ClockInfo.com

Daylight Saving Time in the USA officially ends November 4, 2007 at 2:00 a.m. You will need to set your clocks back one hour. I recommend doing this before you go to bed on Saturday night (November 3rd). The U.S. Department of Transportation also reminds Americans to change the batteries in their smoke detectors when they change the time on their clocks.

Some windup clocks can have the hands turned back, and some cannot. I will discuss some popular types of clocks below. For specialized types of clocks and clock systems, refer to the instructions manual, manufacturer or service center.

Hermle Clocks (such as the ones I sell at Bill’s Clockworks): You may turn the minute hand back one hour.

Cuckoo Clocks: stop the pendulum for one hour then restart it.

Grandfather Clocks: Modern grandfather clocks, made in the last 30 - 40 years, may have the minute hand turned back one hour. Antique grandfather clocks - stop the pendulum for one hour then restart it. The best way to stop the pendulum is to wait until it swings to the left. As it reaches its maximum swing, gently capture it with your hands, gently move it to the center and stop it, then let go. When starting the pendulum, move it to the right and release it.

Chelsea Ship’s Bell Clocks: Turn the minute hand ahead 11 hours, pausing every hour and half hour for the clock to strike.

Antique American wall, mantel and shelf clocks: Either stop the pendulum for one hour, or turn the minute hand forward 11 hours, pausing every hour and half hour for the clock to strike (some clocks strike just the hour, in which case just pause on each hour for the clock to strike). If the clock is time only (does not have strike or chime), you may turn the minute hand back one hour.

French Antique Clocks: stop the pendulum for one hour, then restart it. DO NOT TURN BACK THE HANDS.

There are so many types of clocks that I cannot cover them all here. Many Seth Thomas mantel clocks have an instruction sheet inside the back door. Most quarter hour chime clocks have instructions, they should tell you if it safe to turn the minute hand back or not.

If you don’t know whether it is safe to turn the minute hand back, you may turn it forward 11 hours, pausing for the clock to chime or strike at the appropriate times (hour, half hour or quarter hour, whenever the clock should strike or chime).

Vintage Electric Alarm Clocks: unplug the clock for one hour or set the minute hand back one hour, don’t go back past the time at which the alarm is set to ring.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT FORCE THE MINUTE HAND. IF YOU FEEL AN OBSTRUCTION, STOP MOVING THE HAND.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT MOVE THE HOUR (SHORT) HAND - IT WILL MOVE BY ITSELF AS YOU MOVE THE MINUTE HAND.

DISCLAIMER: I AM PROVIDING THIS INFORMATION AS A FREE SERVICE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS CAUSED BY FOLLOWING THESE DIRECTIONS.

Marine or Ship’s Chronometer: NEVER TURN THE HANDS BACK. Consult a specialist before setting a chronometer. It is best to not set the hands, just record the chronometer’s error each day.

I had an Ansonia iron case mantel clock for sale in my shop. It ran, but needed to be overhauled, which I planned to do when someone bought it. A man who tinkered with clocks came in and bought it it as-is, wanting to repair it himself. It was a Friday afternoon.

Monday morning he came in with the clock and said there was a problem with it. I looked at the movement and barely recognized it! All the steel parts were badly rusted. I asked him what had happened to it, and he said he dunked the movement into what he thought was an ammonia solution. As the movement entered the fluid, it started fizzing and bubbling, and he thought “Boy, this is cleaning well!” After the “cleaning” and rinsing, he realized that he had used bleach!

The movement was completely ruined (all pivots, pinions and other steel parts were badly rusted and pitted).

Note: an ammonia solution is not good to use on an assembled movement. The movement must be disassembled so that it can be properly rinsed and dried after cleaning. Also, do not use an ammonia solution to clean mainsprings

The dial on this Ingraham tambour can be removed very quickly. Instead of the 4 usual screws holding the dial pan to the case, it has 4 studs fastened in the case front, and 4 semi-circular openings in the side of the dial pan which snap over the studs.

The back door of the case gives these instructions:

TO REMOVE DIAL

The dial of this clock is fastened to the case at four points, opposite numerals 2, 4, 8 and 12 respectively.

To remove dial, open sash, and take off hands. Then with thumb press outward on matting opposite numeral8, at the same time raising carefully on sash. Repeat the operation opposite numeral 10, after which a slight pressure on opposite side of matting will entirely release dial.

To replace, hook one side of dial over two pins in proper location and snap down on other side.

The movement on this clock is dated 9-19 (September 1919). My job no. 4420 (clock not repaired, just lubricated per the customer’s request.)

One of the brass dial mounting studs is located to the right of the winding square in the photo below:

After repairing numerous Schatz and Kundo standard size 400 day clocks recently, I have noticed that sometimes the optimum suspension fork location is different than that shown in the “Horolovar 400 Day Clock Repair Guide”.

Specifically, for Kundo units such as 1 and 3C, I often find that the fork should be slightly higher. For Schatz units such as 6, 7, 8 or 9, sometimes the fork should be slightly lower.

Assuming that the escapement is properly set up (and it is best to leave the escapement adjustments alone if they have never been changed), and assuming that the clock is “in beat”, the escape arc of the pendulum (the minimum arc or amount of rotation at which the escapement will escape at both ends of the pendulum swing ) should be 1/2 turn.

To increase the escape arc, raise the fork. To decrease the escape arc, lower the fork. (Note: other adjustments will affect the escape arc. For example, bending the anchor pin back toward the suspension spring will increase the escape arc, and vice versa. But I do not recommend bending the anchor pin unless it is clearly already bent incorrectly, as it is fragile and you might break it.)

Note: take the suspension unit out of the clock to raise or lower the fork!

After I assemble a Schatz or Kundo standard 400 day clock movement I wind the mainspring up 1-1/2 turns for initial testing. Then assemble the suspension unit and install it in the clock. Put it approximately in beat. Then give the pendulum 1 turn of motion and time 8 pendulum swings with a stopwatch (it should take 1 minute). Adjust the regulator and retest until 8 swings takes 1 minute (plus or minus 1 tenth of a second). (If necessary, the spring is thinned or a different one installed.) Using the stopwatch allows you to make sure the regulator has enough range to bring the clock to time and give you a good starting point for final regulation.

Next, put the clock in beat and check the escape arc to see if it is close to 1/2 turn. If not, raise the fork to increase the escape arc, or lower it to decrease escape arc. After each adjustment, check the beat again. Finally, run the clock for several hours to make sure it has sufficient power (the mainspring is wound up 1-1/2 turns at this point).

Finally, wind the mainspring fully, let the clock run for an hour as the pendulum arc increases, then make sure the escapement action is correct. Sometimes an escape wheel tooth will fall onto the impulse surface of a pallet immediately after dropping from the opposite pallet (instead of the proper action of landing on the locking surface). This can happen if the fork is too low on the suspension spring or if the locking of the escapement is too shallow. I recommend that you study the “Adjustment of the 400 Day Clock Escapement” section of the “Horolovar 400 Day Clock Repair Guide” for excellent drawings and explanations of the escapement action.

Notes on my experience with escape arc greater or less than 1/2 turn

Several Kundo standard clocks that I repaired recently had only about a 1/3 turn escape arc with the fork in the standard position. They ran fine with the mainspring wound up only 1-1/2 turns. With the spring fully wound, however, the action of the fork was so “floppy” that it rebounded after each impulse, allowing an escape wheel tooth to land on an impulse face of the pallet instead of the locking surface. This caused the pendulum motion to not be as great as it should be. After raising the fork to make the escape arc 1/2 turn, the clock would run well with the mainspring fully wound, as well as wound up only 1-1/2 turns.

Similarly, several Schatz standard clocks had a large escape arc of about 2/3 turn with the standard fork setting. They would not stay running with the mainspring wound up 1-1/2 turns, and did not have much overswing when fully wound. After lowering the fork to give a 1/2 turn escape arc, they ran well both fully wound and wound only 1-1/2 turns.