My Grandfather Clock does not work Help?

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:52 pm     Post subject: My Grandfather Clock does not work Help?

Hi all,
I was given a Grandfather clock that is in mint condition from may great grandmother and I am trying to find out why it will not work. I tried winding and it seemed to wind properly but dont know what to do next. It used to work but now nothing. It is a Tempus Fugit. The clock says "Ridgeway". Can anyone tell me where I can start with troubleshooting or point me in the right direction. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:43 pm     Post subject:

The first question is the clock on a level surface, you can check with a small level, that would be the first thing to check.

Does the clock run at all when you move the start the pendulum?

Has the clock been serviced within the last few years?, if not a cleaning and oiling is in order.

Tempus Fugit is just the phrase in latin meaning "time flies", Ridgeway is the name of the clock company.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:58 pm     Post subject:

No it has not been serviced in the past couple of years. It was just sitting in the dining room. I pulled the chains until they stopped but nothing happened. I also noticed that it did make a bell sounds as if it was alarming when I first did something to it. That lasted maybe 20 seconds of chiming. Is it very difficult to service? I'm a Computer hardware technician. I'm also a pretty nice lifelong handyman

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 4:26 am     Post subject:

You will need to start the pendulum swinging, by moving it gently to one side and releasing it. Once moving you should hear a tic toc, and if all is well it will keep swinging, and keep time.

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:58 pm     Post subject:

Okay Thanks. I have got the clock going. It appears that I didn't wind the middle weight which was the cause of not running. Now that I have it running, the chimes will not chime automatically. I can open the back and slightly tap them and they will sound but not by themselves. However it did chime at :15 after the hour once but not anymore. Do you know what could cause this? Thanks in advance!

Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:20 pm     Post subject:

Check to make certain the chime lever is in a designated chime position. Also check to make certain that the chime shut off (if applicable) switch is not activated. Also note that some movements automatically silence the chimes during the evening hours.