​He has to hang it up upside down

Cold.....its not got apple in the name and costs less than £300.

I have tried the suggestion of opening the clock and pushing the hour hand back one hour. it works!! What you have to do is set the clock up so it is running normally but one hour ahead. Press the REC button and the hands will go to the 12 position; as soon as they do this take out the battery. Now turn the clock face down, on a soft surface, and remove the four V shaped wires that hold the mechanism in place; remove carefully and place face up. Now gently hold the minute and second hands at 12 (important) and push the hour hand to 11. Carefully reassemble and put in battery. The mechanism is now permanently fooled ie when it thinks it is pointing to 12 is is in fact pointing an hour earlier. It will now set itself as per normal but for UK time. I have done this and twice pressed the REC button to force a time reset; so far so good. Only use the REC button not the RESET button which may well reset it to the old factory settings. Doing this will probably invalidate guarantees etc so if you do not want to open it up etc take it back for a refund!!

Quote "forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3896403"
on last page

we have had a eureka moment and so far the time has reverted to BST. Just to recap, what we did was to press MODE and then when the 0 sign flashed, used the down arrow to change this to -1 and then pressed MODE again. We did this earlier this afternoon, the weather station has picked up the DST signal since and the time is still correct. It's good to find an easy solution to the problem.

Very old thread I know, but I bought three of these clocks and never got round to sorting them out - my DIY skills are zero.

Just in case there's anyone else out there with one of these clocks showing the wrong time, just a word of reassurance - it really is a very easy job. Each one takes just a minute or two and no skills at all are required - just the ability to remove simple spring clips and put them back in the same place, noting the four small indentations where they sit.

Not sure whether this fix (physically moving the hour hand back) is a permanent fix, which I imagine it is, or whether it needs redoing after each clock change in March and October.

I also thought it to be quite odd seeing them on sale a few days after this thread.

The signal a range of upto 2000 km (according to wikipiedia), which is well out into the atlantic, so should normally be recieveable across all of the UK (all the clocks that Lidl sell have been designed to use the German signal I think - given they are sold across Europe not surprising). There might be occasions when it isn't recieved (probably due to atmospheric conditions), but that shouldn't be a regular occurence.

I do think it is very off of Lidl to keep selling the clock once they had been notified of the problem. Though that mnay be more down to their systems, than a deliberate decision

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Time_in_Europe

:smiley:

I was the one who posted about DST in Germany. I can assure you 100% that Germany has the same DST as us. Google it if you'd like to double check :smiley:

Can't be too sure on the second question though. However if you've received the signal fine on one occasion, I can't see there being issues in the future...

Welcome to HUKD :man:

The clock is working perfect now after setting the hour hand back to 11. The clips were also really easy to get out, you just push one of the longer edges down away from the frame and they pop out. Easy to put back in too, just look for the little grooves in the casing (yes they are supposed to be there) and pop the 'v' end of the clip into the groove and slide downwards the long edges into the rim of the casing. So easy to do and worth it if you like the clock.

Thanks for the instructions, it's perfect.

Bought 2 of these Christmas Eve. Luckily I checked one and found the issue so did not give them as presents.
Saved myself some ribbing there as I am always telling people to buy radio controller time clocks for their 1 second in a thousand year accuracy.
I've already moved the hour hand back one hour and it works fine.
The questions with doing this is:-
1 Is daylight saving time always the same dates in the UK as in Germany. An earlier post suggests yes.
2 The radio time signal is from Frankfurt (1500km range?) so depending on where you are in the UK and where you mount the clock could be too weak to receive.
My concern with Lidl is that they have handled the issue very poorly. By continuing to sell a product that is not for the UK market and not removing from their shelves (ie a product recall) is bad PR and will cause unnecessary problems for their customers. Which begs the question of how would they handle a health & safety product recall.
Not impressed at all with Lidl.

BillyBits

No rocket science is involved, it will take a few minutes to do.

That's it. And Lidl have still got the wretched things on display at full price - without any warning that they're useless in the UK unless you choose to open them up, force the hour hand, and invalidate the warranty.

#Lidlsurprises

So the only way to fix this clock is to open it up? :disappointed:

My one has had the battery in all day and I've been pressing the different buttons on the back and yet it's just stuck waiting to recieve a signal.
I have the maplins one that someone linked a few messages ago, although very plain, it works perfectly.

See thread #66 !!! Same fix!

I also have a Lidl Auriol Radio Controlled Wall Clock model 4-LD4015-2 purchased 23/12/15 and found it also sets itself to German time. After checking the little instruction booklet and online it apears there is no way of changing the time zone electronically.

Faced with no alternative I simply changed the hour hand back one hour to 11 o'clock and suddenly we are back at GMT. If you don't want to travel back to Lidl to return yours then
1. Remove and re-insert the battery to reset the hands back to 12 o'clock.
2. Remove the battery to stop any movement of the hands.
3. Remove the 4 spring clips holding the clock together.
4. Very carefully ease the hour hand back to 11 o'clock and check the minute and second hand align with 12.
5. Put the clock back together with the spring clips and reinstall the battery.

Each time you reset the clock it will return to 11 o'clock because we are 1 hour behind Germany and when it picks up the signal you will have the correct time displayed. Otherwise chuck it back at Lidl and tell them we are British.

Take the battery out and it'll show you the right time ... twice per day :smiley:

I have the bumps too, it must be from moving the clips

basically read any other comment in this thread about this clock.... :smiley:

See thread #87 for a bit of help with the clips if you want.

Seems to work perfectly :smiley:

Getting the four clips back in place was a little tricky, so I didn't bother... it all stays together well enough anyway. I did notice there are four little bumps in the frame that look like they're caused by the 'points' of each of the four clips... I have no idea whether they were there before, but assume I caused them when I took it apart. Something to be mindful of when you're disassembling/reassembling. Other than that, this seems to solve the problem nicely and for nine quid it's not a bad clock :smiley:

Thanks dianneNE, chickenlip and fishymike.

I bought this yesterday. Very nice clock but it shows gmt plus one hour. So it's probably gonna go back. The radio feature isn't good for us in UK

I have now adjusted time manually by removing front glass etc. and pushing the hour tip back by 1h - works so far.
Thanks guys for help.

I bought this yesterday it shows 1hr ahead of UK time ? In the user manual it was saying the RF is from Germany ? Any idea how to fix this ? Looks very good btw.

The only thing I can suggest is "hang fire". I got mine about a year ago and it was the correct british one, they were in Lidl about 6 months ago too, so hopefully next time around they won't make the same mistake. I'm confident they'll probably have the correct ones in at some point in the future...

Maplin have N93HX on their frequent offer price of £9.99 again at the moment. We’ve got two of them and they keep proper British time! They usually but not always change on the bi-yearly pointless irritation of changing the time zone. If I unhook them from the walls, bring them out to near the window, and refuse to manually adjust them (which would involve manual labour, precisely what I want to avoid), they eventually get the idea. Then I hang them back up.



Blimey! Is that the time?

I've just done that myself, its very easy and only took a couple of minutes.

It seems to be a permanent change as well, I've tried resetting it and the adjustment stays.

Cracked it! See #66

Will go nicely with my R/C car thx

thanks, that worked! I shall hang onto it and if Lidl stock the proper item I will swap it over then :smiley:

Just had these emails from Lidl and the manufacturers in Germany. A shame really as many people will be unwrapping these clocks on Xmas Day.
Dear Mr xxxxx

Re: Digital Clock 114481
Thank you for taking the time to contact us and for your patience whilst I looked into your comments.
I was sorry to hear of the issues you have encountered regarding this product and for any inconvenience caused. I can confirm that the relevant personnel is fully aware of this matter and any necessary action will be taken to minimise the risk of future occurrences.
Regretfully, our Service Agent are unable to offer any technical advice regarding this error. Therefore, on your next visit to your local store, please return the item along with your receipt where the Store Manager will be happy to process a full refund.
I hope this email has restored your faith in us and our products and that you will remain a valued Lidl customer.
Yours sincerely,
For and on behalf of Lidl UK GmbH


Lisa Boag
Customer Service
[T] + 44 (0) 370 444 1234 / 0800 977 7766
[E] [email protected]


Dear Mr. xxxxxxx,

Unfortunately, it is not possible to set UK time with this wall clock.

We are very sorry that you have these troubles with your radio-controlled wall clock.

Please return the clock to your local Lidl shop for a refund.

We apologize for this.

Kind Regards,
--
Mit freundlichen Grüßen/Best Regards/
Meilleures Salutations/Cordiali Saluti/Atentamente

digi-tech GmbH
Dominique Ettewiller
Valterweg 27A
65817 Eppstein
GERMANY

digi-tech - Gesellschaft für den Vertrieb von elektronischen und digitalanzeigenden Instrumenten mbH
Geschäftsführer: Vivien Misic
Amtsgericht: Königstein, HRB 5615

Thanks for update.... I really like that clock, does anybody know if I can buy exactly the same clock but UK spec anywhere at all? I dont mind paying little bit more.
Checked Amazon, ebay, etc but can't find the same one.

Cheers

Thanks for update.... I really like that clock, does anybody know if I can buy exactly the same clock but UK spec anywhere at all? I dont mind paying little bit more.
Checked Amazon, ebay, etc but can't find the same one.

Cheers

Just called Lidl customer services and they know there is a problem and told me to take it back to any Lidl store with the receipt for a full refund. They apparently only found out about this yesterday when they were getting calls about the product.

Try tilting the mechanism as you lift it out, the glass is actually attached to the frame. The V shaped clips fit V end down into four small rectangular recesses located at 12,3,6 and 9 on the mechanism plate. Then locate one wire end under the frame lip, bend the V apart, and locate the other end of the wire under the lip. Hope this helps.

I managed to undo the clips but couldn't get the clock housing out of the frame, I tried forcing it a fair bit but worried the glass will break. Not sure how to fit the clips back on either now. Anyone got any tips?

Thanks!

There is no manual mode (you can set the time manually, but it will reset itself once it gets a time signal.

If you want to keep the clock (and it's otherwise a cheap and decent enough clock) then the suggestion up the thread to move the hands manually does work and is easy enough.

Because of our busy hectic lives quartz just isn't accurate enough.

come on people.. this are probably made in china and so there is a way to change
the time zone. Time to get the grey cells working and be the hero to
millions who don't want to be in the German time zone.

I wouldn't buy another radio controlled time piece from Lidl that uses the German clock signal, my alarm clock from there has caused no end of trouble changing to CET even though it is set to UK.

thats a real shame, would be mint if it did.......think i§ll try and pick a couple up they look good

well.. i bought this today. The time got adjusted to CET rather than UK time... . else have to return or switch to manual time :disappointed: (Anyone know which is the MODE button in this clock?)

Great, thanks.

I'm gonna do what most people have done.

Read the thread. Identified there is a problem.

Go out & buy one.

Then come back here & post 'there is a problem'

:smile:

That was fixable - yes. One slight snag, though - it was an entirely different product.

Daylight saving dates are the same in europe. Will be fine.

I think people like a challenge. I've had a look at the MSE thread mentioned earlier on, and it does suggest the problem is fixable. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3896403

Though, I only have the Aldi radio controlled clocks bought for £3.99 last year from Home Bargains!

I have tried the suggestion of opening the clock and pushing the hour hand back one hour. it works!! What you have to do is set the clock up so it is running normally but one hour ahead. Press the REC button and the hands will go to the 12 position; as soon as they do this take out the battery. Now turn the clock face down, on a soft surface, and remove the four V shaped wires that hold the mechanism in place; remove carefully and place face up. Now gently hold the minute and second hands at 12 (important) and push the hour hand to 11. Carefully reassemble and put in battery. The mechanism is now permanently fooled ie when it thinks it is pointing to 12 is is in fact pointing an hour earlier. It will now set itself as per normal but for UK time. I have done this and twice pressed the REC button to force a time reset; so far so good. Only use the REC button not the RESET button which may well reset it to the old factory settings. Doing this will probably invalidate guarantees etc so if you do not want to open it up etc take it back for a refund!!

We had a load of these on the ward I worked in and every morning at 1am they would reset so no one on the ward would know the time. Really frustrating . And they always broke when the clocks changed. Useless

does the second hand sweep or tic?

The answer is no, it doesn't tick loudly.

I got mine from Lidl around a year or so back, paid £9.99 and it looks exactly the same. Time keeping is perfect and gets a signal every time and syncs to UK time so auto-changes when the clocks go forward / back without issue.

Shame they've botched it this time around and obviously have received the wrong ones from their supplier, because it's a genuinely great clock. When it's the right one...

Eh? Radio controlled?! Sorry can somebody enlighten me I have followed the link and can't seem to understand what radio control is for. Is it so you can change the time the twice a year without the need to remove the clock from the wall? Looks a nice clock.

Mines going back tomorrow as well.

Not the right clock, I think - this seems to be the one that's being sold at the moment, and maybe Lidl have been supplied with the wrong one:

http://www.lidl-service.com/static/140798043/114481_EN_DA.pdf (IAN 114481)

Link to manual - http://www.lidl-service.com/static/96011323/100489_EN.pdf

It only states that:

Sounds like a lot of effort for a clock. What's so hard about setting the time yourself and moving back/forward an hour for BST/GMT? Seems people are getting lazier! :neutral_face:

just bought model 4-LD4015-1 it runs at one hour ahead of uk time as signal comes from Germany so it is going back 2moro.no info on box or in instructions so mis-sold.

Will be ok when the EEC insist we switch to European time no doubt.

Great deal. Bought one as a pressie for my uncle who lives in Brussells. Hoping it'll work

Voted HOT, HOT, HOT!

Bought one today and it only sets to Frankfurt time. Set it manually to UK time and a couple of hours later it was back to German Time! I have looked all over for a Time Zone button but there is none. Rang Lidl service and they said return or exchange it. Oh well you get what you pay for. Will be returning it tomorrow for a refund

No income tax, no VAT

My thoughts: Because the Frankfurt/DCF77 signal covers two or three time zones, any clock designed to work from DCF77 should be capable of having its time zone/offset adjusted when the clock is initially set up. I suspect that the Lidl clock does have the facility to adjust time zone but the instruction is omitted from the Lidl (usually ambiguous/translated from Chinese) written instructions. Having said that, has anybody tried setting the clock with its buttons to 11.00 and then removing/reinserting the battery and waiting for the sync process to take place?

I have this clock albeit in white so it is more visible in the dark, corrects itself every day around 4 o'clock as I saw the second finger freeze for 5 seconds the other day whilst it corrected itself, its definitely not a loud tick and it seems you do have reset for the time change which is very simple anyway temperature dial seems to be accurate so all in all a good clock still pleased I bought (several months ago now).

Just clicked through the Lidl website and they seem to be promoting the hashtag #LidlSuprises.

There should be countless tweets about this clock along the lines of:

Just got my new Auriol Radio-Controlled Wall Clock home to find it only tell the time for Germany. #LidlSuprises

This clock looks really nice! too bad I'm not in the market for one.

Also Clocks make good present for someone who just moved into a new house / apartment.

Utterly stupid of Lidl to have introduced this product to UK market. I even set the time using manual mode but after an hour it reset itself automatically to German time...how stupid. Rubbish...waste of time....going back tomorrow.

Here is an user manual (different model though but analogue) which again mentions nothing about time offset (BST / GMT).

Hi again.
You don't seem to have much idea on the concept of time. I'm sure it's just 4 clips holding the clock together, you could get a responsible adult to help you.

Fine (apart from the possible damage - plus the fact that you'd need to repeat the process twice a year). :wink:

My alarm clock is frankfurt and works fine. There's a setting to change.

It is - and Lidl are washing their hands of the problem. Twitter or Facebook will direct you to the Lidl helpline, and the helpline will tell you they haven't a clue and suggest you phone or email the German supplier.

The phone number (0800) given for the supplier in the leaflet doesn't work either.

All three going back for a refund. Unimpressed, Lidl - and this is by no means the first time they've done this with radio-controlled clocks. They're either stupid (which I doubt) or assume their customers are too stupid to do anything about it. I predict a lot of unsaleable returned clocks without boxes. :smile:

3 bought - nice clocks. One tiny snag - they all pick up the Frankfurt signal (as shown in the manual) and they all show European time, so they're all 1 hour ahead of UK time.

Nothing in the manual to indicate that there's any way of adjusting it to the correct time without losing the radio-controlled facility altogether and turning it into a manual clock.

Unless there's an easy fix, these will be going back, and I suspect a lot more too!

just got one of these, can't for the life of me work out how to get it to synch to UK time. It synchs fine to +1hr Germany time.
There are only three buttons on the clock module- reset/set/rec.
There must be a combo of button pushes to offset -1hr but I haven't found it yet, anyone got any ideas?
& yes, I know I can set the time manually, but that's not the point of a radio-controlled clock in my view & not why I bought it.
if no joy its getting returned.

Hi there
Why don't you remove the clock from its housing and put the small hand back an hour. Then it will always follow GMT. Hope this helps.

Quote "forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3896403"
on last page

we have had a eureka moment and so far the time has reverted to BST. Just to recap, what we did was to press MODE and then when the 0 sign flashed, used the down arrow to change this to -1 and then pressed MODE again. We did this earlier this afternoon, the weather station has picked up the DST signal since and the time is still correct. It's good to find an easy solution to the problem.

I bought one about five years ago and has always set correctly without any intervention...
Maybe a batch has been sent out incorrectly, they sell all over Europe so it's hard to believe that they missed this.
For all that, mine is working well after five/six years with only one new battery installed a few years ago..... I bet it packs up tomorrow!

Bought one last year - no problems with it in N Yorkshire. Pretty certain there is something in the manual re setting it in a different time zone.

The time signal is sent from Germany that's why the time has to be set to 11:00 during the set-up process because of them being an hour in front. I bought one last year and it hardly ever receives a signal. I think I will buy another and see if I have any better luck.

Ahh, yes I see what you mean! That's no use. Is there a code online for the place in Cumbria?

Bought it today. But so far struggled to get the auto-update feature to work. Kept it next to a big window.
Not sure what else can I try... Any suggestions?

DCF77 covers the UK too.

Perhaps it would be worth trying another one. Other people mention that they have bought them from Lidl in the past and haven't had any issues with them. Please let me know how you get on as I was going to head out and get one this afternoon.

Just got one today and Hmmm this seems to only set its time to Germany! On further reading of their manual it says it uses the DFC77 radio signal... In Frankfurt!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCF77

Reset it a few times now and same issue so kind of useless for its "radio" feature now. Don't think Lidl thought this through!

Think I may be taking this back!

i got a radio controlled clock but would not recommend one as they are often inaccurate at picking up signal when the clock goes forward and backward. better off changing the blooming time yourself.

I got one from Lidl a couple of years ago, and mine only tunes in to European time, as I live on the Isle of Wight I wonder if it picks up a signal from France, as that is nearer ?

It should work as the nearest signal is in Cumbria

http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/radiocontrolledtime.html

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?id=726

^ Link to all deals available today

great find op, heat

Depends on the signal broadcast and the receiver in the clock, which is likely to be limited due to the price (possibly European broadcasts only). I know watches with the feature specify being 5 or 6 bands, for example, meaning they can be used in x many countries.

​He has to hang it up upside down

It will in inside, for outside you would need a sensor that's outside.

I would like to know that too, also will the temperature displayed be the outside or inside temperature?

Does anyone know if these clocks are loud when ticking away?




It should work I reckon. The clock updates the time by listening for a radio signal broadcasted from the country it is resided in.

RC = it locks onto the Greenwich / world atomic clock time signal in any country and updates constantly so is rarely out unless batteries are low or signal is weak

A novel feature.

Voted Cold for not so great quality, didn't update at hour changes over last and keeps randomly resetting to 11pm

Cold.....its not got apple in the name and costs less than £300.

I got one of these clocks last year. Sometimes you have to reset the back of it to correct the time. Still good value at that price. Heat added :smiley:

It auto updates, so is always the right time and automatically updates daylight saving

Is it avail now, cant find the event day

The black one.

Tempted to buy and use the movement in my current clock

Good looking clock with RC at a good price