The Horolovar 400 Day Clock Repair Guide specifies a 0.0023 inch thick suspension spring for the Schatz model 53 miniature 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.
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.
Kundo standard 400 day clock, early 1950s.
Incorrect suspension guard
Suspension spring secured
Suspension spring free
Job 5207. Horolovar back plate no. 1375. Suspension unit 1, uses 0.0032 inch thick suspension spring.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
Repair job 5204. Horolovar back plate no. 1278 (no date). Uses 0.004 inch thick suspension spring. Mainspring replaced. Old suspension spring retained.
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.