going crazy with this clock

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 1:00 am     Post subject: going crazy with this clock

Hi Chris
Don't know if you ever ran across this. I've looked through the Forum and could find no reference.







I built a clock using a battery operated pend/chime movement from Klockit. Tested it for a month and then gave it to my daughter as a gift. The clock kept perfect time at my house. It started losing time the first day in my daughters home. Brought it home it kept perfect time for 2 weeks I took it back to my daug. home, same thing lost time. I did this exchange 4 times, always with the same results. It will not work in her house, It continues to run & pend works but looses time. Since it works fine in my house I wonder if you know of any sort of interference that could be present in her home or area that would cause this.

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:14 pm     Post subject:

The pendulum of a quartz movement has no bearing on the movement timekeeping itself, so we need not be concerned with the pendulum swinging.

What type of movement have you installed int he clock (stock number)? This may help with any troubleshooting issues specific to your movement.

A couple of general things to check: 1.) You could check to make certain the hex nut (securing the movement to the clock dial) is not too tight. Hand tight is sufficient, however over-tightening can have an effect on movement timekeeping. If your movement has a threaded bushing, then this would not apply. 2.) Make certain that the center hand shaft (cap nut or second hand sweep if you have one) is not rubbing against any glass of your clock assembly. This will always inhibit timekeeping. 3.) Make certain the hands are not interferring with each other. This is yet another factor that would inhibit timekeeping. Use the time set knob to ensure proper clearance between hands as they travel around the dial. 4.) Check battery power and ensure that fresh batteries are inserted into the movement.

I am not certain these would be cause of your problem, however these are the initial things to check into.

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:25 pm     Post subject: going crazy with this clock

Items 1 thru 4 have no bearing on the problem.
As I stated it "WORKS FINE IN MY HOUSE!"
In my daughters house it looses time, no matter which room I put it in. I'm looking for ideas on interference not coming from the clock. Enviroment etc.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:48 am     Post subject:

have you tried placing it on a flat surface like a table, and see what happens? What is the model of the clock movement?

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:43 pm     Post subject:

Maybe your daughter’s house is haunted by ghosts who do not want her to know the current time?

Seriously, the only movements that can be inhibited by possible environmental interference (or external sources and what not) would be atomic movements (hence why I asked which movement model number you had purchased). I did understand your initial post, but am hard pressed to make any recommendations because I do not know which movement you have. This was why I listed some general things to check. I can tell you that Items 1-4 have total bearing in regard to a movement not keeping proper time – but may not necessarily apply to your problem. They were just some general things to check once the clock was in it’s location at your daughter’s house.

If it is an Atomic movement, then try moving the clock away from sources of electronic frequencies (such as computers, flat screen TVs, fluorescent lighting). Keep in mind that these factors will not inhibit an Atomic movement from keeping time. They will simply inhibit the movement’s ability to receive the radio frequency. If an Atomic clock is unable to receive the radio frequency, then it will continue to function and run just as a normal quartz movement would (until it was able to pick up the signal once again and adjust/fine-tune time accuracy).

I can tell you this: If your movement is not atomic, then I can assure you that nothing of the external environment should be the cause of a problem such as this.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:51 pm     Post subject:

As a post note: We did have a quartz chiming movement which had a problem with a certain brand of battery. Because of the way the battery was manufactured, said battery would not stay within the contacts of the battery housing. Any slight bump (or what not) would cause the battery to come out of contact, resulting in time loss (or complete time stop). As a further suggestion, you could try switching the brand of battery to see if this would help solve the problem. Not certain if it will help, but it may be worth a try...