Scorpion8
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- February 13, 2014
- Messages
- 406
- Reaction score
- 42
- Location
- SE-AK
- City, State
- SouthEast Alaska
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2006 Explorer XLT
So the previous owner removed the OEM stereo/message center, which means away went the all-time clock. Dunno if anyone else has noticed but 99% of the aftermarket radios think the clock is just an afterthought. On both the radio that came with my XLT (a flaky Pioneer unit) and my new Kenwood unit, the clock is not visible if the unit is off. So you had to leave the head unit in "Standby" at least just to make the clock visible. Enter a great idea for a project....
I posted awhile back, looking for this piece. That dead, unused wasted space always piq'ed my interest.... because mine didn't have it, it had a blank-off piece.
On my new radio, here, the clock is tiny and barely useful at all.
And personally I hate these stick on clocks. Hate, them, hate them, hate them...
So I picked myself up one of these, off Alibaba.com. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5-PC...-Motorcycle-Clock-Watch-090798/637465855.html
I only got one. The clock comes in many colors, and comes with a nice bezel surround. And..... it was almost a perfect fit for the center and right-most buttons in the blank off piece. meaning I'd have the left-most button to use for the time-setting button that needed to be accommodated.
First things first was to saw off the left-most button, and drill a hole matching the time-setting button shown in the Alibaba hyperlink. It has a small stand-off, as the button device won't set flush. But it has a nice hole for securing it. So, after trying a few MacGyver tricks, I finally sawed a small piece off the scrap side here....
And put that under the switch to build up height, and then epoxied the whole switch into place.
Lastly I had to trim a slight bit off the clock bezel sides and top and bottom to get it to fit perfectly into this space...
Finally the hookup. There is a unused wire to the stereo that is keyed-on power. The clock will take a wide-range of voltages, and it ran all night off a 9V battery just fine. So using that keyed ON power lead and the stereo ground, I ran a lead to power and popped the clock back into the center console. Looks like this OFF:
.... and this ON:
You can see the small push-button used to set time on the left. I secured the clock using double-backed tape because it has a small button battery to keep time when the vehicle is off, and that needs to be replaced every two years or so (we'll see). I also ordered a replacement blank-off 3-button piece, and next time I may try to carve a spot into that for the clock without sawing off 1/3rd of the piece. We'll see.
I posted awhile back, looking for this piece. That dead, unused wasted space always piq'ed my interest.... because mine didn't have it, it had a blank-off piece.
On my new radio, here, the clock is tiny and barely useful at all.
And personally I hate these stick on clocks. Hate, them, hate them, hate them...
So I picked myself up one of these, off Alibaba.com. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5-PC...-Motorcycle-Clock-Watch-090798/637465855.html
I only got one. The clock comes in many colors, and comes with a nice bezel surround. And..... it was almost a perfect fit for the center and right-most buttons in the blank off piece. meaning I'd have the left-most button to use for the time-setting button that needed to be accommodated.
First things first was to saw off the left-most button, and drill a hole matching the time-setting button shown in the Alibaba hyperlink. It has a small stand-off, as the button device won't set flush. But it has a nice hole for securing it. So, after trying a few MacGyver tricks, I finally sawed a small piece off the scrap side here....
And put that under the switch to build up height, and then epoxied the whole switch into place.
Lastly I had to trim a slight bit off the clock bezel sides and top and bottom to get it to fit perfectly into this space...
Finally the hookup. There is a unused wire to the stereo that is keyed-on power. The clock will take a wide-range of voltages, and it ran all night off a 9V battery just fine. So using that keyed ON power lead and the stereo ground, I ran a lead to power and popped the clock back into the center console. Looks like this OFF:
.... and this ON:
You can see the small push-button used to set time on the left. I secured the clock using double-backed tape because it has a small button battery to keep time when the vehicle is off, and that needs to be replaced every two years or so (we'll see). I also ordered a replacement blank-off 3-button piece, and next time I may try to carve a spot into that for the clock without sawing off 1/3rd of the piece. We'll see.
