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MG TD TF 1500 - TD Clock Wire

Does anyone out there know for sure what color the TD clock wire should be? It’s not included in my new harness and is never shown in any wiring diagram that I have seen, and is not included in Evan Ford’s excellent article on adding fuses. My old one looks like it may have been yellow with a blue, green, or maybe even purple stripe at one time. It’s a big 19-strand wire that was connected directly to terminal A2 of the fuse block.

Usually I have been able to answer just about any TD trivia question by poking around in the archives long enough, but this time I drew a blank. It’s also a mystery to me why the clock got its very own wire, and a big one at that, when it can be easily connected under the dash like the inspection sockets are. I’m wondering if any of you can shed some light on that?

I haven’t checked the clock yet. It probably doesn’t even run anymore so none of this matters anyway.

Thanks for any ideas you may have.
Joe



J.W. Olson


Joe,

Might it be part of the dash sub-harness?

http://www.britishwiring.com/Dash-Sub-Harness-p/5891.htm


Jim
J Barry

Jim,

It certainly would make sense for it to be part of the dash sub-harness, but I don't think that's the case. I'm quite sure that my out-of-the-harness wire is the original wire; at least it's the wire that was on the car when I bought it in 1957 and i can't find any evidence that it was modified before I bought it.

Joe
J.W. Olson

Being an unswitched power source, one would think that it would be brown with a tracer color. Beyond that, I don't know - I think it is some solid color in our car, put there by some previous owner. Cheers - Dave
Daved DuBois

Since the clock isn't shown on the factory wiring diagram, the wiring isn't shown. I don't know of any after-market wiring harnesees that include a wire for the clock. As Daved points out, as an unswitched source it would properly (?) be a brown wire of some sort. It can be a very small wire, the clock draws very little current. Bud
Bud Krueger

Joe,
See the fifth from the bottom. It claims brown if unfused and purple if fused. The size could have been a PO's choice. I believe A3 is unfused.

If you only want to run the clock when the ignition is on only and reset it every time you need it then run power from the switched side of the ignition.

If you want the clock to run continuously it needs 12 volts all the time so you don't want to run it from the switched side of the ignition switch.

Joe this is a copy of an old e-mail. Mike does good work.

"Hi Morton,

Beautiful pictures! Yes, I do those all the time. I have one here now labeled "TC Clock" so I guess they didn't change them for the TD.

That particular clock uses too much power to run from its own battery, and it's designed to run on 12 Volts anyway. The draw is only 2/1000 of an Amp (which is nothing for a car battery) but will run down a tiny battery in a week. Why do you want it to run on its own battery? Master kill switch? If so I can send you a device to connect across the switch which will allow the clock to function but will not power anything else.

I can make your clock run and keep accurate time using the original movement, including face, hands and time set stem. Pack it carefully and send it, with a check for $75, to

Mike Eck
71 Hillcrest Rd.
Martinsville, NJ 08836

Thanks!

Mike Eck
New Jersey, USA
www.jaguarclock.com
'51 XK120 OTS, '62 3.8 MK2 MOD, '72 SIII E-Type 2+2
"
Mort Resnicoff (50 TD-Mobius)

Joe,
Just to clarify.

I miss-read your note about A2 and thus the comment about A3.
If there is not a wire in the harness for the clock I see nothing wrong with getting power from an appropriate place behind the dash.

Also if you are following Evan Ford's article I assume you are putting in a fuse block. Don't forget that you can modify it to suit your own requirements. You may or may not want to fuse the clock.

After a year and a half my clock became intermitten and Mike fixed it for me at no charge.
Mort
Mort Resnicoff (50 TD-Mobius)

OK ...this is "my old brain/years ago" and on a TF not a TD.
Pretty sure my orginial was brown w/violet trace, and very thin gauge (like #22?).
On the WSM wiring diagram (TF) in the "Legend" I believe this to be circuit #39. Interestingly wire #39 is NOT on the actual "Wiring Diagram" ...that I can find.
(Fun eh?)

When I re-wired I ran straight to battery (fused) as I have a cut-off switch on my positive post on my car so it would keep time when switch dissengaged.
My car is re-wired for Negative ground.

Just throwing this out here as what "may have been done" by a PO? i.e. re-wired if they were using a cut-off switch on battery?
David Sheward

Send me your clock and i'll fix it for you -No charge!
Chuck
cj schmit

Dave,
I think 39 refers to the color. See the color code. It is Brown with Purple.
Mort

I will enlarge the code in next post


Mort Resnicoff (50 TD-Mobius)

I'm fairly sure my TD originaly had a wire running from one side of the ammeter to the clock. George
George Butz

color code


Mort Resnicoff (50 TD-Mobius)

Morts drawing confirms wiring for TD ..just as George said hot side of ammeter from starter switch.
I was too lazy to go out to the garage and look at TD diagram!
I have an auto-cad one modified for my car in the house ...but the TF drawing doesn't even show the clock.
Wasn't there some discussion years ago about running the clock off the starter circuit being (at least part) of the reason most of the clocks no longer work in the cars?
i.e. "spikes" from the starter? Thus the reason for transistor mods?
David Sheward

Thanks to all for your responses. I'm always pleasantly surprised how much interest is shown for the smallest detail on our quirky old cars. It doesn't sound to me like there is general agreement on exactly how the factory wired the clock.

Mort, what is the origin of that wiring diagram? It is the only one I have ever seen that shows the clock, and that is how I think I will wire mine, with a fuse added. My new Moss harness recommends wiring the clock to fuse terminal A-2, which is how mine was connected, but it makes more sense to connect it to the ammeter the same as the inspection socket is.

Chuck, thanks very much for your offer to fix my clock. I still need to take a few minutes check it out to see if it works before getting it fixed. Will it run if it's connected to a battery charger?

Joe
J.W. Olson

Joe, remember to push the stem in and 'pop' it out to start the clock. Depending where the balance wheel stopped when it last ran, there may be no electrical contact so it appears dead. Popping the stem spins the wheel so the brush contacts the contact pin (and also makes a spark each time it rotates, which eventually burns the pin off). George
George Butz

Joe,
I am embarrassed to say I have no idea where it came from. About 2 years ago when I put in the fuse block I did a lot of searches and that is one of several I have. There are no markings on the borders of this one and I did not think to write it down. I will search a bit and if I find it I will let you know.
Mort
Mort Resnicoff (50 TD-Mobius)

Neither the TF wiring diagram or any of the three TD diagrams show the clock or wire #39 (Brown w/violet tracer). I suspect that Dave Sheward's TF has the original wire for the clock, being a 22 gauge brown/violet wire.

The clock can be wired to any of the circuits that are not switched. A2 is the horn circuit. A1 gets it feed directly from the battery via the ammeter and the regulator via terminal A. Any of these places is good for feeding the clock. The best place is either terminal of the ammeter due to its proximity to the clock. Cheers - Dave
Daved DuBois

A battery charger is not a good 12volt dc source. They are way over 12 volts and its a ragged and pulsating dc. I use a 12 volt battery from my batt operated power drill to do testing of small items, it's 12 volts and its steady DC
Good luck
Chuck
cj schmit

I remembered I had a 12v dc rectifier from my son's old train set that is still in the house. I hooked it up to the clock and it still works after its long 30 year nap in the garage. I feel a little like Dr. Frankenstein must have felt. Hook the monster up to a couple of wires, give it a nudge and it moves! It's alive! And I know how I want to wire it.

Thanks, everyone, for all your help and suggestions.

Joe
J.W. Olson

Chuck: Is your offer good for another California TD owner as well: "Send me your clock and i'll fix it for you -No charge!
Chuck"
My email is in the heading by my name.
Thanks, Louis
L.M. Levin

This thread was discussed between 28/02/2013 and 06/03/2013

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