Enfield Clock Pendulum not moving

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:40 am     Post subject: Enfield Clock Pendulum not moving

Hi Chris

A while ago I inherited by Granddad's Grandfathers Clock, which has been in the family for around 70 years. I brought the clock home but no one in my family told me that the pendulum needed to be removed. It worked for a few days then the clock stopped ticking altogether and with my constant playing with the pendulum to get it to work, I broke the spring at the top. It was frustrating me as it would only move for a few seconds then stop. I received the replacement spring yesterday and I still have the same problem. I don't want to break the new spring and would really like to have this clock ticking and chiming before Christmas time. Please could you help me as I don't know who else to ask and am my wits end.

Regards
Mel

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:38 pm     Post subject:

With the suspension spring replaced, you will need to put the clock back into beat. The pendulum is more than likely stopping because the clock is either out of beat or not level. I will cover both, but I am guessing that the beat is thrown off (it was probably thrown off during transit). Beat adjustment is something that you can handle on your own. Here's what you do:

1.) Make certain the clock movement is level front to back and side to side. Adjust the leg levelers (underneath the clock) until it is level.
2.) Remove the pendulum from the pendulum leader. Follow the leader up (above where the pendulum hangs) until you find the crutch arm. The crutch arm will stick out through the rear plate of the movement and insert through the pendulum leader. Carefully remove the leader from the crutch arm.
3.) Lightly swing the crutch arm from center to left until you feel slight resistance. Now swing the crutch arm from center to right (until you feel slight resistance). The crutch arm must swing an EQUAL distance from center to left as it does from center to right. If the swing is shorter on one side, push through the slight resistance on that side until you have an equal swing.
4.) Replace the leader over the crutch arm and re-hang the pendulum. Start the pendulum and let it run.

Note that beat adjustment is a trial and error process (so do not be forelorn if further adjustments might be required).

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 6:59 pm     Post subject:

Hello Chris

Many thanx for the advice. I adjusted the "beat" and the clock is now ticking nicely.
The only remaining issue now is that the chimes no longer work since we replaced the pendulum spring. on every 1/4 of an hour you hear the click and the cog looks like it wants to move to strike the hammers, but it doesnt move. irrispective if it is 1/4 past 1/2 past 1/4 to or on the hour.

any advice would be welcomed
thanx
Mel

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:46 pm     Post subject:

This could possibly be due to two factors:

1.) The movement has an auto-night silence feature (in which case, it should chime within 12 hours - at most - from the point it was not chiming). These movements may be equiped with a night silence lever which activates the night silence (or de-activates it). See if you have this switch and try turning night silence off to see if it corrects the chime

2.) On the chime selection side, most movements have a "silent" option. Make certain the movement is not in the "silent" position.

These levers would more than likely be on either side of the clock face (at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions).

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 6:48 am     Post subject:

Hi Chris

I could not see any silence feature inside the clock. The only thing I have is the switch by the number 9 to put it into "silent" position. When I hear the clock tick as if it wants to chime I have opened the back of the clock to see if any movement happens but nothing. I have turned the "cogs" manually a few times to get the chimes to work but they do not work on their own and looks like I can't do that anymore either. I am wondering if it needs to be cleaned but am not sure how to do that, or is it possibly because of the way it is positioned? We moved the chest box that it's on slightly up from where it was to make way for the Christmas tree, but before that the clock would chime but the time would stop, hence that's how I broke the spring. I now have the one side of the clock slightly up as without doing that the pendulum wouldn't work. I'd appreciate any help.

Regards
Mel

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 2:24 pm     Post subject:

Sounds like this is a single chime movement. Make certain the lever at the left (at the 9 position) is not in the "silent" position. If so, the movement will not chime. Switch it to the alternate position (which is most likely Westminster chime).

If you have one side of the clock raised up to run the pendulum, you do not have the movement in proper beat. If the clock is in beat, the pendulum should work with the clock perfectly level. You may need to re-adjust the cructh arm as described previsouly.

You may need to have the movement looked at by a qualified repair professional. I am wondering if you did any damage by moving the clock without removing the pendulum. You could have done more than just break the suspension spring. A qualified repair person could begin with a cleaning and oiling, as well as a visual inspection to see if anything is damaged. Above all, your movement should be oiled every 1 to 3 years and cleaned every 3 to 5 years. If you have not had this done in the last 5 years, this would be a good starting point to see if it would help the movement operate properly.

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:48 pm     Post subject:

Dear Chris

With Christmas now over, I have moved my Granddad's clock back into place, but have put feet under the clock as we have discovered that our floor is not level.

We wound the clock up on Saturday evening and we managed to finally get the clock ticking and chiming, but the clock was chiming out of sync a lot and is at the moment 1 hour and 20 minutes behind the time (should read 3:40). For e.g. if it was 3:30 it would chime the hour and first quarter at half past and then at 3:45 it would chime half past and quarter to. The clock has stopped chiming since Sunday mid morning but you can still hear it go as if it is going to chime. I have 3 wind up mechanisms in the front of the clock, just under the 3, above 6 and under the 9. I know one is for time, one is for chimes and am not sure what the 3rd one is for or which order they should be wound up in. I'm not sure how to attach the pictures I have taken of the clock and mechanism. Is there any way I can rectify this?

Regards
Mel

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 2:38 pm     Post subject:

Mel,

The third (un-named) arbor would be for the hour strike. There is no particular order to wind these arbors (you can be as random as you want to be).

You can remove your hands and adjust them to the time the clock mechanism thinks it is. After you do this, you can set the clock to the correct time. Begin by rotating the minute hand clock-wise. Stop once the movement "clicks" to begin a chime cycle. Allow the movement to complete the chime melody before you resume moving the hands. Continue to rotate/stop the hands at the quarter chime positions until you hear the full chime (followed by the hour strikes). Count the hour strikes.

Remove the cap nut. Remove the minute hand. Remove the hour hand and replace it at the hour which corresponds to the movement chime strikes you counted. Note that the minute hand has an adjustable hub on the backside of the hand. While the hand is removed, the hub can be gripped with a pair of pliers and rotated independantly of the minute hand. In this manner, you can adjust the minute hand if it should not correspond to the chimes. (ex: Movement chimes at 6 minutes before the "12" position. Remove the hand, grip the backside hub with the pliers and rotate either the hub or the hand itself to adjust the hand for the 6 minute descrepancy. Replace the hand on the center shaft and rotate the hand to make the movement chime and check the synchronization. This is a trail and error adjustment, and make take a couple of tries (just remove the minute hand and repeat).

When the minute hand is on the center shaft: Always stop moving the minute hand once the movement clicks to begin the chimes. Do not continue to rotate the hand while the movement is chiming. Wait until after the chimes have ceased before you begin to rotate the hands again. When replacing the hour hand, make certain it is inserted onto the center shaft all the way (the back hub of the hour hand should butt against a shoulder on the hand shaft). Make certain to replace the cap nut once both hands are back on.

If the movement has ceased to chime (and is not in silent or auto night silent mode - if applicable), you may have to have a qualified repair person take a look at it.

To post photos, you can join a free photo posting site (such as Flicker) and follow directions to post your photos. Once posted, copy the website link and paste it into your forum post. We will be able to click on your link and see photos you have posted.