpie if you want to color them if they are white. 


Sometimes, the clock hands are interchangeable and you can keep the old hands you had originally and other times, the size is just a bit off and you have to use the new hands. 

It just depends on the clock. I was able to keep the second hand on my old clock which I liked better as it was black and not red the new one had. The hands wouldn't exchange so you take your chances but if the Sharpie didn't work, you could spray paint them if needed. 

Basically, once you have the hands and nut off, the rest should come out easily except for if there is a case holding it on the back, you will need to pull the little plastic clamps out so you can get just the square mechanism out. 

If there is a pendulum, you may need to take the entire square and surrounding piece. I had to take both pieces. 

You then put the front on if needed. Many don't have front face covers but mine does. Also, if you look in the picture above, you can see the plastic piece hanging down where the new pendulum hangs, is too long for this clock. 

I thought about just wiring it on but decided to actually make it work without wires. I figured I could do something with my dremel tool set of tips.


I took a dremel tool and drilled a little slit hole at the base of the magnet square and you can see it just looks like a "slit" in the plastic below the bigger hole. 
 
You can see in the pictures above that the pendulum hangs on a little flat hook that would fit in that slit I made using a drill bit from my dremel set.

I then took a cutting tool and cut off the base of the pendulum just below where I had cut the slit into it. Before putting the Dremel away, I checked to make sure it was the right length and fit the hanging piece well as you can see in this picture. 

You can see in the top picture that the clock works great and the pendulum swings just fine. It is like new and I am thrilled. 
 
As I was eating dinner recently I was looking at the clock and I prayed that I would be able to fix it as I thought about getting rid of it if I couldn't make it work right. 

God doesn't disappoint as it has been years of me looking and I am SO grateful He blessed me to have my prayer answered. I know I was inspired how to fix the bottom pendulum holder as well as in the video, I mention just wiring it but then the picture of how to fix it came into my mind. 

It is the little things that make life joyful. Having a clock my sister gave me that looks beautiful may seem like small things but they are things I give gratitude for non-the-less.