Clock going out of Beat

[dnhb]

A couple of pendulum clocks I've been asked to look at seem to be going out of beat over a few days. The crutch on one is connected to the (anchor) pallet arbour through a clutch-type mechanism which, on examination, was slipping quite easily - there was a noticeable film of oil between the plates. That on the crutch side is backed by a spring (shown detached in one photo and, when mounted, from the crutch end in the other), the other plate was firmly secured to the arbour. On the other clock, the crutch is connected to the arbour via a screw thread on which it too quite easily turns. Could the cause of the loss of beat be due to the lack of sufficient friction, & if so would it be wrong to use a dab of thread-locker to secure the crutch in each case?

[oldhippy]

Can I see the complete set ups please. I need to see what the movements are. 

[dnhb]

Here is the movement with the 'clutch'-type connection between the crutch and the anchor arbour.

[oldhippy]

The leader is on the wrong way round. You will need to remove the complete pallet and clean it and tighten the spring that is held by that pin. If that doesn't work then Loctite threadlocker blue. 

[dnhb]

6 hours ago, oldhippy said:

The leader is on the wrong way round. You will need to remove the complete pallet and clean it and tighten the spring that is held by that pin. If that doesn't work then Loctite threadlocker blue. 

Thank again, OH. I have cleaned the 'clutch' interfaces - which were quite oily - & tightened the spring by gently bending its 3 prongs - I will use some threadlocker if still required. I assume from this that if such springs are not strong enough such movements can indeed drift out of beat over time. 

I wasn't sure which way round the leader should be & chose that way as it made it easier to add/remove the bob while working on the movement.

BTW does the chiming mechanism look correct to you? - in this photo (now attached) you can see there's a bent pin just this side of the rat tail....

[oldhippy]

If it strikes and chimes correctly I would leave things be. If you start bending parts you could end with a fine mess.