Jump to content

wittington chime sequence woes


Recommended Posts

First off the clock in question is a platform escapement Elliot Westminster Whittington,  Ok here goes, so I'm happy with the quarter which is where I'm trying to be ie 87654321 sequence,  so my sequences are as follows ( hammer 8 is the  dial side and hammer 1 is the rear plate one if that makes sense )

87642531

86547321

45687321

78265431

87635241

87642531

86547321

I know Elliot had there own version of the Whittington tune, is anyone able to educate me on whether any of my sequence's above relate to the quarter past signal please? 

Am I correct that its the 87642531?  many thanks

image.png.e9bcc2cd5f61e7b54cba7d1971606d23.png

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The simplest way I find is to do it by ear.  Depending on your movement, there's usually a train of gears on the back that eventually drives the chime drum.  Turn the hands so that you get the correct number of chime notes, say 4 for quarter past (or eight in your case), just to make sure the hands are fitted correctly.  Don't worry if the notes are incorrect at this point.  Then, remove one of the intermediate gear wheels from the rear of the movement, noting the correct direction of rotation.  Rotate the gears in the disconnected lower part of the train by hand slowly until you hear the correct notes in the chime sequence for quarter past, then refit the intermediate gear and test.

Note that in your example diagram, the 87654321 sequence appears in two places, one at quarter past and another at the end of quarter to.  You just need to make sure you have the right one, but it's easy enough to rotate the gears by hand and figure out where you are in the sequence.

If this doesn't make sense, please post a picture of the rear of the movement.

Edited by MikeEll
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike, Yes happy to do that, but the chime rods are in the case ( grand daughter clock ) with the customer. As Elliot have their own sequence I was wondering what one is what, as you say 87654321 does appear twice on the list, just need to correspond that to the Westminster side of the notes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Transporter,

It's 87635241.

I have an Elliott and took a video but cannot attach unfortunately because of the file type. If anyone can enlighten me I will post the video clip.

Edited by Rixy
Mixed digits
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Rixy said:

Hi Transporter,

It's 87635241.

I have an Elliott and took a video but cannot attach unfortunately because of the file type. If anyone can enlighten me I will post the video clip.

You need to post to a site like YouTube and then copy the link.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the help with uploading, Andy. Please see my YouTube below.

Here you can match the chimes to the rods - I make it 87635241. I think the appearance of a sequence twice in the original post is simply repetition since there will only be five sequences on the barrel.

 

Edited by Rixy
Included word twice
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rixy, huge thanks for your time in posting the video, I have an idea that someone previous to me has had the chime barrel apart maybe and not got the sequence correct, I have another one coming in for a click repair later this week so can compare that to your video and to mine to see what one/ones are running the correct sequence.

On 3/13/2025 at 7:22 PM, Rixy said:

Thanks for the help with uploading, Andy. Please see my YouTube below.

Here you can match the chimes to the rods - I make it 87635241. I think the appearance of a sequence twice in the original post is simply repetition since there will only be five sequences on the barrel.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad I was able to help. It would be a real pain if someone has taken the barrel apart and reassembled it incorrectly!

Still, if the 87635241 sequence exists on your barrel, you can be fairly sure it's okay and you just have to set it correctly. I think you are already aware that Elliott clocks play a version of Whittington that is slightly different from other makers. I can send you a clip of the whole sequence if you want (now I know how to do it!).

Let us know how you get on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/17/2025 at 8:55 PM, Rixy said:

Glad I was able to help. It would be a real pain if someone has taken the barrel apart and reassembled it incorrectly!

Still, if the 87635241 sequence exists on your barrel, you can be fairly sure it's okay and you just have to set it correctly. I think you are already aware that Elliott clocks play a version of Whittington that is slightly different from other makers. I can send you a clip of the whole sequence if you want (now I know how to do it!).

Let us know how you get on.

Rixy, if you could send me a video of the whole sequence that would be great, Firstly, whats the sequence of the quarter past for the Westminster? as we know its descending, again as my sequence on the whittington  is 87635241 my Westminster isn't 4321, so if I could see a video of yours that would be helpful before i have to pull apart the barrel.

 

Cheers,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, transporter said:

Rixy, if you could send me a video of the whole sequence that would be great, Firstly, whats the sequence of the quarter past for the Westminster? as we know its descending, again as my sequence on the whittington  is 87635241 my Westminster isn't 4321, so if I could see a video of yours that would be helpful before i have to pull apart the barrel.

 

Cheers,

Hi Transporter, 

I will record the chimes for you today but in the meantime, I calculate the first quarter on Westiminster to be 6351.

I don't know why Elliott chime bars are not arranged in a straightforward ascending order- it would be much simpler! Maybe someone out there has the answer.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here they are:

1. Whittington halfpast

2. Whittington quarter-to 

3. Whittington o'clock

4. Westminster quarter-past

Hope it helps. If I have missed anything, give me a shout.

BtW I've worked out why the rods are mixed up. It's because the hour strike hits the last three rods and they need to play a chord (eg C-E-G) - a pleasant sound. If the rods were in order it would hit the first three notes (eg C-D-E) - an unpleasant sound!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • I found a Trupoise in a flea market box of tools (🇬🇧car boot). I preferred the ‘8’ style tool until the moment I broke my new Omega rivet. The trupoise holds the arms firmly and I’ve become quite efficient… …and I just resorted to bending a balance cock. I needed a tiny bit less shake and it seemed the least risky of the other options. I held it between a stump and a fat stake while I bent the jewel end with my fingers. Honestly I don’t know how anyone would know by visual inspection. 
    • It was about 4 years ago, one was 30, another 35 and 2 others came in joblots that I was after something else. 3 have ruby jewels and one has ceramic bearings.The most I've seen one sell for is £330.  In the uk i still see them sell occasionally for around £70.  I'm not convinced that the Trupoise has low enough friction on the pivots to be as good as a traditional tripod poising tool with unworn ruby jaws.
    • I have a Record 525 which is in a pretty bad way. From what I can see it is based on a cal 650 with an automatic bridge and centre seconds pinion under the rotor retaining stud.  There are additional bearings in the train bridge for the bottom pivots of the automatic works. Of these, on has come out of the bridge completely, one is a bit mangled with an egg shaped pivot hole and one is half in, half out. I've made bearings from scratch on the lathe before, but only for pocket watch pivots (i.e. considerably bigger than these!) and these bearings are either plated or not brass, to match the bride plate, I would guess. I could not find a bridge on eBay so I started digging. I checked new Ranfft site (not help, but the new one seldom is) then the cousins download centre but I could not find a document for a cal 525. I did, however find one for the 650 and, scribbled on the page are the words "= Longines 701". So, obvious next step (or so I thought) would be to check the docs for Longines cal 701 and then see if there is maybe a cal close by, based on that cal with a rotor. I checked, no 701 in the downloads section.  I did find some Longines 701 parts on eBay, which look similar to the 650 (i.e. the train bridge looks to be the same) but I feel I have hit a dead end. I have added some pictures that you may find helpful and I have photographed the entire strip down so I have more, if needed.  I feel I have few options: 1. Close the brewing holes up and reinsert the loose bearings. Close up the pivot hole on the 3rd bearing and hope that does the trick. 2. Make some new bearings (doable but tricky and will look wrong) 3. hold out for a 525 bridge to come up online. I get the feeling this is a rare movement though (all the more a shame it is in such a bad condition) 5. See if there is a Longines equivalent and either use that, or transplant the bearings from that bridge to the Record. Any help identifying the Longines equivalent (if it exists) would be appreciated. Any suggestions on the alternatives I have discussed are also welcome
    • Really you paid that little for a legit Trupoise?
    • Nailed it Andy 👍 It kinda was, but had a happy ending all the same.
×
×
  • Create New...