Cuckoo Bradford Exchange Quartz Clock - Nature's Timeless Mystery Cuckoo Clock

[rjdj2000]

Well done added not 1 but 2 quartz cuckoo's to the collection. One being the one named in the title and a Kitten Tails one. Both gotten from Goodwill online and for a decent price, except for the shipping on this one. It arrived today and well it was in a bit of dis-repair to say the least. Some of the wires had been chewed through so it wouldn't trigger at the top of the hour, it had one wire chewed to the speaker. There was some others that had been chewed on but were still good and not totally chewed down to the bare wires or through completely.

I did an initial test to make sure clock worked and after cleaning the battery contacts, it started working fine. Ok that is one thing off the list. Next to figure out where the wires went that went to one plug and come to find out, they were the ones going to the movement to trigger bird/chirps at the top of the hour. The other one went to speaker but one wire was still good. So after stripping the wires back and a quick solder, I put the batteries in for the cuckoo. Press button on the side and all I have is the chirp sound. No movement from the bird.

So I am seeing if anyone here has replaced these in the past and what did you use to do it? I have reached out to Bradford Exchange to try to get a pendulum for the Kitten one and they tried to look me up by name and I said I didn't buy them from their site, that I got it from Goodwill. Hopefully I can get a pendulum from them for it, if not, I'll have to try to make something. Thankfully the Kitten Tails one worked without issue and I couldn't wait to give it to the wife for Valentines Day. She did love it, to which I was surprised a little as she really isn't into clocks, but she has sent me a few she had found on FB marketplace to look at so I must be doing something right... LOL

 

[rjdj2000]

Anyone help on this one.... I have had this running for awhile now and it has been ok outside of bird not coming out like it should. Lately the seconds hand will get stuck anywhere between 50-55 seconds and then just jump a little in place and not advancing. I have tried to find a replacement movement with trigger on it but that has come up with nothing as well as there is the faux pendulum setup in it. Could one put a drop or so of very light oil in where the second hand shaft is to try to lubricate things? I know I probably could attempt to take the movement out and take it apart to service it but I'd really hate to mess it up and then not have it at all.

 

[Willie X]

Maybe you can get a refund ...

Actually, stuff like this should be free for the taking ... or maybe they should pay you a small fee for taking it away!

You can buy complete, non working, vintage German Cuckoo clocks directly from your local Goodwill (or similar) store, for around $3.50. Maybe $10 for a really nice one. Make sure they are complete, otherwise they are close to worthless. Maybe a few bucks for a large box full of broken or incomplete (parts) clocks would be OK. Many of the mechanical parts are repairable or interchangeable, so it's completely posible take 10 junkers and with a large dollop of TLC, come up with 2 or 3 nice clocks.

No offense intended. And for starters, it's best to avoid the clocks with music boxes.

Good luck, Willie X

 

[rjdj2000]

Yeah I know and this particular one I knew I was taking a gamble on it. Paid more in shipping than what I paid for the clock. I've seen some other movements online so will probably see if there are any dimensions on them to try to replace the movement at least so it will tell time and trigger the sounds. I doubt I'll ever get the bird portion working again as I really didn't want to try to split the case to where I can get access to remove the bird housing to see what is wrong with it. It has screws on brackets that hold the back case to the front plate but then there is some sort of glue between the two as well. So getting them apart isn't going to be fun. Being that I know some things about electronics, it may be a simple motor that is messed up or something, but without being able to get the housing out, there is no way to look at it. So for now will at least try to find a replacement movement so it will at least run like it should.

 

[Willie X]

I just hate to spend time on stuff that was never ment to be repaired, with little value, and with no replacement parts available ...

I do understand the 'challenge' aspect though.

Good luck, Willie X

 

[rjdj2000]

Willie,

I actually just got done removing the movement and carefully opened it up. Everything inside was very clean and no damaged teeth on any of the plastic gears. So I got the second hand shaft out with its gear and the shaft had some gunk on it, not much. So cleaned that off and used some tool and instrument oil for high precision calipers and just put enough to wet the 'pivots' for where the seconds hand went along with where the little electromagnet is. Got everything back in the case and it is running fine so far. Will see if it continues to run without stopping at about 55 seconds as that is where it would stop every time I nudged the second hand past where it stopped. I also hate that you can't find parts and I even went to Bradford Exchange to try to find a pendulum. But they said they don't have any replacement parts so I was out of luck there so I made my own using my 3D printer and after some paint and glue, I think it will work fine (pictures below of original and my homemade version)

I found a possible movement replacement at Ronell Clocks, but will see if this one will continue to work before I go down that rabbit hole of changing things out and trying to get original hands to work (most likely they won't)

As I know I'll probably never get the bird to come out as designed, it still is a challenge to me to look into how it is supposed to function and understand it enough to try to get it to do what it is supposed to do. Right now with what I have into this, I hate putting more $ into it and not have it work so just to get the clock to continue to run and the chirps at the top of the hour are good enough for me, for now. Someday I'll either find a replacement unit or get the bird part figured out and operational. Still like the mechanical ones though, no electronics to mess up and you can usually get parts for them to get them back going.

Jeff

Factory Original Pendulum (now on the Kitten clock I got for the Mrs.)

My 3D Printed one for my Wolf clock

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

Well done added not 1 but 2 quartz cuckoo's to the collection. One being the one named in the title and a Kitten Tails one. Both gotten from Goodwill online and for a decent price, except for the shipping on this one. It arrived today and well it was in a bit of dis-repair to say the least. Some of the wires had been chewed through so it wouldn't trigger at the top of the hour, it had one wire chewed to the speaker. There was some others that had been chewed on but were still good and not totally chewed down to the bare wires or through completely.

I did an initial test to make sure clock worked and after cleaning the battery contacts, it started working fine. Ok that is one thing off the list. Next to figure out where the wires went that went to one plug and come to find out, they were the ones going to the movement to trigger bird/chirps at the top of the hour. The other one went to speaker but one wire was still good. So after stripping the wires back and a quick solder, I put the batteries in for the cuckoo. Press button on the side and all I have is the chirp sound. No movement from the bird.

So I am seeing if anyone here has replaced these in the past and what did you use to do it? I have reached out to Bradford Exchange to try to get a pendulum for the Kitten one and they tried to look me up by name and I said I didn't buy them from their site, that I got it from Goodwill. Hopefully I can get a pendulum from them for it, if not, I'll have to try to make something. Thankfully the Kitten Tails one worked without issue and I couldn't wait to give it to the wife for Valentines Day. She did love it, to which I was surprised a little as she really isn't into clocks, but she has sent me a few she had found on FB marketplace to look at so I must be doing something right... LOL

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I suppose the best thing about your purchase is that the funds went to Good Will.

Honestly, and somewhat bluntly.

There are some who feel that quartz clocks are worthwhile. I am not one of them.

I can see no logical reason for purchasing a clock like this, even when new.

I feel there is nothing about them, aesthetically, historically, mechanically, or otherwise that makes them worthwhile of consideration. Repairing this clock, and I'm not that it is, will teach you nothing about clock repair. You will learn nothing about clocks in general from this clock.

As has been stated, there are many antique and vintage cuckoos that are available for a nominal cost and can be repaired, it that is the kind of clock you want.

RM

 

[rjdj2000]

Repairing this clock, and I'm not that it is, will teach you nothing about clock repair. You will learn nothing about clocks in general from this clock.

As has been stated, there are many antique and vintage cuckoos that are available for a nominal cost and can be repaired, it that is the kind of clock you want.

RM

Well I do have several old clocks that I have repaired, etc. and I am always looking at some on there to get and give a good home to. Recently had a bracket clock I was watching go for over $1k and a skeleton clock go for over $600. I'd of loved to had both but not at those prices. I probably have a few worth that in my own collection but being that a) I like clocks in general and b) I also love wolfs so when I saw it, I liked it and got it. I knew that I was taking a big gamble of it totally working. The one I got for my wife is basically the same thing and was only missing the pendulum. So I put the original that came with the wolf clock onto hers and made one for this one. When opening up the movement on it today, there is still all the gearing that a mechanical clock has less the mainspring to drive the movement. It has been replaced by a battery and a coil/magnet. So as of right now, after going into it and just doing a general clean/oil, it has been running since. So doing a general service on the movement has probably saved me the headache of trying to find a replacement movement. How long will it last? I have no idea but I enjoy my clock just the same as I enjoy working on and hearing my 5 cuckoo clocks, 3 striking clocks and the 2 chiming ones. As well as getting caught up watching the balls go back and forth on the 400 day clocks I have rebuilt and the quartz anniversary that I have. They all do one thing and that is tell time, how good they do it depends upon how one takes care of them.

 

[rjdj2000]

Well just a quick little update on how this turned out, it is has been running just fine since I cracked the quartz movement open and serviced it. Yes it was a total crap shoot of it working but it has not stopped since and it 'tweets' at the top of the hour just like it did without issues. Someday I'll get into the bird house to see what is going on with it to see if I can get it to function again. It may be a lost cause trying but as I said before, I like a challenge and to bring this back from just about dead to fully functional would be great. Will see once I get into it to see what it's issue is.