Impulse Buy

[Ryan]

I noticed this General Electric wall clock in the window of an antique store on our walk today. $38 seemed like a fair price, so I bought it.

It's 10.5 inches in diameter. From what I've gathered after a bit of Googling this afternoon, I think this model was made in the mid 1960s. It seems to be all original and is in excellent condition. The exterior is dark brown plastic and I think the chord is original (looks old, so it must be).

The model number is 2008A. The hour and minute hands are black and the sweeping seconds hand is robin's egg blue.

Should I re-wire the chord? Is it a given that an electric clock this old should be re-wired regardless of overall condition?

[Chase]

Cool.

If it works and doesn't have any cracks or breaks in the shielding on the cord I'd just leave it as is. Especially since once it is hung and plugged it just stays out. If it were say a vintage vacuum cleaner then my suggestion could well be different.

[watchdaddy1]

If it's not broke don't try to fix it

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[Ryan]

Cool.

If it works and doesn't have any cracks or breaks in the shielding on the cord I'd just leave it as is. Especially since once it is hung and plugged it just stays out. If it were say a vintage vacuum cleaner then my suggestion could well be different.

If it's not broke don't try to fix it

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

Thanks, guys. Yeah, the chord looks like it's in pretty good condition as well. No breaks or cracks.

[Ryan]

Alright. Plugged in and keeping time. Feeling good about the money spent.

[OTGabe]

Very cool. I'm sure many of us had that clock on the wall when we were in school.

[Seriously]

Love it

[Nokie]

Very cool. Got that great retro look going.

[skywatch]

I love these old mechanical clock motors that run off of the frequency set by AC current. I need to do some repair on one from the '50s that a friend gave me (knowing I'm a watch nerd.) Also, I buy up old gear motors when I can find them, that use AC line current for very slow rotation, and then I re-purpose them for optical projectors with lasers. When we get used to the smooth motion of a hi-beat mechanical, it's hard to love a quartz wall clock ticking clunkily every second.

Oh, but there are the smooth seconds bedside quartz clocks by Seiko, which eat up batteries a bit faster but look great. The stepped motion of quartz watches is really just to save power, after all.

[Ryan]

I made a quick video to show the continuous sweeping seconds hand in action: