Association Forum - Itty Bitty Clock Improvement Project

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Itty Bitty Clock Improvement Project

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

USA
3414 Posts

Initially Posted - 12/03/2008 : 17:52:32

I probably should have just contacted Weems & Plath about the Atomic Clock I have in the cabin because it eats up batteries. While I always seem to wear a watch, I wanted a clock in the cabin and so 3 years ago, I bought an Atomic Clock (with large dial & hands) so that it would always have the correct time. That's one of those clocks that receives radio signals from Colorado or somewhere that keeps the time accurate. This clock takes one AA battery. I have it attached with 3 screws to the starboard side main cabin bulkhead. When you place the battery in it, shortly afterwards, it receives the wireless signal and the hands of the clock start spinning around until they get to the right time. From that point on, the clock keeps perfect time until.... it dies out about 3-4 months later. I have had it with taking off those 3 screws to replace the battery.

This past weekend, I soldered wires onto the battery terminals. Then drilled a small hole in the bulkhead and passed the wires thru and soldered them to a "D" sized battery holder that now rests on the sink shelf. I was checking out the amperage of a "AA" battery to a "D" size at a nearby Radio Shack. The "D" has quite a bit more amperage and so I hope to get a full year out of it...and if not...well at least I can change out the battery easily without taking the clock off the bulkhead wall.

Not a very ambitious project...but takes care of an annoyance.

Larry
'89 Robin's Nest#5820, Potomac River/Quantico, Va
http://catalina25.homestead.com/olarryr.html

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
5322 Posts

Response Posted - 12/03/2008 : 19:07:42

Larry -
I can completely understand your annoyance on that. Looking at the AH ratings for AA types like Alkaline, NiCad and NiMH, you get around 2500 mAH from these, while you can get 12000 mAH or ~5X as much capacity from a D cell.

From Wikipedia:

Battery type . . . . . .Typical capacity in mAh
AA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,400
C . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7,800
D . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,000

Good move.

Edited by - on

pastmember
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

2402 Posts

Response Posted - 12/03/2008 : 21:00:17

cool

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 12/03/2008 : 22:07:17

I'd drop a line to Peter Trogdon, President of W&P. What you encountered must be universal, and what you did might give them an idea (such as DESIGN IT FOR A D-CELL). Or they might say yours must be defective based on their experience... I think between the satellite receiver and the automatic setting mechanisms, they're asking too much from a AA. In any case, having to unscrew an instrument to replace its battery every few months is unreasonable. Tell them.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3414 Posts

Response Posted - 12/03/2008 : 22:20:34

Bruce,

You da man wid da facts ! I would agree that the "D" size has about ~5X times the amperage compared to the "AA" based on what I saw in the store.

I was going to go into some of those amperage differences and list in my posting but I could not remember all the numbers from the brief Radio Shack visit and...well my postings tend to run long anyway.

The Radio Shack standard batteries had no amperage details on the packages but...the NiCads and the newer rechargeables - NiMH do have the milliamps listed. The NiMHs need a special charger than what is used for the NiCads but the NiMHs have a considerable amperage boost compared to the NiCads in each size.

For now, I am just going to use the standard "D" battery and not a rechargeable and see how it goes. Going the rechargeable route, they sell 2 to a pack and given that a "D" size will probably last closer to a year or longer for the clock, that means the extra "D" rechargeable would be just sitting around in standby mode all that time.

Edited by - on

Happy D
Admiral

Members Avatar

921 Posts

Response Posted - 12/04/2008 : 07:21:03

I would also recommend contacting W&P. We have one of those Atom clocks in our basement and it only needs one AA battery once a year, maybe.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

3072 Posts

Response Posted - 12/04/2008 : 08:24:06

>"We have one of those Atom clocks in our basement and it only needs one AA battery once a year, maybe."

Ditto here. Year and a half from one AA.

"taking off those 3 screws to replace the battery."

I used to do the same thing with my marine clock until I discovered the clock body pulled out of the housing to allow for easy battery replacment. :>)

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3414 Posts

Response Posted - 12/04/2008 : 16:32:30

During the Annapolis Sailboat Show I talked to a vendor that was selling clocks and told him about the short battery life. He gave me a business card with name and phone number of the Weems & Plath Regional Rep. I may procrastinate a bit longer. If I call and find out some enlightening news...I'll share it. I guess the reason I did not call was the battery holder wired to the terminals is an extremely inexpensive improvment to make for my clock versus possibly having to ship it for Weems & Plath to inspect the clock (3 yrs old) even if they return a replacement for free. But...if the clock still gives somewhat short battery life, then I would seek Weems & Plath tech support.

I will have to check the housing to see if the clock can be pulled out of the housing. It did not seem like that was possible. The 3 screws are in the housing that mount to the bulkhead. When it's off the bulkhead and looking in the back of the clock, the battery is visible as there is no backing plate on the clock nor is there a battery cover. Just that once you mount the housing, you can't get to the battery. But with the $.99 battery holder wired to the terminals, getting to the battery is now not an issue.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
5322 Posts

Response Posted - 12/04/2008 : 20:58:08

One more fact -- according to the article -- Alkaline and NiMH batteries provided the rated mAH levels reported. NiCAD and carbon batteries provide about 30% less.

Of course, NiCADs have poor charge cycling charateristics (i.e. memory) and are environmentally hazardous. Any battery labeled "Heavy Duty" are the carbon type.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 12/04/2008 : 21:45:03

Plus carbon and NiCad batteries self-discharge, while alkalines last for years if not used--that's why I use alkalines in my handheld VHF.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.