movement wont work with pendulum

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 1:36 am     Post subject: movement wont work with pendulum

Hi I am new so please bare with me here. I just got a grandfather clock it is not an exspenive one but still nice. It is a 31 day key I took it out of the case because it did not work when my mom gave it to me. It stated working as soon as I put the arm that the pendulum goes on back on it and it started ticking, so i put the pendulum on it and the it stoped working.as soon as I take the pendulum off it works again. Have any ideas as to why? and if I need to get another any one know where to get it?

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:46 am     Post subject:

There are a couple of possibilities why this has happened. First of all make sure the clock is level. Examine the pendulum to make sure that no part of it has been bent or twisted. Attach the pendulum and start it swinging. Listen to the tick. Is it an even tick tock sound? If not then the clock is considered to be out of beat.
Most modern clocks have provision for adjusting the escapement to bring the clock back into beat. The short arm extending out of the back of the movement is part of the escapement. Possibly it has been bent or has shifted position slightly. It can be moved slightly in either direction to bring the clock back into beat. Listen to the ticking sound after making any adjustments until an even tick tock sound is achieved.