Question for a clockmaker

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pgrbff

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Several years ago I bought a job lot of Punkt AC01 bedside clocks, 6 in all I think. They were new and came with their boxes.
Over the last six months, they have all failed. The last one was this morning.
Is it not odd that they should all fail in such a short time? I think they now retail at over 250 euro each but can be found on Amazon for half that.
Is it likely they can be fixed? Can a clock that costs that much really be considered disposable?
 
I have come across your question before but came to the conclusion even though they carry a hefty price tag the one I looked at was in my opinion very cheaply made so I took it no further.

(i believe the name Punkt means Full stop)
 
No - simply 'point' -- though, when I was selling audio, we referred to 'Blaupunkt' as 'Blue Spot' .
The guy that owned the clock told me he had been researching the maker and an interesting point was made the name means "Full stop" so I guess it's a throw away he said.

I just did a search and here it is:

fullstop.JPG
 
The guy that owned the clock told me he had been researching the maker and an interesting point was made the name means "Full stop" so I guess it's a throw away he said.

I just did a search and here it is:

View attachment 160664
Ah.... didn't do any 'research' just quoted from memory - which will always be tainted with prior usage :)
 
It strikes me as odd that all should fail within a six month window! Are you sure it’s not an issue with the batteries?! ;-)

I would suggest that the body of the clock, would be where the bulk of manufacturing costs is, and that were they in warranty, the manufacturer would give you a whole new clock, or replace the movement.

The question really, is can you repair them? And can you do so in such a way that it is economically viable and overcome any possible inherent issues with the design or a component?
 
The Punct uses a Japanese (presumably SEIKO) quartz movement which is easily available as a replacement unit costing less than £10.

It wouldn't surprise me if Punct had 'their' movements made with non-standard hand fittings though so it may need some special collets made but that's somewhat trivial.
 
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Miyota is a very common quartz movement in watches, don't know if they do clocks as well. Generally the makers name and model number will be marked on it somewhere. And yes they are very cheap, you will often find that particularly "designer" watches like Tommy Hilfiger, Fossil etc that cost hundreds of pounds have a Miyota movement that you can buy for ten quid, so what they are paying for them is anybody's guess. Even the higher quality Swiss made quartz movements are only in the region of £30. They can potentially be repaired, but not worth the effort when a replacement is so cheap. As a general rule quartz movements have standard size hand shafts. And at the risk of seeming snobbish quartz clocks or watches are not something that any watchmaker is generally interested in, the joy is in the machinery. Can't really work up any enthusiasm for anything that takes batteries, although there are exceptions like the Hamilton electric watches. :)
 
And at the risk of seeming snobbish quartz clocks or watches are not something that any watchmaker is generally interested in, the joy is in the machinery.
That's one reason that (using Quartz movements) I create clocks with the additional complication of a 'Day of Week' wheel which is driven from the hour hand spindle.

A sort of 'half way house' :)
 
Sorry to take this thread of topic but I have a grandmother clock that I inherited from my mother that I can rember being in my grandparents house when I was a child. I don't think that it has much value but it has stopped working and I would like to have it repaired does anybody know of a reasonable priced clock repairer in or around Bedfordshire.
Many thanks in advance.
Paul
 
There is a place in Baldock, don't know the name but next to the major crossroads near the railway station. Never been in there, but he has some good stuff in the window and seems to specialise in antique clocks. When you say it has stopped working, what exactly is it doing? Is it weight driven, if so how many weights and are they suspended on cords or chain? Any idea of its age? Some photos of the movement from each side would be helpful. If you want to pm me I might be able to have a look at it for you. Depending on how recently it has been running it could be something quite simple, especially if it has been moved. It might just need putting back into beat.
 
Assuming it was working ok previously then one of the simplest issues, especially if the clock stopped working after being moved, is that the floor it's standing in isn't at the same level as where it was before, so if your floor is dead level, and where it was before was slightly off or vice versa this will put it out of beat. This is particularly true of long case clocks, owing to their height. Being a mm or two off can easily stop them. You also need to ensure that it is standing up straight, and not leaning forward or back. You can check this by taking the hood off and looking at the top of the pendulum. You will see that it passes through a slot in another rod, this is called the crutch. It should be reasonably central in the slot, certainly not touching at front or back. If it is only slightly off then this can be corrected by simply inserting something under the front or back of the case as appropriate. Veneer edge banding is good. Symptoms of being out of beat are that it will run for maybe a minute or two and then stop. You will also probably notice that the beats sound different, usually louder on one side than the other. Easy to check. Attach a piece of paper to the inside of the case back behind the pendulum with blu tac or similar, as low as you conveniently can. Stop the pendulum and let it settle. Now mark that position on the paper. Now move it slowly to one side until the clock tics, and mark that position on the paper. Move it slowly the other way and repeat. If the clock is in beat then the marks to either side should be equidistant from the centre. If not then the easiest way to correct it is to insert something under the feet or plinth on the side with the longer distance to lift it slightly on that side until you can repeat the measurements and get them the same. This will be fine if it's not far out. If it is a long way out then the movement itself will need adjustment, or there could be something more seriously wrong. I wouldn't advise doing any adjustments to the movement yourself unless you know what you are doing, you could potentially do a lot of damage. As a guide I would say if you need more than maybe three strips of veneer to correct it, then time to get someone in to adjust it. Unless of course your floors are a long way off being level, in which case you may need to make up a board for it to stand on to compensate. Had to do this at my dad's cottage, don't think there was a right angle or level surface in the whole place!
 
That's one reason that (using Quartz movements) I create clocks with the additional complication of a 'Day of Week' wheel which is driven from the hour hand spindle.

A sort of 'half way house' :)
My Grand mother had an amazing clock where on the hour two little guys would emerge, one holding a gong, the other a hammer. The fella with the hammer would duly bang out the hours on the gong. As a small child I was amazed how such a tiny gong could make such a noise. Now of course I know that these little guys actually had nothing to do with it! Don't know what happened to it when she died.
 
Several years ago I bought a job lot of Punkt AC01 bedside clocks, 6 in all I think. They were new and came with their boxes.
Over the last six months, they have all failed. The last one was this morning.
Is it not odd that they should all fail in such a short time? I think they now retail at over 250 euro each but can be found on Amazon for half that.
Is it likely they can be fixed? Can a clock that costs that much really be considered disposable?
Looking at the manual, they have 2 different battery systems taking 3 batteries in total, one for the mechanism; one for a light. Have you tried replacing all the batteries?

https://www.punkt.ch/repofiles/Manuali/AC01/13-AC01_QG_en.pdf
 
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