Last weekend Ray Sharp gave me his Series 1 and Series 2 clocks to repair.
The tachometer-mounted Series 1 clock received my standard electronic
upgrade, but the Series 2 clock, which measures 2 1/2" in diameter and is
mounted in the instrument cluster, is a different clock altogether. It has
nylon gears, a transistor, and no points to wear out.
Ray did some research, and found out that Jaguar actually used two different
clocks in the instrument cluster. From Jan. '68 to Oct. '69 the clocks were
powered by a 1.2 volt mercury cell (which I understand is difficult to
source) and after that they were powered by the car’s 12 volt battery.
While taking it apart his later 12 volt clock to find out “what makes it
tick”, I made an interesting discovery…
The clock movement runs on 1.2 volts.
Inside the clock is a 6.8K resistor and a 1.2 volt Zener diode, whose
purpose is to drop the 12 volts down to 1.2 volts for the clock movement.
What this means is that anyone who has a mercury cell powered clock can
probably upgrade to 12 volt battery power with the simple addition of these
two parts.
I thought all you people with mercury cell powered clocks might be
interested.
Mike Eck
New Jersey, USA
'51 XK120 OTS
'62 3.8 MK2 MOD
'72 SIII E-Type 2+2
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In reply to a message from Mike Eck sent Wed 12 Feb 2003:
I bought the correct replacement battery last week.
It is Exell # A1PX, listed as a photo battery.–
The original message included these comments:
clocks in the instrument cluster. From Jan. '68 to Oct. '69 the clocks were
powered by a 1.2 volt mercury cell (which I understand is difficult to
source) and after that they were powered by the car’s 12 volt battery.
–
Dick North
Prescott, AZ, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
With the 1.2 volt cell hard to obtain, I purchased a single AA battery
attachment at Radio Shack and mounted it above the clock and I use the 1.5 volt
AA battery on my clock. The additional voltage seems negligible in the time
keeping of the clock and I can always revert back to the original 1.2 cell.
Len
Mike Eck wrote:> Last weekend Ray Sharp gave me his Series 1 and Series 2 clocks to repair.
The tachometer-mounted Series 1 clock received my standard electronic
upgrade, but the Series 2 clock, which measures 2 1/2" in diameter and is
mounted in the instrument cluster, is a different clock altogether. It has
nylon gears, a transistor, and no points to wear out.
Ray did some research, and found out that Jaguar actually used two different
clocks in the instrument cluster. From Jan. '68 to Oct. '69 the clocks were
powered by a 1.2 volt mercury cell (which I understand is difficult to
source) and after that they were powered by the car’s 12 volt battery.
While taking it apart his later 12 volt clock to find out “what makes it
tick”, I made an interesting discovery…
The clock movement runs on 1.2 volts.
Inside the clock is a 6.8K resistor and a 1.2 volt Zener diode, whose
purpose is to drop the 12 volts down to 1.2 volts for the clock movement.
What this means is that anyone who has a mercury cell powered clock can
probably upgrade to 12 volt battery power with the simple addition of these
two parts.
I thought all you people with mercury cell powered clocks might be
interested.
Mike Eck
New Jersey, USA
'51 XK120 OTS
'62 3.8 MK2 MOD
'72 SIII E-Type 2+2
Thanks for the info, Len. Although I’ve never even seen a mercury cell
powered clock, I recall a discussion on one of the lists lamenting that the
cells were impossible to find and also that 1.5 volts made the clock run too
fast. Certainly if a AA cell works then that’s what I’d use too.
Mike Eck
With the 1.2 volt cell hard to obtain, I purchased a single AA battery
attachment at Radio Shack and mounted it above the clock and I use the 1.5
volt
AA battery on my clock. The additional voltage seems negligible in the
time
keeping of the clock and I can always revert back to the original 1.2
cell.>
Len
In reply to a message from Mike Eck sent Wed 12 Feb 2003:
Hey guys!
I installed a quartz movement with the original dial face
into my Jag, it works fine with a little c cell battery.
I got tired of fixing the gear driven original clock.
Walter–
Walt 69E/78XJ6
Albuquerque/ New Mexico, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
Can you tell me where you sourced the quartz movement?
Earl Kiker-----Original Message-----
From: 69E/78Xj6 [mailto:wsjag@AOL.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 8:55 PM
To: e-type@jag-lovers.org
Subject: Re: [E-Type] Clock Information
In reply to a message from Mike Eck sent Wed 12 Feb 2003:
Hey guys!
I installed a quartz movement with the original dial face
into my Jag, it works fine with a little c cell battery.
I got tired of fixing the gear driven original clock.
Walter
Walt 69E/78XJ6
Albuquerque/ New Mexico, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
Thanks for the info, Len. Although I’ve never even seen a mercury cell
powered clock, I recall a discussion on one of the lists lamenting that the
cells were impossible to find and also that 1.5 volts made the clock run
too
fast. Certainly if a AA cell works then that’s what I’d use too.
Mike Eck
With the 1.2 volt cell hard to obtain, I purchased a single AA battery
attachment at Radio Shack and mounted it above the clock and I use the
1.5
volt
AA battery on my clock. The additional voltage seems negligible in the
time
keeping of the clock and I can always revert back to the original 1.2
cell.
In reply to a message from Earl Kiker sent Thu 13 Feb 2003:
I would like the Quartz movement info also. I have my series 2
clock apart and ready to insert the new movement but can not find
one to fit and be sturdy enough for the road!
Many Thanks,
Shelley Yoelin
69FHC–
The original message included these comments:
Can you tell me where you sourced the quartz movement?
–
Shelley Yoelin
La Grange Park, IL, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–