ClockInfo.com

Some Schatz London Coach 400 Day Clocks Need A 0.0024 Inch Suspension Spring

Bill — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:42:12 +0000

The Horolovar 400 Day Clock Repair Guide specifies a 0.0023 inch thick suspension spring for the Schatz model 53 miniature 53 movement. I just repaired one that ran too slow with a 0.0023 inch spring, so I installed a 0.0024 and it keeps good time (my repair job no. 5212). The pendulum looks normal, but perhaps its weight is slightly different?

I repaired another one a couple of months ago (job 5113) that also needed a 0.0024 inch thick spring. This one was slightly different in that the spring needed to be 1/8 inch longer than usual for the pendulum locking device to work.

Kundo 400 Day Clock – Locking Suspension Guard

Bill — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:34 +0000

The most delicate part of a 400 day clock is the thin wire called the “suspension spring” that holds the pendulum and controls its rotation. On many 400 day clocks, the pendulum can be locked in place for shipping and there is a metal or plastic guard to protect the suspension spring. On earlier clocks, the pendulum needed to be removed for shipping.

Kundo 400 day clocks from the early 1950s have a sliding piece on the guard that secures the bottom of the suspension spring during shipping. The photos below show the guard locked and unlocked, and also show an incorrect guard (a later one) on a clock that needs the earlier guard with the slider.

Job 5207. Horolovar back plate no. 1375. Suspension unit 1, uses 0.0032 inch thick suspension spring.

Koma Midget 400 Day Clock

Bill — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:00:35 +0000

This midget 400 day clock was made by Koma (Konrad Mauch) in Germany in the late 1950s. It is 7 1/16 inches tall (to top of finial) and 4 11/16 inches wide. The dial diameter is 2 15/16 inches (including bezel).

The pendulum on this clock turns much faster than that on many 400 day clocks – 15 beats per minute. By comparison, standard size 400 day clocks make 8 beats per minute, and the Kern miniature makes only 6 beats per minute.

This album has more photos.

Here is a movie of this clock in operation

Here is a movie of this clock and a Kern miniature together:

Horolovar back plate no. 1393B. Suspension unit similar to 38 but uses smaller fork. Suspension spring .0022 inch thick (measure replacement spring carefully – the first one I tried was labeled 0.0022 but made the clock run too fast and was actually 0.0023 inch thick). The movement uses a pin pallet escapement.

Seth Thomas 44 AG Clock Movement

Bill — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:00:28 +0000

I repaired this Seth Thomas 44 AG clock movement. It uses 11/16 inch wide mainsprings, and has 4 gears in each train (time and strike). The movement has a strip deadbeat escapement, and stopworks for time and strike mainsprings. This shape of movement is sometimes called a “hip” movement because of the shape of the plates. Is is a fairly large movement, the plate dimensions are 6 3/8 inches high and 3 15/16 inches wide.

The owner had attempted to install a new mainspring himself, and ended up with the tangled mess in the first photo below! (The tangled mainspring is the original strike spring, which is good and was retained in the clock, the time spring (which was broken) is not present in the photo.

The replacement time mainspring spring is a Timesavers 20506 11/16 x 0.0165 x 96 inch spring that actually measures 0.0157 inch thick and 23/32 inch wide. This spring opened out to 12 inches diameter when first released from its clamp. The original strike mainspring is 0.016 inch thick and exactly 11/16 inch wide.

Below is a movie of the movement striking. It strikes hours using the countwheel strike mechanism:

Here is a movie showing a closeup of the escapement and general views of the movement:

Repair job 5109. Besides installing the new time mainspring, the pivots were polished, 7 bushings installed, and some adjustments made to the striking.

Schatz Standard 400 Day Clock with No Name on Dial, ca. 1950

Bill — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:00:13 +0000

This Jahresuhrenfabrik (Schatz) standard 400 day clock, was made around 1949 – 50, and has no name on dial. The minute track of the dial is 3 9/16 inches in diameter. The movement is labeled Jahresuhrenfabrik, and this company was renamed Aug. Schatz and Sohne around 1950 (the Jahresuhrenfabrik name continued to be used on the back of some clocks for several years). Jahresuhrenfabrik is German for “Year Clock Company”.

This album has more photos.

Repair job 5204. Horolovar back plate no. 1278 (no date). Uses 0.004 inch thick suspension spring. Mainspring replaced. Old suspension spring retained.

Jahresuhrenfabrik Disc Pendulum 400 Day Clock, ca. 1912

Bill — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:45:46 +0000

This Jahresuhrenfabrik (German for “Year Clock Company”) 400 day clock has the serial number 112975 on the back plate and was made around 1912. The diameter of the dial minute track is 2.5 inches. (Earlier clocks often have a smaller dial, whereas later, 1950s clocks have a larger dial, typically with a 3 9/16 inch time track.)

There are numbers and dots on various parts that may relate to batches of movements being made. Both plates have “39″ and “4″ stamped on the inside. The minute wheel cock and minute wheel both have “39″. The barrel, cap and arbor all have “39″ on them. Wheels T2 – T5 and the hour wheel have 3 dots and a “7″ on them. Can anyone explain these markings?

This movement has an early example of a guard for the suspension spring, with a brass cover on the bottom for shipping.

Here is a movie of the clock:

Here is a slideshow of more photos (click near the bottom of the photo to start the show):

Jahresuhrenfabrik became Aug. Schatz and Sohne around 1950. Their clocks almost always have a one-piece anchor in the escapement (as opposed to the anchor with adjustable pallets used by most makers).

Repair job 5206. Horolovar back plate no. 1349. 0.004 inch thick suspension spring. Suspension unit similar to 6789A but slightly longer so that pendulum doesn’t look too high above base. I would have liked it to be longer for the pendulum to be lower, but then too much would have been protruding for the suspension guard cap to cover.

Seth Thomas Cottage Clock with 8-Day Lyre Movement

Bill — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:00:38 +0000

This Seth Thomas Cottage clock has an 8-day time and strike lyre-shaped movement and was made around 1865 (movement marked Plymouth, case label marked Thomaston). The case is 14 7/16 inches tall.

In the past, someone coated the time second wheel with solder (visible on the right in the photos below). I have no idea why they did this. My customer and I decided it was not worthwhile to try to remove the solder. The dial is not shown because all of the paint has come off and it has had a paper face applied.

This movement has 4 wheels in the time and strike gear trains, and uses 11/16 inch wide mainsprings. I installed a new time mainspring 11/16 wide by 0.0165 inch thick by 96 inches long from Empire Clock. This spring opens out to about 9 inches when first released from its clamp. The movie below shows the escapement motion with the spring fully wound. The motion is good but not excessive.

I installed a new strike mainspring also, Timesavers 20506 11/16 x 0.0165 x 96 inch. (This spring opened out to 22 inches diameter when first released, but opened out to 13 inches after 2 winds.) I replaced both mainsprings because the originals were rusty.

Repair job 5072. Needed the pivots polished, 13 bushings installed, the escape wheel teeth trued, replace the wires in pinion T4, reverse the wires in pinion T3, smooth and polish pallets. No oil on the pallets.

Schatz Miniature 400 Day Clock, March 1956

Bill — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:00:58 +0000

A couple brought in this clock that they received it as a wedding gift over 50 years ago. They told me that the clock was put away in its box and was forgotten until recently.

I disassembled and cleaned the movement. The only problem found was that the pendulum hook had come unscrewed.

This clock is the same model as my first 400 day clock. This model is not nearly as common as the London Coach miniature 400 day.

Repair job 5199. Movement dated 3 56 (March 1956) on the back.

Schatz “London Coach” 400 Day Clock, April 1960

Bill — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:00:36 +0000

This beautiful little clock was given to my customer’s mother in 1960, but it never worked for more than 5 minutes. It spent its life sitting idly on a shelf, and was given to my customer recently.

I disassembled the movement and cleaned it. A couple of the pivot holes were slightly too tight, and the suspension fork tines were slightly too close together. After adjusting these things, reassembly and lubrication, the clock is now running well.

The movement is dated 4 60 (April 1960).

Repair job 5194.

Mainsprings for Seth Thomas 89C Clock Movement (6-18-10)

Admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:00:11 +0000

When this movement came in for repair it had extremely strong replacement mainsprings from Germany (the ones that uncoil to over 20″ diameter when released). I don’t like such strong springs in American clock movements, especially the Seth Thomas 89 movements, which are efficient).

After routine repair (pivot polishing, bushing) and not so routine repair (having a new ratchet wheel made), I installed two new mainsprings – the Merritt’s Antiques P-1496 in Red/Yellow package. The thickness is 0.0165 inch. The video below shows the escapement motion and pendulum motion with the time mainspring 10 1/2 turns run down and fully wound. This mainspring provides enough power, yet not too much, for this clock movement.

Job 5077.