GE Advertising Clock

[The Bad Tube]

Hello, All!

I'm a newby with a question. I have an advertising clock I inherited from my grandfather. I wasn't too bright when I got it. I put it out in my work area of my hay barn. Now, before you start throwing things, let me ask the question... It has some damage done to the reverse painted dial due to muddobber's nesting in it. When I popped off the nests it took the paint with them.

Is there any way to replace this?

[swankyman]

Nice clock, sure someone will be a long with some wise info to help.

[harold bain]

Hi, bad tube, welcome to the message board. Sorry we missed your thread. The only suggestion I can come up with is to have it professionally restored by a dialpainter. Matching colors is the hard part. Let us know if you want a few recommendations.

[coldwar]

Geez I'm sorry to have missed this thread when it was fresh. I have fogged spray paint on to missing areas in instances such as this when the remainder of the dial was satisfactory to view.

Get a scrap piece of single strength glass and begin trying shades of paint close to the backround color you wish to repair. VERY IMPORTANT: only select enamel paints, and those modern paints which are water based if you can find a close shade. For one off jobs like this, I have used Testors model builders spray enamel in small cans, available in a array of colors. Fog some on your scrap glass, allow to dry, and then view through rear illumination to determine color match, such as your GE clock art displays.

As a sidebar, I use only 15W incandescent lamps, or 15W lamps connected in series if a lesser illumination is desired, or if the clock is displayed in a place where lamp servicing is difficult. They last for years and years connected in series, glow is a dull orange. 25W 250V lamps are about as good, but the larger glass bulb seems too close to glass art for my level of comfort.

Once you have a shade of spray paint close to backround color, then you must decide if you wish to try to clean the bare spots on your GE dial, and the dial art in general. Be very very careful in this step, you can cause a lot more damage, if hasty. If the clock seems not to have a heavy accumulation of smoking or other residues, then simply clean bare spots with a damp rag over one finger. Any window cleaner of any kind, or dousing in water will remove period dial art, so beware.

With the dial ready, place it face down on a old towel on a flat surface. The inside of the dial should be facing upwards. I fog very small amounts of the spray you have chosen towards the bare areas, inwards towards center of dial, at maybe a 30° angle. Walk around edges so you face dial center as you fog. Just cover the bare areas and allow to dry, check results through rear illumination, then proceed if neccesary the same way. This is ticklish business, if you apply so much paint as to appear wet, the solvents or water base in the paint will almost certainly cause more damage to surrounding art, so fog it lightly. Of course you will not restore the missing minute track indications or dial bottom branding by doing so, but if you are careful, the repair looks about 75% or three-feet good when lit.

I have masked and airbrushed multi-color repairs to the screened art when warranted, but it is ultra labor intensive, and you run the same risks of further damage if the greatest care is not exercised. Brushed repairs to my eye seem very evident when back lit, I've never seen a brushed repair job on one of these I could overlook. You can use black 1/8" or 1/16" pinstriping tape applied before the spray paint repair to replace missing minute track markers if you prefer that look. Scarcity of the art and clock unit must factor in to decision of how much work to involve.

The "Wayne" of Wayne's Neon Clocks used to do one off screening repairs on special order, I don't know if the guy who owns it now offers the same service.

http://www.waynesneonclocks.com/

There is a huge selection of reproduced dials available now, you might find a exact replacement through one of the dealers, such as Wayne's. Some of the repros do not have the clock branding at bottom to discourage fraud, so ask that question if they have one for you, or a dial you might like instead. Best - CW