Wasting time fixing a cheap quartz clock to put back on Encore
Posted By RichC on March 19, 2019
Nothing like getting bogged down in wasting a weekend trying to repair a quartz clock that should just be replaced!
I had the best of intentions on Saturday morning as I was up early and had my weekend project list ready to start. Initially I started to organize my workbench after ordering new bearings and seals for the Volvo diesel water pump and for a “keep away the birds” project that I’ll share later … but instead caught myself trying to fix a “cheap” quartz clock off Encore for a second time. Initially, I suspected salt air and high humidity corrosion, but after cleaning the battery terminals it still would not tick. So instead of sticking to the project list, I cracked open the case and dumped all the tiny gears all over the bench. At that point I knew I should just throw the old $10 battery clock away … but curiosity got the best of me and I needed to figure out “what makes it tick.” 
Eventually 
I cleaned the corrosion off the contacts and was able to get the mechanism to jiggle the initial gear (left). Of course I could not stop there so with a magnifying glass proceeded to put the tiny gears back together over and over again by trial and error.
Success! I now have a working clock again.
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