A little Aurora history: About 40,000 Auroras were made over 20 years. The first were made by Rathcon and called the Spectrum (guess, less than 1,000 were made). Then came the regular Aurora that the vast majority of you owned. For the first few years Kirsch-Hamilton had them made and then the name (Kirsch-Hamilton) was sold to Hampton Haddon a marketing company. The Auroras were manufactured by Newton Plastics for Hampton Haddon (guess, 39,500 were made). Next, in the late 80's, Hampton Haddon had a version made in Japan that they imported (guess 1,000 were made). A lot of customers acquired the Japanese version when they sent in their original Aurora for repair and it was exchanged for the Japanese version by Hampton Haddon. Hampton Haddon abandoned the clock around 1991. Then in 1993 we at ChronoArt started manufacturing Luminas (a polarized light clock, see above) and then a year later started also manufacturing new Auroras and repairing the old ones.

The Rathcon versions of the Aurora (called Spectrum) can only be repaired by completely gutting the clock an putting in all new Aurora parts.

The Spectrum and original Aurora used an incandescent lamp that caused the clock to run very hot and shortened the life of the motor and the filters.

The Japanese version of the Auroras had the most beautiful colors and the nicest case; the aluminum was bright dipped and then clear anodized so it kept its shine and was hard to scratch. Sadly the Japanese clock motors had plastic gears that where easy to damage when setting the time, and those gears wore out much sooner than the metal geared motors made by Hansen that were in the original clocks. The Japanese version had the good idea, at the time, of using cool running, cold cathode fluorescent lamps, but they then made the mistake of putting these lamps too near the rear polarizer which damaged it and cause dark streaks on the rear filter, and then added to the problem by gluing in the rear polarizer, making it impossible to replace. Plus they used a motor with plastic gears that were not heavy duty enough to last. So like the Rathcon version once the motor goes the insides of the clocks must be completely replaced with the original U.S. version parts.

The regular Auroras, made by Newton Plastics, that most of you have were made out of polished, but not anodized aluminum. There is an advantage to the aluminum just being polished. If you scratch the case, the scratch can be polished out. With the Japanese version they were very hard to scratch but if scratched there is no way to fix a scratch.

For about the first 6 years that ChronoArt made the Auroras they were made out of brass that was nickel plated. These were the prettiest cases of all, but very expensive. Later because of cost and customers preferring the original case we went back to polished aluminum for new Auroras.

With Auroras the repair process goes like this:

Send in your clock with a note describing the problems (no need to call for permission, just send it). But of course it you have questions, call me (Barry Gamble). When we receive your clock we will send you several quotations, a minimal repair at minimum cost to get it functioning.  Another quote to pretty up the filters, and a third quote to completely rebuild and update the clock to newest technology.  A complete description of all the choices are included with the quote. Prices for Aurora are in one of the following areas (approximately):

$50 for minimal lighting trouble.

$129 to change the clock motor.

$245 for motor and filters.

$303 for the above and the new LED lighting technology.

These prices include shipping labor and parts. (Prices as of 2/15/11)

The Spectrum and the Japanese Aurora are $25-35 more.

With your quote in hand, call with questions, then you can choose the level of repair you want, and send a check or just give us your credit card information. Nothing is put on your credit card until the day we ship.

The average repair time is 3-1/2 weeks.

Warranty depends on the work done. When you do the compete job (75% of you do the complete job) with the LED lighting, then it runs cooler and is more reliable and we have less trouble so there is a one year warranty on parts and labor. If you leave the hot lamp inside (do not convert to LEDs) the warranty is 12 months on parts but 90 days on labor. If you just do a motor repair the warranty is one year on the motor and 90 days on labor. If you just do something simple with the lamp not lighting the warranty is 90 days on parts and labor. We only warranty the parts we worked on. For example if you just change the filters then there is no warranty on the clock motor.

Pack the Aurora with a couple of inches of bubble pack on all sides, use a sturdy box, and ship your clock to: Address

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The Aurora base.

The Aurora original base had a plastic piece that covered the bottom so you did not see the wires inside. It was made out of a very thin black plastic that frequently has fallen apart over the years. It also had no feet on it so it could scratch the surface you sat the clock on. This was only a problem with customer with fine lacquered desks, counter, or bar tops, etc. Our new clocks have a much more substantial base of 1/4 inch thick acrylic with a routed flame polished edge and rubber feet giving the clock a more finished appearance. The base plugs are $9. We rarely include the base plug in the quotation, so if you want it, please call it to our attention. It is pictured below.

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Aurora LED Light Conversion

Colors accentuated by microprocessor slowly changing what colors dominate.

Red, blue, green and white LEDs turned on. Eight LEDs of each color.

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Give me a call. If the motor has stopped and you are a little mechanically adept I can probably just send you a motor and save you $55 in labor and $25 in shipping. A question I will ask when you call, "How hard is it to turn the setting knob?" Your answer will affect what we (you and I) choose to do.

If the lights keep going out, again, call me.

The Prisma's are easily damaged in shipping because they are so heavy. I recommend double boxing, with the front lens face down in the box. Insure the black case ones for $400 and the chrome case ones for $500.    

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The lamps for these clocks are not commercially available any more. We have found substitutes but the lamp card must be modified for the new lamps to work. The modification plus the lamps is $49. A spare set of lamps is $21. Send in the lamp card from inside the clock. If you send the whole clock the charge is $65. Please include the check with the card. Thank you.

To remove the lamp card remove the 3 screws in the bottom and remove the bottom cover. Under the clover you will see a white nylon bar going across the lamp card slot. Remove one of the screws holding the nylon bar and loosen the other screw and swivel the lamp bar aside. You also we see red and white wires going into a white nylon connector. Pull on the white nylon connector to remove. Then hold the clock right side up and the lamp card will fall into your hand.