Hi Dave, The capacitor that you have connected is there more for Electro Magnetic Radiation suppression. If anything you should be putting in a freewheeling diode across the motor terminals. Krys S

Hi Guys, I have been running the coup perdu constantly on the wall and I too have been replacing the N20 motors regularly. I think that I agree with Dave that they are just not designed for the duty cycle required to run the clock on the wall indefinitely. I have purchased the following two drives to test, but my skills in 3D designing are just not there yet to be able to design and print something that could house these drives. https://au.banggood.com/Machifit-DC-12V-30-800rpm-16GA050-Reduction-Gear-Motor-For-Smart-Door-Locks-Meters-Security-Cameras-p-1721213.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN&ID=6327013 https://au.banggood.com/DC-3V-6V-Single-Axis-Gear-Reducer-Motor-For-DIY-Smart-Car-Robot-p-1201746.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN Krys S

Hi Steve, How did your test go? Did the newer gear profile make much of a difference in friction/runtime?? Krys S

Hi Bernard, Have a few days without work coming up and want to print this clock. How well is your running. Is it worth the effort. Also Bernard, would like to have a "chat" to you regarding your printing of Clayton's swingtime. I have purchased the plans from him about 2 years ago but have never been able to convert the dxfs to a 3D printable STL files. Would love some tips if possible. Cheers Krys S

Hi Steve, Looked for a new post by sosalty62 but probably he has not yet created it. Steve, would this problem also manifest itself in SP8. I have printed a number of SP8s and they work really well for the first while and then slowly the pendulum amplitude decreases and they stop. I do not understand why the clock works so well for the first week or so and then the performance deteriorates over time. Why does the problem not show itself immediately? I have printed all of my SP8s in silk at a layer height of 0.16mm. Could I combat this problem by printing in normal PLA or larger layer height?? Krys S

Hi Bernard, That looks great. I saw this clock on David's blog but didn't know that he published it on printables. Have just downloaded the files and this will be my next build

Hi Bernard, Really love what you have done with the coup perdu. Are you still using the small N20 motor and if so, how are you finding the reliability assuming that it is now lifting a larger weight or the same weight but with a greater radius. I have built a few of the coup perdu clocks for family and friends and have found the N20 gearbox to be so-so from a reliability perspective. Krys

Hi, Have a look at Hoppy's post from May 24, 2023 electro-magnetic-clock-modification. He redesigned the pawl system which might work better for you. Hope that t https://www.stevesclocks.com/forum/show-and-tell/electro-magnetic-clock-modifcation?origin=member_posts_page his helps Krys S

Hi Hoppy, Hope that you are well and still reading this thread. Just a quick update: All three wind up clocks are still going strong without a battery change. Are you considering doing the same modification to Steve's SP13 moonphase clock?? If not, would you consider making the ball chain sprocket accessible as anything else but an STL file. I do not have the skills as yet to design one myself in Fusion 360 but might be able to modify the crazy gear unit. Many thanks Krys S

Hi Hoppy, Hope that you are well. Just a quick update. Still going strong after nearly 2 months of running (although one of the N20 drives did strip a gear). Have now built three of these clocks for family members. With the electric rewind, everybody wants one. I have played around with the actual weight and can get away without adding any additional weights into your "tanks" on the shell slide. Can run the clock with just the weight of the batteries, motor and other bits and pieces. The total weight is about 320gms with everything included. Just shows how well Steve designed the clock really. Cheers Krys S

Hoppy, I am an idiot!!!! When I looked through the parts prior to understanding how the thing works, I did wonder "what the hell did he put this in for". Now I know :-) I have managed to "tune" the thing to start when the external weight touches the bottom pulley and I am glad to report that the winder has been running for about a week now without any major dramas. Some small fine tuning such as the solder on the ball joint was a bit rough and stopped the ball chain from exiting at the bottom, but generally plain sailing. Have started buiding a second winder in anticpation of building another clock for my sister. Hoppy, once again many thanks. Also wishing you a happy festive season to you and your loved ones. Take Care Krys S

Hi Hoppy, Just wondering if you had a problem like mine. Generally, I would have thought that the weight should come in contact with the pulley at the bottom of the ball chain and as the clock keeps on running, the weight slowly decreases in height and the rod inside the weight shell should move up, the magnet engages and the limit switch turns the motor on and the weight starts lifting. As you can see from the picture below, this sometimes does not happen and the thing does not always switch on. I have put as much weight as I can into the lower pulley thinking that this will make it harder for the weight shell to move down the pully. I have drilled out the hole where the rod sits and lubricated with dry PTFE to ensure that it moves as freely as possible. I have been adjusting the overall position of the rod inside the weight shell to try and make it as easily moveable as possible and minimise the travel required before the limit switch is turned on. Have also made sure that the inner weight that holds the mechanism moves as easily as possible within the weight shell. The rod is about 1/8 inch shorter that the distance between the weight shell ends. This will allow the magnet to "snap in" as the weight shell starts touching the pulley. Did you have this sort of problem?? Any ideas?? Krys S

SUCCESS!!!! Worked first time (although during the assemby it was obviously tested multiple number of times). To minimise the weight required, I have put the weight on gear 7. I also took out the "Click" winding mechanism which means that the bottom gear that has the spindle for the weight is now purely decorative. Also printed gear 8 with the smallest spindle to get a straight drop for the ball chain. The ball chain took a few goes until I was satisfied with it. I have filled the weight chambers to about 30% and think that I can still further drop this to minimise the weight. I have only had the thing running for a couple of hours so some small issues may still come up, but generally looks great. Am really interested in how long the battery will last. Hoppy, many thanks for sharing the design with all of us. Was great fun building your design. Kindest Regards Krys S

Hi Hoppy, Today, I have finished the weight with all wiring, the copper tube sliding very easily, the micro switch working etc. Tomorrow I will get a grub screw to lock the gearbox shaft onto the main pulley. The last thing I have to do is the ball chain. Hoppy, I presume that you "opened up" the ball and then attached to the other end to make a loop. I had a quick try to open one of these balls but had no luck. Any trick to this??? Krys S

Hi Hoppy, Just a quick update. Have everything printed and wired. Just waiting on the magnets. they should be here next week. Krys S

Thanks for the help. It just didn't come to my mind that I could have received the wrong item. A quick check of the diameter of one of the balls with my micrometer would have shown the problem immediately. Sorry for the hassles. Will keep in touch and tell you how I go. krys

Thanks Hoppy, Have ordered the ball chain from your link. Sorry for the hassles. krys S

The file that I have prited is "Ballchainsprocket78". The mtor sprocket also seems to be incorrect. the file name is "Motorsprocket15v1 v2"

Hi Hoppy, I get 49 balls to 12 inches. I think the ball chain is the wrong size.

Hi Hoppy, Something doesn't seem correct. The ball chain that I purchased is the same size as what your link shows, however, the balls are too large to fit into the recesses on the ballchainsprocket78. The spacing between the ball recesses also seem to be too small. Not too sure what is going on?? Krys S