I dared to service my Kieninger 4/4 Westminster

[Kalanag]

In 1991 my mother in law gave me this new Kieninger jubelee clock as a gift

Searching the internet I stumbled over the following advise to buy new instead paying for service.

That gave me the final trigger to service the movement myself knowing that I would get help by the experienced guys in this forum if necessary.

I was concerned whether I would be able to restore the correct timing after reassembly because I couldn`t find any service literature about this specific movement. So I at least tried to read and learn something about locking cams, snails, "warning" etc..

Then I disassembled the movement carefully accompanied by a lot of pictures taken with my cellphone.

For releasing the mainsprings I made a simple tool out of an aluminum pipe with handle and a cheap spare key.

 

All parts were washed in alcohol with a brush and came out nice and shiny.

I have to confess that I didn't remove the mainsprings not having a winder. So I just opened the lids and made sure that the oil was not yet hardened. As soon as I have a appropriate mainspring winder I can remove the barrels later easily by just pulling the arbors. For oiling the bearings I used the D5 that was handy from my watch servicing. I think it should work.

To my surprise I found that timing of this movement can all be done without aligning the wheels during assembly beforehand. But it took me half a day to finally understand how the chime locking system with auto correction worked and how it had to be adjusted. Some pictures here:

 

I'm happy with the result and want to encourage others to service their repair friendly Kieninger movements 

Edited May 22, 2022 by Kalanag

[jdm]

"just replace it for $900", that kind of advice only a cynical seller can give.

Excellent work. Straight to results without swinging around in doubts and useless chat. You did well in leaving the mainspring alone. I encourage you to do more, for yourself, family or friends, or even paid work.   

Edited May 22, 2022 by jdm

[Willow]

Well done, for your first time to do a clock like that you are a braver man then me, when i started it was a 2 train movement and i struggled with that getting it back together again as jdm has said excellent work. 

[oldhippy]

If this is the first chiming clock you have undertaken you have done extremely well. You have a good understanding of the workings not only the train wheels but all the other parts that make up the workings. I always suggest someone who is starting out start with a simple 30 hour alarm clock, then move through to a pendulum timepiece, strike then a chime. Leaving French clocks until you have the knowledge and confidence of the others.

Get yourself a bottle of Windels clock oil that is the one to use on all clocks. A pocket watch oil for when you have a clock with a platform escapement.

[Kalanag]

13 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

…Get yourself a bottle of Windels clock oil that is the one to use on all clocks. A pocket watch oil for when you have a clock with a platform escapement.

I still have a bottle of 30 years old Dr.Tillwich‘s Clock 859 but was not sure if it had degraded with time. What do you think?

[oldhippy]

For the price of a bottle of oil I don't think I would use it. But don't throw it away, later on when and if you start bluing screws you can use it for quenching the screws or on a stone to dress out the blades of screwdrivers.