Clock Out of Beat

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 4:55 pm     Post subject: Clock Out of Beat

Hi gang, new to the forums here, hoping for some help. I have my grandfather's Grandmother clock - it's at least 50 years old, maybe more. I just hung it on the wall the other day after being in storage for a while and couldn't keep it running. The pendulum would just stop after a few minutes. I played with the rating nut and could get the pendulum to last longer, but it would still stop after a while.

After some internet reading, I finally figured out that the clock was not flush on the wall and used a bubble level to straighten it out. Unfortunately, there was still a tock-tick, tock-tick and the only way to get an even tick-tock, tick-tock was to canter the bottom of the clock to the left (clock-wise). The clock is still running and seems to be in equalibrium, which is great, but the clock is at a noticible angle on the wall. Beside the fact that it runs a bit slow (about one minute every 24 hours), I'll worry about that later because I'm afraid the wall angle/beat is the larger problem.

Any suggestions? Thanks a bunch.

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:13 am     Post subject:

unfortunately unless we know what the mechanism is like we are guessing too much.

quite obviously it's just a matter of pressing the crutch the right way to put it back in beat . it is usually friction tight.

do a search for a picture of a clock crutch so you know what to look for to adjust.

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 2:25 pm     Post subject:

It sounds as though you will need to adjust the beat. If you know that the movement and clock case (the movement most importantly) are level, then the next step is to make certain the pendulum is in beat. The pendulum typically attaches to a metal piece called the pendulum leader. The pendulum leader, in turn, is typically fed over the crutch arm above the pendulum. The crutch arm is an arm/post that extends out the back plate of the movement.

Remove the pendulum, and then remove the pendulum leader from the crutch arm. Take note of how you remove these items, as you will replace them after you have made adjustments. When you gently swing the crutch arm either left or right, you should encounter slight resistance. This crutch arm should be adjusted so that it will swing an equal distance from center to left as it does from center to right. If it is uneven, then you can push through the slight resistance so that you can gain an even swing. Replace the pendulum leader and pendulum, and then swing the pendulum to see if any further adjustments would be required. This manual adjustment would be typical for many brands of mechanical movements.

Current movements may feature an automatic beat adjustment option, which simply involves overswinging the mounted pendulum so that the crutch arm will self correct.

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 2:32 pm     Post subject:

To adjust for time loss/gain in a 24 hour period, you would adjust the rating nut (located underneath the pendulum bob). Adjusting the nut will (in turn) raise or lower the pendulum bob. Raising the bob will make the movement run faster. Lowering the bob will make the movement run slower. One full turn of the rating nut will equal about 1 minute in a 24 hour period. Always allow 24 hours of operation in between each adjustment. This process may take a few days, so make certain to plan for adjustments at the same time for the next few days.

Last note: If the movement was in storage, you will probably want to look into having it cleaned and oiled (if you have not already).

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 4:32 pm     Post subject: Thanks

Wow, thanks for the responses guys. When you say that you don't know what is the "mechanism", what exactly are you looking for? A make and model, or something like that?

I'll give a go at the crutch arm and let you know how it goes. Thanks again, Matt.

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:04 pm     Post subject:

In many cases, the front or rear movement plates may hold manufacture information. These are the main brass plates which sandwich all the gears/workings in between. For Hermle movements, this information is etched onto the backside of the rear movement plate (I believe in the lower left or right hand corner of the plate). Prominent movement manufacturers will usually have some type of number designation which would identify the movement. This information could prove useful for issues regarding replacement parts, to issues involving tricks/tips for ease of regulating/adjusting. No matter what, it is probably a good idea to know what the movement is (that is, the manufacturer and the respective movement model/manufacturer number).