Alcohol clock

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Alcohol clock mechanism
Electric clocks from Junghans in the German clock museum in Furtwangen . An alcohol clock on the upper pedestal.

An alcohol clock is a clock that is driven by two glass capsules connected by tubes that contain alcohol .

function

The alcohol in the lower capsule is heated by an electrical resistor . This resistor is plugged directly into the socket and heats up. The rising heat causes the alcohol in the capsule to warm and expand. It rises through the tube up into the second capsule and cools down again there. When you shift your weight, the wheel to which the capsules are attached rotates a quarter of a turn so that the next capsule is heated. The alcohol in this capsule heats up again and then also rises up into the second capsule, where it cools down again and thus turns the wheel a quarter turn again.

The movement was driven by this rotation , via a series of simple gears to the small pallet with balance wheel , anchor and escape wheel - the échappement . In the middle there was a small so-called buffer spring. This spring was always slightly tensioned by the rotation so that the clock did not stop while the alcohol in the capsules was heated.

The inventor of this mechanism was the Karl Jauch company, which applied for a patent for the construction of the so-called pulse hammer during the Second World War . The Junghans company built such movements into their watches for a while.

Quote from a publication of the forum of the German Society for Chronometry :

“The physical principle of the pulse hammer elevator was developed around 1920. The Karl Jauch company registered this construction of clockwork during the Second World War. Karl Jauch brought the Pulshammer-Werke to the market after 1945 under the Puja brand . (The brand name Puja was probably formed from the words Pulshammer and Jauch.) These electrical works are very interesting from today's point of view, but constructively represent a wrong path. On the one hand, the power consumption of the clock is immense and reaches the consumption value of a refrigerator; on the other hand, the clock is very difficult to regulate: the ambient temperature influences the boiling speed of the alcohol and this can result in quite significant deviations.

The puja works could not establish themselves on the market and were only produced in small numbers. These clocks are in great demand among collectors because of their unusual construction and their low distribution. Incidentally, these clocks were popularly called schnapps clocks ... "

The wheel with the alcohol tube was later replaced by a small electric motor that wound the clockwork.

Web links

Commons : Alcohol Clock  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German Society for Chronometry: Forum