Sometimes small things really annoy on boats !! VDO Clock

[Refueler]

My two sail boats - both have the standard VDO pair : Clock and Barometer.

Superanne VDO clock takes a C cell ... and works a treat all year and next. Cheapo / NiMh / doesn't care.

Anisette VDO clock takes AA cell and is such a pain ... forget NiMh ... it runs but slow .. forget cheapo AA's ... it runs slow ... only best quality Al;kalines ... and then not long - it slows !!

 

[ChromeDome]

AA Lithium for Anisette? Or replace her..

 

[Refueler]

Dunno .... will try anything ..... considering the cost of those VDO bits !!

 

[justanothersailboat]

Maybe the movement has picked up some friction and needs more push from the motor to work properly? hence more volts? A lot of nice boat clocks seem to be cheap, boring movements in nice cases. Maybe worth checking if it is one and if so, just swap the movement... there are unfortunately loads of variations of stem length and hand fitting but only a few are really common so fingers crossed.

 

[Refueler]

When I can rustle up the 'mood' I may sit on board for a while and see about taking it apart and seeing if anything can be done ....

Maybe as JAB says - another movement ... keep case and face / hands ..

 

[Refueler]

Changed battery ... still not working properly ..... put back on boat basically deciding what next step.

Today went to boat and time was spot on ... by time I left 2hrs later .. still showing correct !!

???????

 

[justanothersailboat]

Puzzling!

Might be a point in favour of the "picked up a bit of friction, a fresh battery is strong enough to push through it" theory.

...unless it's one of those radio controlled ones that uses a bit more battery, but picks up the correct time at midnight?

 

[Refueler]

Puzzling!

Might be a point in favour of the "picked up a bit of friction, a fresh battery is strong enough to push through it" theory.

...unless it's one of those radio controlled ones that uses a bit more battery, but picks up the correct time at midnight?

No its just one of overly expensive brass case VDO clocks ...... no Radio correction .... but it does have alarm function that my other one doesn't. I found out because while on the boat a while back - there was an annoying beep ... searched everywhere then realised it was the clock.

 

[Neeves]

Clocks (and cameras) are very last century - mobile phones, apparently are the thing.

Then when your battery goes flat you lose the lot

Jonathan

I too am a product of the previous century and have a (solar) wrist watch.

 

[Sandy]

My two sail boats - both have the standard VDO pair : Clock and Barometer.

Superanne VDO clock takes a C cell ... and works a treat all year and next. Cheapo / NiMh / doesn't care.

Anisette VDO clock takes AA cell and is such a pain ... forget NiMh ... it runs but slow .. forget cheapo AA's ... it runs slow ... only best quality Al;kalines ... and then not long - it slows !!

I removed the old, tarnished and dare I say tired looking clock and barometer and replaced them with a watch/GPS/mobile phone and a Yacht Devices 2000 barometer.

Delighted with the results, an accurate time at any time and a barometer that I can trust with a wee graphic showing atmospheric pressure changes over 24 hours on one of the displays in the cockpit.

 

[Refueler]

I removed the old, tarnished and dare I say tired looking clock and barometer and replaced them with a watch/GPS/mobile phone and a Yacht Devices 2000 barometer.

Delighted with the results, an accurate time at any time and a barometer that I can trust with a wee graphic showing atmospheric pressure changes over 24 hours on one of the displays in the cockpit.

I used to have an Orion Labs setup on one boat ... gave me weather trend, prediction, baro, two temps, time etc.

I've contemplated getting a Weather Station .... but maybe that's a bit too much !

 

[LittleSister]

No its just one of overly expensive brass case VDO clocks ...... no Radio correction .... but it does have alarm function that my other one doesn't. I found out because while on the boat a while back - there was an annoying beep ... searched everywhere then realised it was the clock.

A few years back I needed a new watch. I ended up with an impressively cheap and reliable Casio digital watch, not at all glamorous, but it told the time and met my sailing needs for a reasonable degree of waterproofness and a light to be able to read the time at night. It had an alarm and various other functions that were controlled by pressing the four buttons in the right sequences/combinations. I thought the alarm might come in handy at some point and tried to set it to try it out, but was defeated by the complicated, tiny print instructions.

Months at least, maybe even a year or more later, I was at work when I heard a faint high-pitched beeping, and being a bit sensitive to such sounds, I moved around my desk and the office trying to pinpoint the source. I burst out laughing when I tracked it down to the watch on my wrist!. I realised then that the watch's alarm had been going off every day at 11am since I'd had it, but without me hearing it until I had then got my first hearing aids and could once again hear higher frequencies. I explained my sudden outburst of laughter to my colleagues, who said they'd always wondered what that beeping noise was!

Off course then the challenge was to find the instructions again, and work out how to stop the damned thing going off every morning!

 

[Sandy]

I used to have an Orion Labs setup on one boat ... gave me weather trend, prediction, baro, two temps, time etc.

I've contemplated getting a Weather Station .... but maybe that's a bit too much !

Measuring rainfall might not be too accurate.

 

[Refueler]

Casio .... many years ago - I had their 'Regatta Watch' .... an excellent watch that had the Timing alarms for Sail Racing ... it was only on market for a short while sadly ... but it had one bad feature .... the strap !

It was not so much a strap - as a complete case / strap combined ... it was formed of some rubberised plastic and one day when I was on foredeck - it caught on a pin and PLOP .... disappeared into the depths of the Solent. When I tried to get another - no longer on market.

Today I have a drawer full of watches ... from the Seiko Limited Edition Sport watch my father gave me when I was 10yrs old ... various well known respected such as Tissot ... to the one I wear now .. Casio WR200M Divers watch ... Basically I looked for a watch my eyes could read not only the time - but the date !! Bill Gates is reported to wear the same watch !! It actually is very good and worth every penny.

 

[Skylark]

I feel your pain @Refueler

My boat is modern below deck so all bright work is chrome. When I bought it, I wanted to add a touch of quality so bought matching Weems & Plath clock and barometer.

Last season, the clock died so I started researching a replacement movement. To my shock and horror, the cheap and nasty mechanism was held in place by double-sided tape. I found a replacement on eBay for a couple of pounds and, from model aeroplanes, I used servo tape to stick it back together.

A year later, the clock is lying on my dining table at home and there’s a gap on the boat bulkhead. I’ve just lost all love for it, it’s just a piece of very expensive junk.

Now looking for chrome bezel, mechanical movement (to match what I wear on my wrist)

 

[Refueler]

Seems this guy had same happen to his Casio Yachting watch !

https://www.reddit.com/r/casio/comments/13h97vm/is_there_any_casio_watch_model_with_yacht_timer