Clock Double Wind

[PeterCollin]

Hello All,

I am a new member.  I own 3 clocks that my dad built, with pendulum movements.  They are 30-40 years old.  I had them professionally cleaned when dad first gave them to me, 20 years ago.  One of them stopped working.  I looked at some YouTube videos and tried my hand at cleaning and lubricating  it.  It keeps time, ticks and chimes, but it does something strange.  It uses cranked weights for power.  I used to get a full week fromm one winding.  Now I have to wind it twice a week!  How could it do that without running twice as fast?  How is that regulated?  Thanks for any advice you may give me.

Pete

[RichardHarris123]

Hello and welcome from Leeds, England . I know next to nothing about clocks but someone will help you soon, photos would.  

[oldhippy]

I need to see some photos please. 

[PeterCollin]

I don't know how useful this picture is.  The clock is put back together.  It is a german movement, says "jewelless" on the plate.  It was wound Sturday, you can see how it will never make it to this weekend at this rate of drop.  I'm just baffled that it keeps good time despite this.

[oldhippy]

What you have is a Vienna Regulator Strike.  Normal duration 8 days. What can determine the duration is the length of the lines. When the clock is fully wound the barrel should have the gut wound in every grove of the barrel. Here is a photo of what I mean see the barrel full of line. Check yours and tell me what yours look like. If it isn't the line then we need to look at the movement. I notice yours is not level on the wall. Have you set it up correctly. 

 

Edited February 25 by oldhippy

[PeterCollin]

Well the lines are wound onto the drums with each wrap touching, as they should.  There is a plastic caul along the top half of the drum to guide each wrap as it's being cranked. The photo is a trick of perspective.  I checked it with a carpenter's level.  Across the top, I get it dead level, along the sides, I get a very slight tilt.  Strange because I used the same screw holes into the wall.

[MikeEll]

Are the barrels both the same diameter?  They may have been put back in the clock in the wrong places. For example, the strike barrel is where the going barrel should be.  Wont make any difference to the speed of the clock whether its on the wall straight or not, although it may cause it to stop if not in beat.  The clock will only run as fast as the escapement will allow it, determined by the correct length pendulum.  The rate of fall of the weight will be determined by the diameter of the barrel and gearing of the going train.  The gut line must fill all the grooves in the barrel when fully wound (weight in its highest wound position) to allow it to provide the correct number of barrel rotations for the weight drop distance;  this in turn determines how long the clock will run on a single wind.

Edited February 27 by MikeEll

[oldhippy]

3 hours ago, PeterCollin said:

Well the lines are wound onto the drums with each wrap touching, as they should.  There is a plastic caul along the top half of the drum to guide each wrap as it's being cranked. The photo is a trick of perspective.  I checked it with a carpenter's level.  Across the top, I get it dead level, along the sides, I get a very slight tilt.  Strange because I used the same screw holes into the wall.

So you need to look at the movement such as pivot holes for wear and even the pivots and the teeth as they could be bent. Does it stop at the same place? these clocks have a dead beat escapement so there is no recoil so check pallet faces and most important escape wheel teeth and pivots.   

[MikeEll]

I thought the clock was running ok, but the weight was dropping more quickly than expected?  Is it also stopping then?

[nevenbekriev]

Is it possible that now the weight is fasten directly to the end of the line, not like on the picture using the roller?

[oldhippy]

I think the only way of getting to the bottom of this is to see the movement. Please take nice clear photos to start around the barrels and how and where the lines are tied and the movement showing both plates and train work. 

[PeterCollin]

Here are pictures from either side.  Can't do better without taking it apart.  Just to recap.  Clock ticks and chimes, keeps good time, doesn't stop until weights drop all the way.  Neither weights nor drums were swapped. 

[oldhippy]

It is absolutely filthy so it needs to be all taken apart and checked for wear in the pivot holes and the pivots.  It is not a proper Vienna Regulator Strike so disregard it having a deadbeat escapement. It looks to be German.  

[MikeEll]

33 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

It is absolutely filthy so it needs to be all taken apart and checked for wear in the pivot holes and the pivots….

I agree. While it’s in pieces I’d also count the teeth on the wheels and pinions from the barrel to the center wheel on the going train.  That will allow you to calculate exactly how long its designed to run for on a single wind.