Chronos Chess Clock Repair

One of the LCD screens is starting to blank out on my clock. I believe it is the ribbon cable that has gone bad, since bending the ribbon cable allows the screen to show the numbers, but it never really lasts.

I need the actual address to DCI to repair the clock. There is an address to a place in California that repairs the clocks but I am not sure if it is the correct one:

SamTimer
300 Salmon Falls Road
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-9786

Any help would be appreciated.

Sam Timer should be it. The Chronos is a Sam Timer w/ the Scrabble function removed and marketed to chess players. It was developed by a Scrabble player named Sam Kantimathi, to market the clock to chess players he removed the Scrabble function (up counting overtime) from the clock and gave it a mythical name "Chronos". The address you have posted above is the same on the web site http://www.samtimer.com . So it has to be right, send it there.

Dont be a cheapskate buy a new clock.

Chronos are expensive, makes more sense to repair it.

my chronos clock will not power up,i tried to check the battery but did'nt see one.can you tell me if theres a battery .

There is. You have to open the clock using the screws to replace it.

I know Sam Kantimathi won't fix your clock. Sorry dude

Yes as an avid player and organizer of chess events I can not recommend Chronos Chess Clocks due to the recurrent failure rate of less on average 1 year. I have not returned any other manufacturers clock for repair because cost to buy a new one is better, cheaper and faster, overall.

I have used SamTimer.com for repairs but all of them have failed again and even a third time with 3 clocks and all my friends don't have one due to cost and repair issues . Chronos could have been the Premier clock by design but the Cost/Failure Rate is too high and Sam Repair has taken up to 6 months turn around time to return the clock as the only service, though inexpensive to rebuying another chronos.

Saitek raised their prices to the same as NA DGT($50, Used to be Saitek Blue were $25 and Black was $35 originally) and Saitek Clocks button gets knocked off or changes the timer setting during play if you hit it inadvertantly. Some players also are confused when delay timer running because you can't see real time left when delay running and if you have 5 seconds of real time and your delay is set for 5 seconds you can definitely loses track of what is ticking i.e. realtime or delay time causing you to lose focus on the game, good/bad for the owner but definitely bad for the opponent not used to it. Best thing about Saitek was they were durable. Only heard one mechanical breakage in 10 years out of dozens.

Excaliber Chess Clock are decent but the Buttons can break or come off and Blitz play is not recommended to make it last. Otherwise, OK clock.

Zmart's Chess Clocks are new but already the middle red butons are causing inadvertant resets by players accidentally hitting it and are $10 more.

 I currently own North American DGT Clocks. Not one problem ever for me or anyone I know running 1000 events in the last 7-8 years. They were given as the choice "prize" clock at the USATE last 2 years(I won one) and were provided for all players for all boards at Millionaire Chess 2014 by the organizers(Not one complaint heard there either of clock malfunction).

Biggest issue for using a NA DGT no light on clock is used to indicate to players timer is running/paused because players do forget to push the pause button at the start of play and the flashing "delay" on the indicator is too small and not obvious to see, which is operator error issue.    That is still better than an accidental timer reset.

Chronosdealer.com is happy to share the complete online Chronos Manual: chronosdealer.com/manual
http://chronosdealer.com/manual

Tutorials: http://chronosdealer.com/tutorials

http://chronosdealer.com/timepermovestored   shows you how to retrieve the saved/stored time spent on each move

Finally, we now have a median 12-day turnaround for repairs after the clock reaches us. Quickest it has been in years!
http://chronosdealer.com/repairs.html

We successfully fixed over a thousand CHRONOS clocks this millennium alone, since the year 2000. Not to mention thousands since the late eighties. Thank you all for your support, patience, confidence and kind words.

I need to send a Chronos clock to the company, that shows the link above this message.
If anyone has had some recent repairs I'd appreciate a feedback.
Thank you.

:-)

 OK, my old Chronos  was dug out by me after not being used for several years, Although the batteries were in bad shape, after removing them, cleaning the unit, and replacing them with new batteries, the unit works great, except for one thing. The 12 user presets have been reduced to only 4. Has anybody here had that same problem? Any ideas on what will fix this.  ... I CAN live with 4 presets but it's nice to have all 12 back .... Thank you all! J.S.

what happens when you start w/ presets 5-8 or 9-12? I don't recall, but I don't think there's a way to get to those presets if you start the clock w/ presets 1-4, other than restarting...

If I remember correctly, there are 4 presets for each method of turning the clock on.  Turn the clock on by pressing the centre button only and you get presets 1-4.  Turn the clock on by pressing the left button and the centre button and you get 5-8.  Pressing the centre and the right button gets you 9-12.  Have you tried this?

WOW ! ... Thanks Moriarty 697 ... and FrankW' .. I'll try and let you know  J.S.

Thanks Moriarty 697 ... BRAVO! .. It worked, I now have all 12 user modes working, by way of the weird 2 button press technique you told me about. . .. The funny thing is, even going back to the manual right now, to the user modes section ... I could not find clear instructions, like the ones you've just given me on how to access the user modes above number 4. Did somebody tell you how to do that, OR do I have to re-read the WHOLE manual to find where that information is hidden ... lol  Anyway, THANKS AGAIN M' 697!  Life is good thanks to you!  J.S. 

Hello everyone. The numbers on my chronos clock stopped showing on the screen, or atleast part of the numbers. Example, if I had the game set at 5:00 each, the screens would look like 5:LL and 5:LO . The "L" is an example of the incomplete "0". Where can I send this to get repaired. The missing parts aren't always the same, so I know the screen works, just doesn't always light up completely. Any feedback appreciated. 

Have you tried a fresh battery?

it is the ribbon connected to the LCD screens.   Try taking the metal casing off, then rubbing the ribbon cable softly... I bet the numbers will show up.  Unfortunately, I dont know of a replacement cable...

I sent my chronos to Sam Timer for repairs when the display began to fade on some digits.

He failed to fix it after 3 months and sent back the clock in the same condition while charging $70.   

I recommend you purchase a new clock.