Introduction: From Quarts Clocks to LED Flashers

By Josehf Lloyd Murchison
About: I was born in Cornwall Ontario Canada my family followed my father’s work construction, to Mississauga and Toronto, Ontario. My father worked on famous construction sites as the Cornwall Sea Way, the Commerce …

The clock mechanism in these quarts clocks really are not the best made, however the quarts circuit works long after the rest of the clock fails. So here are some fun flasher circuits you can make from these circuits.

NOTE: DO NOT USE CHIP LEDs. Check your LEDs before you start, if they flash, pulse, or change color, they are a chip LED and they will not work predictably with these circuits.

Stills of flasher circuits just don’t do justice to flasher circuits, so I made a video you can watch to see the circuits function.

Supplies

LEDs non chip LEDs.

An assortment of wires.

Batteries

Battery Holders

Solder

Soldering Iron

Pliers as needed.

Screwdrivers as needed.

Breadboard I like to assemble all my circuits on a breadboard first to make sure the circuit works before I use them in a permanent project.

Step 1: A Simple Quarts Clock

To disassemble a simple quarts Clock

Remove the lens if the clock has one.

Remove the hands.

Remove the nut behind the hands if the clock has one.

Remove the clock mechanism.

If you try to remove the quarts circuit without disassembling the clock, the gears inside the mechanism may prevent you from doing so.

Step 2: Disassemble the Clock Mechanism

Most of these clock mechanisms are just clipped together, so you shouldn’t need anything more than a standard screwdriver or a pocket knife to remove the back and expose the inner workings.

While you can make note of positive and negative battery terminals and their contacts on the quarts circuit board.

Step 3: Map the Circuits

Do not rely on your memory; make a map of the circuits, there are small differences between the circuits and it is easy to get them wrong.

Where the coil connects to the circuit; the terminals act like a Full Bridge circuit, or an H Bridge circuit. They pulse positive negative one second then the terminals pulse negative positive the next second.

Step 4: Two Second Blink Circuit

To make sure I didn’t damage the circuits at first try I used two 1.5 volt batteries in this circuit. 1.5 volts to power the quarts circuit and 1.5 volts to boost the voltage powering the LED. This circuit blinks a single LED once every two seconds, it is very stable and it reduces the chance of overloading the circuit.

Step 5: One Second Blink Circuit

This circuit is very much like the single LED circuit, it is very stable and it reduces the chance of overloading the circuit. Unlike the first circuit this circuit flashes the two LEDs intermittently at one second intervals.

Step 6: 3 Volt Supply Circuit

Wiring these circuits for a 3 volt supply is easier, however it can burn some of the quarts clock circuits out. Just like the two 1.5 volt batteries, the single LED flashed once every second. And the two LED circuit flashes the two LEDs intermittently at one second intervals.

Step 7: 4.5 Volt Supply Circuit

Only one of the simple quarts clock circuits I tested worked above 3 volts without burning out. When I up the voltage of this circuit from 3 volts to 4.5 volts the LEDs flashed as rapidly as the flashers on a police car.

Step 8: Quarts Alarm Clock

To disassemble this quarts alarm clock the mechanism and all its parts are just clipped together, so you shouldn’t need anything more than a standard screwdriver or a pocket knife to remove the lens, and the hands, this leaves you with the clock mechanism.

Just like the simple quarts clock the clock mechanism is just clipped together, so you shouldn’t need anything more than a standard screwdriver or a pocket knife to remove the back and expose the inner workings.

Step 9: Map the Circuit

Make note of positive and negative battery terminals and their contacts on the quarts circuit board also make note of the alarm switch terminal and the piezo buzzer terminals.

Where the coil connects to the circuit; the terminals act like a Full Bridge circuit, or an H Bridge circuit. They pulse positive negative one second then the terminals pulse negative positive the next second. On this circuit the alarm terminal connects to the ground to turn on the piezo buzzer. And make note of where the piezo buzzer terminals are, on this circuit the positive of the piezo connects to the positive of the battery.

Step 10: 1.5 Volt Battery Circuits

Just like the simple quarts circuits I used a single LED for the two second blink circuit and two LEDS for the one second blink circuit.

Using two 1.5 volt batteries in this circuit 1.5 volts to power the quarts circuit and 1.5 volts to boost the voltage powering the LED. This circuit blinks a single LED once every two seconds, it is very stable and it reduces the chance of overloading the circuit.

The second circuit is very much like the single LED circuit, it is very stable and it reduces the chance of overloading the circuit. Unlike the first circuit this circuit flashes the two LEDs intermittently at one second intervals.

The piezo terminals wont run an LED on the 1.5 volt circuit.

Step 11: 3 Volt Supply Circuit 1 & 2 LEDs

Like the simple quarts circuits wiring the alarm circuit for a 3 volt supply is easier. Just like the two 1.5 volt batteries, the single LED flashed once every second. And the two LED circuit flashes the two LEDs intermittently at one second intervals.

Step 12: 3 Volt Supply Circuit With the Pizeo

Now when I attach an LED to the pizeo terminal it flashes the LED rapidly.

This time I can connect 3 LEDs to the circuit, the first LED would flash once, the piezo LED would flash twice, the second LED would flash once then the piezo LED would flash twice again before it would go back to the first LED.

Step 13: Above 3 Volts on the Quarts Alarm Clock Circuit

I tested this circuit up to 7.5 volts without burning the circuit out. Unlike the simple quarts clock circuit when I tested at 4.5 volts, and above the flashing didn’t speed up.