Clock wiring

[greg124]

Thought I would use a spare E30 analogue clock as a bedside clock in the spare bedroom, and run it off a 'wall wart' power supply.
Question: there are four wires go to this clock red/white, brown, brown/white and violet/grey. Which ones do I connect to 0V and 12V to make the clock work, and for the illumination?

[Brianmoooore]

Connect brown (clock earth) and brown/white (light earth) together and to negative. Connect violet/grey (clock) and red/white (light) together, and to positive.
If you want to dim the light, add a resistor in either of the light feeds.

[greg124]

Thank you very much Mr. Moooore. I shall get the soldering iron out after lunch.

[daimlerman]

What is a 'wall wart' power supply,please?

Clever idea,BTW!

[greg124]

A 'wall wart' is an unsightly black blob with three pins sticking out (which go into a mains socket) and a wire going to the thingmebob of your choice, that converts mains electrickery to low voltage DC, so called because it doesn't enhance the aesthetics of ones drawing room.

I thought it was a pretty cool idea, since my old alarm clock now displays random digits and I already have both the bits to make it work; and I know which end of a soldering iron not to grab hold of ...

E30 art, but functional.

[daimlerman]

You have got me thinking,now!

I have several redundant 'wall wart's' and a couple of clocks,I also have some off-cuts of Sapelia in the workshop left over from the new hatches I made for my boat....I could build a clock into the boat....hummmm...

[greg124]

If the boat has 12v electrics you wouldn't need the wall wart

[daimlerman]

If the boat has 12v electrics you wouldn't need the wall wart

True!

Do not forget,I'm 'dangerous when thinking'!

But I had not considered using an ex car clock on the boat,I could make up an attractive hardwood surround/mount.

But my initial idea that you prompted was a replacement for our defunct dining room clock....

[greg124]

I have now wired this up, and have to correct the advice given by Mr. Mooooore:
Red/white is clock positive, and violet/grey is light positive.

It you want the light on permantly though this is irrelevant.

[Brianmoooore]

I have now wired this up, and have to correct the advice given by Mr. Mooooore:
Red/white is clock positive, and violet/grey is light positive.

It you want the light on permantly though this is irrelevant.

Eh? Looking back at my post, you're quite correct. I posted that without the bits in brackets originally, then went back and edited it, but unfortunately without re engaging brain!
Actually, looking at it even more carefully, some of the wire colours are wrong for an E30, (unless, possibly these are pre facelift colours). Clock + supply should be red/green and light feed should be grey/red.

_________________

[greg124]

This clock and loom came out of a pre-facelift (1985) car.

So, as there are differences in wiring loom corlours between early and late cars, lets go by the terminal numbers on the rear of the clock. Working from the left (looking at the back of the clock):

30 - Clock positive (12v) - Red/white on early cars, Red/green on late.
319 - Light earth (0V) - Brown/white
31 - Clock negative (0V) - Brown
58k - Light positive (12v) - Violet/grey on early cars, Grey/red on late.