Oddball Lumitime Neon Clock Repair 

That animated flower looks pretty cool even in 2024

I love these clocks. I wouldn't mind the flicker too much - it's part of its charm.

Hilarious, the Led Zep reference. My wife and I in our old age constantly one-line song lyrics in our conversations driving each other crazy. :)

Lumitime: Gotta catch'em all! Splendid fix. Interesting cardboard and clips idea. Keeps'em apart just fine. I may have my Wago, and you do you :)

Ooh, I thought would be an amazing Retrobrite transformation but when you took it apart it turned out the plastic actually always was that color!

I love these electro-mechanical devices. They have so much charm compared to modern no-soul products. I am fond of my janky bed side radio-alarm clock that looses tune when I go to the loo and re-tunes when I get back in bed.

I use the reverse technique for all screws since I saw it in one of your videos. Think it’s been 200+ screws so far. Thanks fran for the tip!

Fascinating! Interesting internal design, nice description and internal views of this piece. Thanks!

I sympathize with those little self-tapping screws. I don't like being torqued down too!

If any manufacturers are paying attention and ever think of reproducing these classic clocks, I’d be happy to pay good money for them! Thanks to Fran for keeping alive the memory of these wonderful time pieces. 👍🙂

The good ole Supco Zoom Spout, never leave home without it.

A pair of teaspoons wedged underneath the Bottom edge of the knobs from opposite sides makes a nice set of levers for prying the knob off, and because you've got a rounded bottom on the spoons they won't mar anything.

Pat Pending....one of the Wacky Racers characters....I think. I had a GE mechanical digital clock in high school ( late '70s), that had a single six volt bulb for illumination. It worked until the early 2000s...the clock motor was also the transformer. I probably have seen Lumitime clocks, but I don't remember them if I did. The soot might be from a kerosene heater...the older ones left a sticky layer of soot on things if you didn't use a good grade of kerosene.

Fran: *_"This has got some hours on it."_* Being a _clock,_ I would certainly think so...😉

What is the little door with a screw next to the dimmer switch?

What if you switch the 'direction' of the diode on the brightness control? Would that help with the flickering by making the other element of the neon bulbs the cathode? At least then it would have decent performance on low brightness?

Fran, I just luvs your Lumitime videos.

I think my grandma had one of these. So mid 70’s I think

I'm glad you brought up about diodes for brightness control. Yup, it can corrupted their life of the neon lamp. Basically, it can lighted one side of cathode for long period time when lower brightness control. Unfortunately it is not friendly to do so because of flicker. It must have an individual resistor for each neon lamps to order brightness but the problem is their not enough room for it. Well they have diode inside in the place to keep cost down and designed. 💡

One thing I realise about the alarm function is there is no distinction between AM and PM

It's comical how expensive electronic components were back-in-the-day, so mechanical alternatives were chosen. Today, the electronic portion (most of which will last forever) is the least-expensive and mechanical gizmos are avoided wherever possible.

It's like she's collecting Lumitime Pokemon, and also running a hospital for them! Or is it Tamagotchi? I always get them confused.

Very Cool❤ i enjoy time peace

"This has got some hours on it." 😂

So it's a mechanical gear clock, I'm guessing the gears drive rotary encoders (PCB traces) that select which neon lights to illuminate. A pre-digital digital clock.

I'll bet the "soot" inside is due to it sitting very close to a running CRT Television for many years!

Smoking household!

Love your videos. * When you are not too busy maybe you could: one thing you rarely see anymore is someone that still has an autoharp. Maybe you could install a pickup on one and demonstrate how they used to be played that way in some folk/rock groups?

Love it! Like, Share and Subscribe! Fran is a RU-vid gem!!! Fantastic content 😁

Lovely design! How does the alarm sound?

Nice video Fran! Has anyone had luck reforming the contacts? I've had luck tinning some electromechanical washing machine contacts with solder, but if they're worn copper or bronze maybe not.

32:20 - 3D-printing perhaps?

that clock is interesting, an electro/mechanical marvel but I will never get one I hardly ever pay attention to what time it is. But I will absof'nlutly use a piece of card board why I never thought of such a simple solution to not killing myself I do not know thanks!!

My sister got one of these clocks for Christmas as the years went by I ended up with it and I would set it to wake up and it wouldn't do what you were just trying to get it to do from 11:59 to 12:00 and it gets stuck and wouldn't go off so you know what I did with mine I threw it up against the wall one morning when it made me late again in 1984

Are you able to make a video on how to replace a motor on one of these?

29:39 *I like the minor flicker,*

UL does not Approve. It lists a unit as having compiled with their standards.

my sources tell me Year: 1976

I am a big Fran Fan. You are the second smartest person I follow.🥈