Problem cleaning music device

Discussion in 'Clock Repair' started by Skutt50, Jul 31, 2011.

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  1. Skutt50

    Skutt50 Registered User

    Mar 14, 2008
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    #1 Skutt50, Jul 31, 2011
    I just want to share some experience......

    Today I bought a Junghans alarm clock at a flee market.

    It came with a music unit (Sorry I do not know what it is called in english.)

    I replaced a broken hair spring and the watch started running..... Great!

    Then I startes cleaning the watch and among other things I disassembled the "music unit". The barrel with all the small pigs as well as its casing went into the ultrasonic cleaner. After 5 minutes I checked and was not happy! The loution was dull and the barrel has some internal stuff that started to dissolve. The housing was dark and my fingers was smeared by some geggy stuff.

    The geggy stuff came off with dishwashing loution and I could polish the metall. But my message is that you might want to be careful when cleaning this type of clock parts.
     

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  2. LaBounty

    LaBounty Registered User
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    #2 LaBounty, Jul 31, 2011
    Music barrels like this have steel pins inserted into a brass sleeve. In order to hold the pins in place, shellac is melted, the barrel spun, and the shellac applied by centrifugal force to the inside of the barrel.

    Any cleaning or rinse solution which uses alcohol will melt the shellac inside the barrel and risks the pins falling out. Excessive heat will also melt the shellac. The soft shellac can pool on one side of the barrel and drastically throw it out of poise. This can make it difficult for the music movement to move the barrel.

    Regards,
     
    Bradford Needham likes this.
  3. bangster

    bangster Moderator
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    #3 bangster, Jul 31, 2011
    Oopsie!:(
     
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