The GEOCHRON Global Time Indicator

Service manual

 Main support documents

Important initial notice

Keep the special packing boxes and foam corners

The special packing boxes and foam corners are specially designed to efficiently protect your GEOCHRON unit during shipment Do not discard it: you will need it one day, if you move to another location or if you want to send it back to us for repair or servicing.

Return the warranty bulletin

A GEOCHRON unit is guaranteed during a period of 12 months following its purchase (parts and labour only). After having checked the integrity of the shipping cartons received and its content, fill out the warranty bulletin and return it to:

Eric LEMAIRE, Département GEOCHRON – BP 27 – 92201 Neuilly sur Seine cedex – France  

The wall socket must have an earth connection.

Units designed to operate under 220 volts / 50 or 60 Hz:

• both light tracks being mounted "in series", each one is fed in 110 volts. So, if any of the light elements (fluo tube, starter or ballast) fails, the whole GEOCHRON light will fail.  

• lighting and clock circuits are independent from each other. So, if the light fails, the clock will continue to operate normally.  

Units designed to operate under 110 volts / 50 or 60 Hz:

• both light tracks being mounted "in parallel", each one is also fed in 110 volts. But, if a light element (fluo tube, starter or ballast) fails on one track, the other track will continue to give light.  

• lighting and clock circuits are independent from each other. So, if the light fails, the clock will continue to operate normally. 

To protect your GEOCHRON during shipment, internal mechanisms have been blocked by two locking screws. It is therefore important that these locking screws be loosened before setting the unit, failing which serious damage (not covered by the warranty clause) can occur. Just loosen both locking screws, located at the lower back of the GEOCHRON (see figure below).  

NB : Just loosen these screws by 1 or 2 turns, to keep them in place, so that you can easily lock them again in the future if your GEOCHRON must be shipped. 

Setting the GEOCHRON  

After you have loosened the 2 locking screws, mounted your GEOCHRON and plugged in the supply cord, set the correct time and date as follows:

1 - Day of week and time  

This is done by using the aluminum knob located underneath and to the right of the GEOCHRON. Pull it downwards, then turn it until the prevailing day of week shows on both sides of the map. Arrows on top of the map have a letter corresponding to each time zone. Bring the arrow of your time zone in front of its prevailing local time on the time scale (use upper scale for daylight saving time / lower scale for Standard time). Once time is set, make sure that the aluminum knob is pushed back upwards.

Time scale calibration is in five minutes. AM is to the left of Noon line and PM is to the right. Set about 1 minute fast to allow for the backlash.  

2 - Minute indicator    (Original Kilburg models only)  

Turn the knob above minute dial on top of the GEOCHRON to set the exact minutes after the hour  

3 - Calendar and sun  

The knob in the middle, underneath the GEOCHRON, sets the calendar and its associated sun, sunrise and sunset mechanism. It can turn clockwise only. In operation, the calendar slowly moves from East to West (relative to the map). When it is midnight at the International Date Line, each of the 2 calendar indicator lines should fall left and right of the prevailing date. When it is noon at the International Date Line, the indicator lines should be halfway between 2 dates. Upper indicator line shows date for places located on right of date line, whereas lower indicator line shows date for places located on left of date line.

4 - Lighting  

Switch the light on or off by using the black knob located underneath and to the right of the GEOCHRON (knob is effective only when turned clockwise). Light can be left on continuously. It may also be turned off for any reason. GEOCHRON will continue to indicate correct time but will not show the daylight pattern.

Installing the GEOCHRON

The three possible ways of installing a GEOCHRON

 Surface mounting

   (against a wall, like a picture)

A mounting bracket is systematically supplied with each new unit. It is used to easily place the unit on and against the wall.  

Screw the mounting bracket into position on a flat surface, as shown below, at approximately 1,85 m from the floor, making sure that it is horizontal. 

Never install the supply socket directly behind the back of the GEOCHRON (the resulting compression would damage the mechanisms and scratch the map). 

To hang the GEOCHRON, tilt it 45° as shown below and engage the bracket with the hooks, then swing it down into vertical position. This arrangement prevents the GEOCHRON from being accidentally unhooked. The unit can then be moved horizontally on a short distance to give additional adjustment to its position. 

Flush mounting

(in a wall recess)

Flush mounting GEOCHRON requires special “flush mounting brackets” and a recess in the wall of the exact size indicated (all dimensions are shown in mm.). 

The special flush mounting brackets enable you to swing the GEOCHRON out of its recess, to gain access to the control/setting knobs. To do so, pull out the bottom edge first, then the top edge. To return the unit back into the recess, gently push in the top edge first, then the bottom edge.

IMPORTANT: each time after you place the GEOCHRON back into the wall recess, make sure that its control knobs do not come to rest on the bottom edge of the recess.

You can also install your GEOCHRON on the floor or on a desk, using a specially designed oak stand

 On the floor or on a desk

Setting procedure

After having unlocked and installed your GEOCHRON, plug in the supply socket. Locate the different setting knobs and see below how to use them

Setting knobs 

The three setting knobs are located under the GEOCHRON (see picture below).

Item 1 : to set the calendar (and the light pattern) 

N.B. : this knob can only be turned one way; do not force it the other way 

Item 2 : to set the day of the week, then the exact time (hour and minute) 

N.B. : to use this knob, pull it first downwards to disengage it from the map motor gears. Once the setting done, push the knob back upwards into position, to re-engage it in the map motor gears.

Item 3 : to switch the light on or off (black bakelite knob) 

N.B. : always turn this knob in the same way, whether switching the light on or off. (It is inactive if turned the other way)

Checkings

After having done the settings of your GEOCHRON, check the following:

Start by switching the light on and off, using the black bakelite knob (item 3 above). 

N.B. : it is normal that the light takes a few seconds before coming. If it takes a lot longer, change one of the starters 180° on its pin position.

Then, turn the calendar setting knob (item 1 above) over a full year and check the following: 

- June 21: (summer solstice) light pattern has a U form as shown 3rd image below: sun zenith (black spot) falls exactly on the Tropic of Cancer.  

- March 21 and Sept 23: (spring and automn equinox) shows 2 vertical lines (2nd image below): the sun zenith (black spot) falls exactly on the Equator.

- December 21: (winter solstice) reverse U as shown 1st image below: the sun zenith (black spot) falls exactly on the Tropic of Capricorn.  

Lighting troubles

GEOCHRON lighting is secured by two fluorescent tubes associated with two starters and two ballasts. Each combination of one tube, one starter and one ballast is installed on one of two independent light tracks, easily accessible (see below) 

·  N.B.: on 110 V units, both tracks are wired “in parallel” (so each track is fed with 110 V, independently from one another). If one of the lighting element fails, one track only will be in the dark.

·  N.B.: on 220 V units, tracks are wired “in series” (so each track is also fed with 110 V). Consequently, a failure of any one of the elements (on right or left track) will result in total lighting failure

When a light failure occurs, the highest probability is the failure of a fluo tube or a starter. So, first change both fluo tubes and starters. If this does not solve the problem, then change both ballasts.   

Access to the two light tracks 

Both light tracks are located below the GEOCHRON. First unlock the small latch (item 1) that prevents each track from falling down. Gently pull down the track (item 2), taking care not to distort its sliding rails. If the calendar setting knob is in the way, just turn it so as to free the track passage.

·                                

Replacement of fluorescent tubes and starters

Fluorescent tubes and starters are easily replaceable and can be ordered at your usual electricity shop (see their reference below). 

Ballasts being more difficult to find, we suggest that you contact us for replacement. 

N.B. :   if one fluorescent tube is dead, change both tubes; if one starter is dead, change both starters

N.B. :   if the light takes an abnormal time to establish (more than 20 seconds), take out one of the starters and re-position it 180° on its pins.  

Reference of lighting elements 

• Fluorescent tubes: F 15 T 8 / D - 15 W

• Starters : FS 2 – 15 / 20 W

• Ballasts: contact us, advising serial nb of your Geochron unit (ballasts can be magnetic or electronic, depending on this serial number and wiring is different).

Magnetic ballast replacement 

Caution: use 110v ballasts on 110V units and 220V ballasts on 220V units 

The 2 lamp drawers are located on the under side of the GEOCHRON. Slide them out after loosening the screws and turning the latches that hold the drawers. Do not drop them !

IMPORTANT: before attempting to replace a ballast, remove lamp and starter

     NB: Electronic ballasts have a different wiring. Contact us for more details.

Other important advices

Front glass cleaning 

Never apply pressure on the main front glass.  This will unseal it. To remove dust, use a broom; to remove finger prints, rub very gently with a cloth and a glass cleaning liquid.  

Shipping the GEOCHRON  

Before shipping your GEOCHRON :            

a.      set calendar on spring equinox (March 21)

b.      tighten the two locking screws (located on the lower back side of your unit)

Then, we recommend that you use the original packing material (made of an inner box wedged by 4 foam corners in an outer box). Foam corners must be correctly mounted, failing which serious damage may occur to your GEOCHRON during shipment. 

1.      Previous GEOCHRON packing system (used until mid-2011): 

Foam corner have two different wall thicknesses, depending on how they are mounted

It is most important that they be mounted as follows:

-          thicker wall on top and bottom of the box

-          thinner wall on the sides

If foam corners are mounted the wrong way (right figure), it leaves a "floating" space between both boxes. If a shock then occurs during shipment, it cannot be totally absorbed by the foam corners and there is a high risk of damaging the GEOCHRON.

2.      New Geochron packing system used since mid-2011 : the inner box being larger, foam elements are different both for wedging the GEOCHRON unit in the inner box and for wedging this inner box in the outer box.

-   place the 3 foam elements around the Geochron unit as shown on the left picture.

-   insert the Geochron unit inside the inner box, as shown on the right picture

-   -   attach the 4 foam corners on to the inner box, as shown on the left picture.

·         -     insert inner box in outer box, as shown on the right picture 

Servicing every 5 years 

Exactly as your car needs regular servicing, it is essential that your GEOCHRON be serviced at least every 5 years, to clean all internal mechanisms from the dust that has accumulated and thus avoid severe and costly damage. 

NB : never try to open and disassemble your GEOCHRON; your have all chances of making it worse. Let our GEOCHRON specialists do it safely.

Eric Lemaire - GEOCHRON Department

PO Box 27 –

92201 Neuilly-sur-Seine cedex (France)

Phone: +33 1 4694 6234

Email: e.lemaire@noos.fr