3D Printed Battery Cover for Alarm Clock

This is my alarm clock. It tells the time. It has red LEDs (not blue). It does not connect to the internet.

I took this picture at 5:14pm.

The plastic simply became brittle over time and broke at the flexible tab on the battery cover. Things become less flexible when they approach 40 years old.

3D Prints are weak along the layer lines, so I designed the replacement cover in two parts - one for the flat base, and one for the flexible spring. The spring is printed sideways so there is no stress on the layers boundaries. The original part was injection molded so it has no overhangs that would get trapped in the mold. A 3D print doesn't have these restrictions, so I exaggerated the locking tabs for a more secure fit.

The two printed parts. Only takes a few minutes.


I glued the parts together with weld-on 4 solvent glue, but CA glue would also work.

You have to know what you're looking for to even tell that it's a replacement part.

Contains STL file and Solvespace CAD file.


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