Expert: Kenneth Saunders - 11/4/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I am 19, and I live in England,
I recently purchased an alarm clock off eBay, called a
“peter repeat alarm” clock, made in Germany. It said that it
was 1950’s to 60 on eBay, but it looks a bit older, I was
just wondering if you can tell me anything about the
company, or how old you think my clock could be.
I have also noticed that it is running slow, its losing
about 10 minutes in 24 hours, but the adjuster on the back
is on max, is there anything I can do to put this right,
bearing in mind i have no skill in clock repair!! Thank you
for your time here is the link to the ebay add so you can
see a picture

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=390251420838&si=B04yW2hzmnJ%252
FDpVKqih3qkYkEfY%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_
500wt_1156


ANSWER: I can not read the dial where it says "xxxxx    alarm"

50's looks right

need to have the clock mechanism cleaned to speed it up- see a pro


or set it 5 minutes ahead when you wind it - that way it will be right within 5 minutes in 24 hours!

probably not much more accurate than a minute or two when new.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION:
Thanks for the quick response, the bit on the front that's
too blurred to see on the picture says "Repeat", "Alarm",
then below says the makers name "peter"
I think I would like to get cleaned to speed it up, I only
paid £5 for it, is it a very costly job to clean as I can’t
really afford much? Or is it something that I could do
myself? One other question I wanted to ask you was, when I
set the alarm, it goes off 5-10 minutes earlier than the
time set, is it supposed to do that with it being a repeater
alarm, or do you think it’s just inaccurate?
Thank you again for your time, I really appreciate your
advice.


Answer
if you can get to the mechanism - try spraying some "tuner cleaner" a non-residue electronic cleaner in and around the balance wheel that occilates when it ticks. do not spray elsewhere in the movement.

the 5-10 minutes is that it is a cheap clock and not that well put together--if you can get to the hands directly, you can gently move the minute hand itself ahead to agree --or the alarm indicator back to agree with the hands.