Grandmother Clock Question? (1 Viewer)

[Mick Tees]

Hello Everyone!

My wife and I inherited a nice Grandmother Clock. We had it serviced and cleaned by a reputable clock dealer. It's been running really nice although I noticed that it was running a couple minutes late, so I turned the hands ahead a bit so it would chime at 9 o'clock and not 9:02.

My significant other told me that you should only set a clock like this by going backwards with the hands. So I did this since my initial setting them forward didn't make any difference in the time or the chimes. It was still 2 minutes slow.

Here's my dilemma: I've tried setting the hands ahead or behind, but no matter what I do it now chimes one too many times every top of the hour. (i.e. - 9 o'clock it rings 10 times, 10 o'clock it rings 11 times and so on and so on.)

Does anyone out there with a Grandmother or Grandfather clock ever encounter this problem and what did you do to correct it?

Thanks much

 

[Philip_G]

She's backwards on that, you should only move the hands FORWARD. When daylight savigns ends you should stop the movement for an hour then restart it.

They can get out of sync like that, but I can't for the life of me remember how to get them back in sync, it's been like 10 years since I've had a mechanical movement, sorry I couldn't help much there. Try google.

edit: here
http://www.howtorepairclocks.com/clo...-sequence.html
That's what I did, by moving back (you'll hear it click) then forward you cycle through the hourly chimes until you're back on "schedule"

 

[Mary M S]

Depends on the clock. I have an 8-day key wind movement on my Grandmother version manuf. by “Howard Miller” on which you are only to stop your pendulum then move hands backwards when needing to reset time. My husband (who will not read directions) moved then forward once through an hour (or hours) and caused the same off-hour chiming sequence you are experiencing.
After I played with it for weeks trying to sort it out. I finally stopped the clock and CAREFULLY and gently forcibly moved the hour hand the 1 hour diffrence, - till it corresponded to the current chime sequence I had been hearing, starting it again, letting it run through the hour to verify the chime count matched hand location. Then I proceeded (as recommended by manuf) to stop the clock and move the hands backwards through the 24hrs to reset clock to current time. That was over a year ago …back in business since. My method is most definitely an “at your own risk” recommended last straw. If it is an extremely valuble antique I would only consult with your shop first before attempting.
“Himself” still lives dangerously when rewinding and readjusting time occasionally I still spot him moving the hands forward slightly to catch the time up. He attempts to stay off the quarter chime when needing to advance it 10 min or less and will move it forwards in segments waiting for the chime to hit first naturally before rotating futher forward. You have to judge this method individualy for each clock as our set point in the mechanism which starts the chime occurs on the min. hand before the qtr marks, leading by 2-3 min. Since ours chimes ¼’s ,1/2,full hours you have a very narrow margin till you click into the wrong chime sequence. He hates rolling it back 24hrs, every time he corrects it or forgets to wind. But he is living dangerously, - I do not want to have to strong-arm the hour hand again.
(the hands can be removed by their set screws by a professional, to do this...I did not want to take my face apart from the back)
Confirm your manuf time adjustment technique, (if not an untraceable antique). Additionally, for most modern pendulum clocks (and some old) there is usually a set screw at the bottom of the pendulum rod which acts as a counterweight slowing or speeding the ‘tick’ (travel of the pedulum) just enough to allow the clock to keep more accurate time. A tiny adjustment on this set screw (which is indeed just a screw to rotate), makes an enormous difference in speed and time accuracy as spread over the clocks movement duty cycle. Mine uses a left turn on the screw, to increase speed of the mechanism and a right to slow it down. Since this is a weight action on these type adjustments, (if your clock is equipped with it) - whichever direction moves your screw up the rod will speed your clock up, and vice-versa.

 

[Mick Tees]

Thank-you Mary & Philip. I really appreciate your help. So does my wife. I'm going to try these suggestions after I get done here.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

What's a grandmother clock?

 

[Philip_G]

a shorter grandfather clock?

 

[Marvin]

I have a digital grandfather clock.

(Sorry.)

 

[Kevin M]

I have to admit I have no idea what a "Grandmother" clock is either....so GOOGLE comes to the rescue yet again:


...there is even a "Granddaughter" clock which is even smaller.

 

[brentl]

"Usually refers to a case standing 60' x 70' high."

For those people that want to look up, look WAAAY up to tell the time.

Brent

 

[Bryan X]

Now we know Big Ben is really a girl.