ClockInfo.com

This nice old Ansonia wall clock has an 8-day time only movement. The case is 24 1/2 inches tall and 16 inches wide. The paper dial has an 11 inch time track.

The movement, like those in many Ansonia clocks, is an efficient runner, with the original mainspring being only around 0.0172 – 0.0174 inch thick. The mainspring is in excellent condition, so I retained it in the clock. If it needed replacing, the new spring should be only around 0.0155 – 0.016 inch thick. The movement appears to have been forced to run for may years by keeping it oiled without cleaning it, as 2 pivots and three pinions were quite worn. I polished the pivots and installed 8 bushings.

The movement is marked “12″, referring to the pendulum length.

See more photos.

Repair job 5432.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Short Drop Schoolhouse Clock Movement
2. Ansonia “Queen Elizabeth” Wall Clock in Oak Case
3. Ansonia Iron Case Mantel Clock with Small Round Movement
4. Ansonia “Cabinet No. 56″ Mantel Clock
5. Ansonia Walnut Kitchen (Shelf) Clock

This Ansonia mantel clock is named “Cabinet Co. 56″ and has an oak case with a fancy metal dial. The case dimensions are 12 15/16 high and 9 5/8 wide, with a 5.5 inch time track on the dial. The dial is metal (zinc or aluminum?) with applied gilt spandrels (corners) and embossed numerals.

This clock is a good example of mainsprings that are too strong causing mainwheel tooth wear, and making the timekeeping inaccurate. This clock has 3/4 inch wide loop end mainsprings. When I received the clock, the time mainspring 0.0178 inch thick, and the strike mainspring was 0.018 inch thick. The tooth wear on the time mainwheel was 25%, and the strike mainwheel teeth had 15% wear. The timekeeping was inconsistent – the clock would gain 3 – 4 minutes during the first half of the week, and lose it again during the second half of the week.

This type of Ansonia movement needs thin mainsprings. I installed replacement springs, part number 280-19-009 from Empire Clock,  3/4 inch wide x 120 inches long, and around 0.015 inch thick (the time spring measured 0.0148 inch thick, and the strike spring 0.015). With these springs, the timekeeping is very consistent, with mid-week error less than one minute.

This clock had had many bushings installed by a previous repairer. I polished the pivots (which hadn’t been polished by previous repairers) and replaced 5 bushings.

The pendulum illustrated above is a replacement that isn’t Ansonia style.

See more photos.

Repair job 5277.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Iron Mantel Clock
2. Seth Thomas Mahogany Adamantine Mantel Clock
3. Ansonia Walnut Kitchen (Shelf) Clock
4. Ansonia “Queen Elizabeth” Wall Clock in Oak Case
5. Seth Thomas Tambour Mantel Clock

I recently repaired this Ansonia walnut cased shelf clock.  Case height 22 9/16 inches, width at base 14 1/4 inches. It was shipped from overseas, and so the door with glass was removed and not sent, to avoid damage. The main problem with the clock was that the strike mainspring was broken, and the click on the strike mainwheel needed a better rivet (it had a  previous replacement rivet, that did not fully cover the hole in the click – see photo below). The click is also a replacement, but it functions well.

Ansonia clocks such as this have mainsprings that are thinner than used on many other clocks, and a thin replacement mainspring should be used (of course, original mainsprings should be retained unless there is a good reason for replacement).

The original mainspring measurements are:

Time Mainspring: 3/4 inch by 0.0155 inch.

Strike Mainspring: 3/4 inch by 0.0158 inch.

The time mainspring was in good condition so it was retained in the clock. The replacement strike mainspring is Empire Clock 280-19-009, measuring 3/4 inch wide, 0.0146 inch thick, and 120 inches long. It is a quite thin spring, but it is powerful enough to run the striking for 14 1/2 days.

Repair job 5299.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Walnut and Oak Shelf (Kitchen) Clocks
2. Ansonia Walnut Kitchen Clock – Older, 5 Pillar Movement
3. Waterbury One Day Walnut Shelf Clock
4. Gilbert “Navy No. 26″ Oak Kitchen Shelf Clock
5. Waterbury 8 Day Walnut Shelf Clock, 1880s

This beautiful wall clock called the “Queen Elizabeth” was made by the Ansonia Clock Company. It was introduced around the early 1880s and made until at least 1901. This model was available in black walnut, mahogany or oak; and had an 8-day time only or time and strike movement.

The clock pictured here has an oak case and 8-day time and strike movement. The paper dial is a replacement. Height 37 1/4 inches, width 13 1/2 inches, the minute track was about 7 inches in diameter on the original dial.

Job 5005. This clock has both original mainsprings.

• Time: 3/4 wide by 0.0168 inch thick
• Strike: 3/4 wide by 0.0175 inch thick

It has the larger, older type movement with 5 7/8 by 3 5/8 inch plates. The plates are 1.45 millimeters thick.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Queen Elizabeth Wall Clock
2. Ansonia Walnut and Oak Shelf (Kitchen) Clocks
3. Ansonia Iron Case Mantel Clock with Small Round Movement
4. Russell & Jones Hanging Oak Parlor Clock
5. New Haven Oak Kitchen Clock

This 8 day time and strike Ansonia movement was probably made in the 1880s. It has 5 pillars, and the plates are 5 3/4 inches tall. The movement goes to an oak schoolhouse (drop octagon) case 25 inches tall with an 11 inch dial.

A previous repairer had very badly bushed the front time second wheel pivot hole, and mutilated the pivot and shortened the arbor in the process. I added on to the arbor to restore it its original form, and installed a good bushing.

The time and strike mainsprings were old replacements that were too strong (0.0184 inch thick) made by Usibel, France. I replaced them with Merritt’s P-1956 3/4 by 0.0165 by 96 inch mainsprings.

Here is a video showing the escapement. The motion is excellent, even with the thinner mainspring. The mainspring is unwound about 8 turns (8 days of running) in the video.

Job 4962.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Walnut Kitchen Clock – Older, 5 Pillar Movement
2. Mainsprings in New Haven Long Drop Clock Movement
3. Ansonia Iron Case Mantel Clock with Small Round Movement
4. A Tale of Three Movements and a Clock (Ansonia Long Drop Regulator A)
5. Ansonia Walnut and Oak Shelf (Kitchen) Clocks

I recently repaired this Ansonia mantel clock. The case is cast iron with black finish and enamel dial. It is 9 5/8 inches tall, and 11 inches wide at the feet.

The round 8 day movement is 3 1/4 inches in diameter with open mainsprings. It has rack and snail strike on the hour and half-hour. It has a strip recoil escapement.

I did not do a complete repair job on this movement, per customer request.  I cleaned it and replaced the strike click, which had failed. I also replaced the time mainspring, as the existing one was providing at least twice the necessary torque (it was not original). It was 7/16 x 0.018 by 60 inches, and I replaced it with 3/8 x 0.014 by 60″. A longer and thinner spring would have been even better, but not readily available.

The original strike spring is only 0.0125″ thick and is 7/16 inch wide, and 8 feet long. The original time mainspring was probably similar.

Here are movies of the rack and snail strike mechanism and the escapement.

Here is a slideshow.

Repair job 4990.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Iron Mantel Clock
2. Early Revere mantel clock striking too many times
3. Ansonia Walnut Kitchen Clock – Older, 5 Pillar Movement
4. Sessions Tambour Mantel Clock, Made in 1938.
5. Ansonia Walnut and Oak Shelf (Kitchen) Clocks

I recently overhauled this Ansonia walnut cased kitchen clock. The strong time mainspring of 0.018 inch thick, was causing wear to the mainwheel teeth, so I replaced the mainspring with a new one that is only 0.0155 inch thick (Merritt’s P-1496 in the orange and red box).

The first video below shows how good the escapement motion is with the thin time mainspring. It is run down 9 days in the video. The second video shows the entire movement in the case and then a closer view of the clock striking the hour and half-hour.

Repair job 4899.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Walnut and Oak Shelf (Kitchen) Clocks
2. New Haven Oak Kitchen Clock
3. Mainsprings for Seth Thomas Oak Kitchen Clock
4. Ansonia Iron Mantel Clock
5. Seth Thomas 8 Day Four Sided Top Shelf Clock

About 1880, a fine Ansonia Regulator A, time only with calendar, was purchased for an office. The clock was enjoyed by many descendants of the original owner. It was well maintained, and always gave good service. In the late 1990′s, the clock was taken to a repair shop, and the repairman said he could not fix it! So he installed a chiming battery operated movement! The clock was passed down one generation, and the present owner was horrified at the indignity inflicted upon the clock. She asked me if I could find an original movement to install. I said I would try, but that it would take some looking, as the clock needs an earlier type of movement than is commonly seen.

After searching eBay for four weeks, I saw the exact movement we needed. It even had the original brass calendar hand and the hour hand. I bought it, and found a source for a good reproduction pendulum. A colleague supplied an original type minute hand to me. We had the case touched up, and an old glass painted with “Regulator A”.

I installed a Merritt’s Antiques P-1956 mainspring, as described in this post. This spring is 3/4 inch wide, 0.0165 inch thick, and 96 inches long. It is of excellent quality, and provides the correct amount of power.

Related posts:

1. Mainsprings for Seth Thomas No. 89 Movements
2. Ansonia Iron Mantel Clock
3. Ansonia Walnut and Oak Shelf (Kitchen) Clocks
4. Ansonia Queen Elizabeth Wall Clock