10/10/2026
I’ve been getting a lot of messages lately stating, “my clock doesn’t work, can you help me find new motor?”
In my experience, rarely does the electric motor fail. More often than not, the gears and shafts are gummed up with old lubricant and stall out the motor.
My process is to remove the motor from the assembly and put a drop of oil on the motor gear shaft and run it by itself while I address the gear set.
The gears are fully disassembled and take a 45 minute bath in the heated ultrasonic cleaner with compressed air on the way out. Sometimes, a little wire wheel action on an especially rusted second hand shaft like this will ensure minimal friction when reassembled.
Light oil on the pivots, not the gears themselves, reassemble and you often get a silky smooth movement like the video above!
If you decide to do this yourself, take lots of pictures. It’s easy to forget what goes where. A working clock is a great effect on a vintage sign or standalone clock!
