cannot regulate balance wheel

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:18 pm     Post subject: cannot regulate balance wheel

I have a german bracket clock movement with a balance wheel with an arm that you move towards minus or plus to regulate it. It gains about 15 minutes a day and I have tried to regulate ie by moving the arm towards the minus three holes there was no improvment in the time keeping. I have read that if you cannot regulate the movement any more you need to put pieces of solder on to the balance wheel, is this right and if so how much solder and how is it attached, if this information is wrong what can I do to solve my problem.
Jim

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:33 pm     Post subject:

Typically one full turn of that screw will add/subtract 60 - 80 seconds (turning to the + should help the clock gain time, where as turning to the - should help the clock loose time). Always allow 24 hours exactly in between each adjustment of this screw (as you need to see how much time the clock is gaining or loosing in a 24 hour period before making further adjustments). 15 minutes seems like a lot of time - so it may be that you should have the movement looked at by a professional repair person...

I am no mechanical expert, however, so keep checking back for further posts from forum patrons who are much more experienced than I...

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:02 am     Post subject: cannot regulate balance wheel

There is no screw just a lever on top of the balance wheel and I hve just spent over a hundred pounds on repairs.
Jim

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:15 pm     Post subject:

Sorry - some of our movements feature an adjustment screw (rather than a lever).

If you have just had the movement repaired, you may want to touch base with the repair person. I can say that Klockit's repair person tests all movements before returning them to the customer (to ensure that repair was successful). I would think that your repair person would have done the same. Maybe he/she offers some type of warranty coverage for their repair service (and would look at the movement once again).

Again, keep checking back for further advice (as I am not the foremost expert on mechanical movements).

Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 11:45 am     Post subject: cannot regulate balance wheel

Hi again chris over a period of 7 months it has been back to the repair man 3 times and is never right when I get it back.This is why I am trying to get information to do it myself, but you are the only one tryiong to help, so I take it that my idea about the solder is wrong. I will have to try elsewhere, thanks for trying.
Jim

Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 8:13 pm     Post subject:

If it's taken 3 attempts and never right then you are right to take it elsewhere and get another repair opinion.
Then if it is correct you should pursue a claim for some of your money back at least.

Your german clock may be an old Schatz, at a guess, and solder on a balance is considered a no no.

If the clock has been repaired correctly it should need little adjustmant after getting it home.

Old Hermle also carried a three-pronged arrangement which turned on the balance wheel to regulate the movement.

Unfortunately there is little we can do here because without it in front of us we cannot diagnose the problem and give an accurate solution.
As said, basically if the repair is done properly you will not have to adjust the timekeeping much - probably only a few minutes a day at most. So this suggests the repair is not good enough for the mechanism to keep proper time.

A word of advice - take it to a qualified repairer (ask what qualifications he/she has and check on the www if that exists). get a written quote for proper repair and demand the old repairer pay back that amount.
If he doesn't then obtain as much info as you can about any qualifications he has because you can complain to the qualifying body and they in turn will contact him.

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 12:35 pm     Post subject: cannot regulate balance wheel

When I first took the movment in for repair it was because it kept on stopping after a couple of days, and I was told that it needed rebushing so I got it rebushed it now goes for 4 or 5 days but it gains at least 5 minutes a day. I has 3 prongs on top of the balance wheel and is marked made in west germany and has the numbers 73 and below that 1050-320 and it is a triple chime.
Jim

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:34 pm     Post subject:

Your clock is a Hermle mechanism made in 1973.

Trouble with these movements are that they sometimes wear quite badly if not serviced on a regular basis. So over the 36 years I should say it's probably not been serviced much which is why it needed bushing.

What a lot of repairers do now is replce with a new movemnt because this guarantees a clock will go for years longer. It is also more economical for the repairer as it doesn't take long to install. Won't make the repair any cheaper as the new unit is quite expensive.

So where do we go from here?
If I'm not mistaken the mechanism is sprung wound with a key and so your problem could bethat the bloke did not fit new mainsprings which are probably tired.
Do you have a run-down (list) of the tasks he did to the clock? probably not so you could ask him if he replaced the mainsprings and if not - this could be the solution - Personally I would have renewed the whole barrels if there is any wear in them too.