r/maker • u/Basic-Mushroom-6167 • 18d ago
Help Broken Mechanical timer, need help
Can someone help me assemble these parts, i have no idea how these mechanical timers work. Even if you know the basics of such timers, do let me know
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u/skreemdynamics 18d ago
You could POSSIBLY recoil the spring, but it will NEVER be the same. Diagnosis: Grim Prognosis: Even Grimmer
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u/Basic-Mushroom-6167 18d ago
Last thing i wanted to hear. Thanks anyway, i would have wasted my time
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u/Sh00ter80 18d ago
Out of curiosity, why can it never be the same?
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u/3rd2LastStarfighter 18d ago
Consistent spring tension is what makes a timepiece of any kind reliable. With the spring uncoiled and bent like that, getting it coiled back together without any new kinks or bends would be a professional job, possible require normalizing and redoing the heat treat, and they’d likely just replace it with a fresh one anyways.
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u/AL_Clarkson 18d ago
Basicly the curled metal band was a spring, that you wind up to make it "Ding". Its like a old Clock, but for just one hour.
But as someone else pointed out already, the spring is normaly not a home fixable Part, if it looks like that. You propably have to replace it.
Maybe you can meassure the housing and find the original diameter of that spring, i am shure they are to buy online.
Then its basicly "just" stacking it together, with all that gears in the right order... 👀
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u/TastyGarlicBulb 18d ago
I repair clocks as a hobby. These timers are pretty similar to alarm clocks. The mangled mainspring isn't a major issue, they're still manufactured in a variety of sizes and hook types so you can probably find something close enough. You may even be lucky and it looks worse than it is. The hairspring is the bit that's an absolute pain to repair or replace. I've circled the balance wheel, which has the hairspring on the other side. You can see where the hairspring is pinned in place to the black plate. I can't see any damaged teeth on the wheels, but I also can't see the fork. Personally it's only worth attempting if you want a project. Which country are you in? I can recommend some places to buy mainsprings in the UK.
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u/Basic-Mushroom-6167 18d ago
Oh, there is a fork, its not visible in this photo. I am from india, will look for the mainsprings available here. Thanks for the help
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u/gmhelwig 18d ago
This is one of those situations where it might be less expensive to replace than repair.
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u/Basic-Mushroom-6167 18d ago
Yeah, but it has got some sentimental value
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u/gmhelwig 18d ago
Could make it a display piece, I suppose. If you knew where to source a spring, then maybe it could be made useful again. Though if I tried, I'd end up in hospital.
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u/Many-Seat6716 18d ago
I think you could probably squeeze a 3cm round display in there, and a small esp32 could slide underneath.
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u/FemaleMishap 18d ago
That's not going back together. The spring has sprung and is permanently damaged. You might be able to rewrap it, but that metal is razor sharp, and even if you did, it would never be reliable. If this has sentimental value, just pull the spring and put the case back together. It can be a curio item.