Clocked

Yesterday Cindy told me a wooden box was delivered.  The only thing I knew of that would be coming was the timing clock I ordered last week which I did not expect yet since it was shipping direct from China.  Well I was pleasantly surprised when I cracked the box at home and saw it was indeed my clock.  I was very pleased with the turnaround time.

So before dinner I wanted to take the clock out and give it a try.  I pulled out the clock which was pretty heavy since it is dual sided with large 8″ high LEDs.  After attaching the tripod mounting foot I stuck the clock on the tripod and plugged it in.  The typically sparse Chinese directions indicated AC power is controlled by the green toggle button which I pressed.  The clock remained dark.

I went into a series of double checks, making sure I had power to the strip, reviewing the instructions and even moving the clock near another outlet to try, still dead.  I unlatched the bottom of the clock which allows it to easily swing open to look at the interior.  The transformer had a little green LED that was illuminated meaning power was getting inside the unit.  I closed the clock and ate dinner quite frustrated at the potential process of returning the clock that evidently did not survive the ride from China intact.

After dinner I went out and grabbed my voltmeter from the shed.  I wanted to do some basic troubleshooting in the remote chance I could find something obvious wrong.  Well as I was taking a closer look at the interior I noticed something strange.  A brown wire in the top left corner of the circuit board looked like it had broken loose from it’s solder point.  Looking at how the LED’s were connected, which appeared to be in series, a disconnected wire could definitely exhibit the symptom I was seeing.

Although my electronics repair skills are basic at best, I do have a soldering iron on hand which I pulled out along with my roll of solder.  Luckily the solder point was large and did not require much precision.  I was able to melt the joint and reattach the displaced wire.  After letting it cool for a minute or so I plugged the clock box in and crossed my fingers before hitting the green button.

The clock jumped to life, lighting up the room in a red glow with it’s ultra-bright leds, success!  I put the clock back on the tripod and messed around with the remote control which is used to adjust the clock.  After a few minutes I understood how the process worked.  It is simple and not as convenient as having controls directly on the clock to adjust time but it works.  The gotcha is you HAVE to make sure one of the two remote controls is physically attached to the clock in some manner.  I f you would show up at a race without the remote in your possession you would be shit out of luck. I messed around with the clock for awhile, practicing setting the time, which after a few tries doesn’t take long at all.  The brightness of the digits was pretty overwhelming although outdoors that power will be an advantage, making the clock visible even in the brightest of conditions.

The clock has the ability to run off an external battery but I think instead I will use a portable, rechargeable power supply to give it juice during use.  It cuts down on the weight of the already heavy box.

It was satisfying that I was able to fix the issue myself, avoiding what surely would have been a frustrating return process.  Of course there is a tinge of hypocrisy I feel, supporting the Chinese low cost manufacturing juggernaut by buying a clock that probably would have cost me double if I bought it from an American manufacturer.  At this point in my timing business saving dollars outweighs my made in America disposition. If I ever get the business comfortably in the black I will be more inclined to pay a little more to keep my dollars more inside the continental United States.

Last nights Walking Dead had absolutely nothing in it related to the incredible drama that went down last week.  Instead it went into a back story of what happened to Morgan after Rick and the gang ran across him after he had crossed over to crazy town a few seasons back.  Normally leaving the audience hanging after such a dramatic episode would be annoying however I think the backstory they portrayed was so well done and interesting that by the end of it I was totally fine having to wait another week to find out what comes next in the main storyline.