Can You Imagine Time Machine Tabletop Clock

I had always wanted one of these, and finally got one a few years ago. I'm still very fond of it, but I rarely plug it in. It's fine if you're actually sitting and watching it, but there was nowhere I could put it in my house that the incessant clunking of balls wouldn't drive me nuts the rest of the time.Don't even *think* about putting one of these in a bedroom, unless it's occupied by somebody with severe hearing loss. Other than that, though, these clocks are fascinating and great fun.

I had the original ball clock back in the mid-70s but it didn't survive a move so when this version came out we bought a couple this time.

Unlike the original, you don't have to put it together, which was a positive.Also unlike the original, the arm doesn't move constantly, which turns out to be both a positive and a negative.On the positive side, the arm moves faster than one revolution a minute, which means it is less likely to drop a ball, which happened often with the old clock. On the negative side, the gearing that keeps the arm stationary for most of the minute failed after 9 months, rendering the first clock useless. The arm moves constantly now, picking up several balls per minute.

The second clock was found to have been put together slightly off true, so the balls get stuck in the vertical tube instead of rolling to the pickup point.So neither clock works now and they're not worth sending back for fixing, although I might try to swap the motors to see if I can get one good clock out of the pair.

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My husband was thrilled with this gift.He had one as a child and talked about it often.He says he could just sit and watch it all day.It does not seem very durable, however, and the clear plastic case arrived with scratches on the sides and back.I'm not returning it though, because my husband is too enthralled with it.It's noisy but we just don't put it in our bedroom!

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I got this clock and after reading the reviews I would like to suggest a few steps that will lower substantially the mechanical noise of this clock.

As most people say, this clock is very noisy, and I must agree, so, I decided to improve the noise level and the result is a much improved overall noise level. One must keep in mind that this is a device that is made of plastic and has dozen of steel balls circulating on its troughs, so, don't expect it to be as quite as a conventional clock.

First thing to improve the noise level is to set the clock on top of a soft pad to minimize the vibration of its structure with a hard surface, like a glass top or wood.

Second, fill all the empty space underneath the clock with plastic foam (as the one used in computer packaging or even a kitchen foam sponge). To do so, remove the batteries, remove all the balls and flip the clock over, and you'll see many empty spaces underneath. Cut pieces to fit snugly into the empty spaces until everything is filled with foam. Flip the clock back to its working position on top of the pad, place the balls in the proper places to show the correct time and replace the batteries and their cover.

Very important, always use this clock with the plastic cover that came with it. This cover has two notches underneath the top that hold the motor tower on the right position, thus avoiding a misalignment of the moving arm that catches the balls.

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The product is not working properly and the provider CYI (Can You Imagine) is a disaster, I sent an email claiming and asking for support, they answered that Customer Care was going to contact me but never happened, I sent additional emails and they didn't respond me back, very disappointing.

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