What should a clock owner know to keep their clocks running well?

Like a car, one of the best things to do for your clock is to clean it up now and then, and do a little maintenance.  Dust, dirt, old oil, pollen, and bits of worn metal slowly build up in the bearing surfaces of a clock.  Over time these materials combine with the oil and form an abrasive slurry that causes wear, or a sludge that eventually stops the clock. 

Keeping the doors to the clock closed except when winding or setting the time helps, as does dusting or vacuuming the case.

Too much oil is worse than too little oil in a clock.  Excess oil runs down the movement plates, pulls the needed oil from the bearing surfaces and attracts and holds dust.  Only high quality oils suitable for clocks should be used.  While WD-40, 3 in 1, and other readily available lubricants have their places, a clock is not the place for these products.  Please do not try to oil your own clock unless you are going to purchase the correct oils, and take a class or purchase a good clock repair book before beginning.

While people change their car oil and take a look at the belts and hoses fairly often, often time a clock gets no attention until it stops.  By this time a clock refuses to run, a simple cleaning and re-oiling may not restore correct operation.  Clockmakers are used to hearing "It ran fine for years, right until it stopped!".

Here are some more useful things to know:

1)  Always remove the pendulum before moving a clock - yes, even if you are just moving it across the living room floor.  The pendulum controls the escapement, which is what creates the ticking sound in your clock.  If the pendulum swings too far, or from front to back, the escape wheel (clock folks call gears wheels) may suffer bent or broken teeth.  The pendulum hangs from a strip of thin spring steel called the suspension spring.  If the suspension gets twisted or kinked the pendulum will not swing correctly. Suspension springs can be replaced, usually for the cost of a house call.  Replacing an escape wheel can be expensive.  If the clock is an antique and the wheel is badly damaged I can cut a new one from scratch, but this not inexpensive.  It is far easier on the clock and your wallet to remove the pendulum.

2)  When moving a clock with weights, remove the weights.  Weights swinging around in a clock can do a lot of damage to the case, the weights, and the pendulum.  Pay attention to where the weights go.  If you get them mixed up, the heaviest weight usually goes on the chime train, usually on the right side when looking at the clock from the front. The next heaviest weight goes on the strike train (left side), and the lightest on the time train, almost always in the center.  Don't be surprised if they are all the same weight, or if the time and strike weights are the same weight.  A light weight on the chime train will often cause the chime to run slowly, unevenly, or to stop in the middle of the tune.  Secure cables before removing the weights using tape, rubber bands, or foam blocks.  If the cables get jumbled up in the movement, professional help is often needed to get the cables untangled and wound on the drums correctly.

3)   Never "help" the weights when winding.  Use the clock key smoothly without pushing or pulling side to side.  If your clock has chains, pull steadily.  Avoid winding or pulling the weights up against the top of the lower case.  The clock supports the weights all by itself the entire week between windings.  It can handle them just fine while you wind the clock.

4)  Try to place clocks where the temperature does not vary greatly during the day.  A cold corner by a door that gets direct sunlight in midday is hard on the case and makes accurate timekeeping very unlikely.

5)  Clocks should be in beat.  A clock that is not level or in beat will usually go tick,TOCK,,,,,,,tick,TOCK.  A clock that is level and adjusted correctly will sound a nice even tick..tick..tick..tick.  If your clock is out of beat it may run for a while then stop, or run poorly.  If badly out of beat, the clock may not run at all.  Many modern clocks have automatic beat adjustment mechanisms.  Gently swing the pendulum all the way to one side (usually the right side) and let it go.  You may need to try from each side, as the mechanisms wear they can get a bit uneven in operation.  Level front to back also matters.  If too far out of level, weights may hit the pendulum, or the pendulum may scrape on the case.

6)  Clocks should be on a steady firm surface. If they are on a floor that is not level, shim under the feet until the clock rests firmly.  Tall cases may need a securing block between the case and the wall that is screwed to both.  For safety this is always recommended as people have pulled clocks over, but many people are adverse to putting holes in their clock cases or walls.  If you have a clock that stops the same time every day, or the same number of days after winding, look at this closely.  When the weights get to a certain point in an unsteady clock, they can start to swing.  Once they start to brush the pendulum or pendulum rod the clock will usually stop.  Once it stops, the weights become still, and the cause of the clock stopping in not at all obvious.

7)  Unless you know for a fact that it is OK to do otherwise, always move clock hands clockwise.  Be gentle, clock hands are fragile and bend or break easily.  If you bend a hand, the hand may interfere with the other hand or hit the case or dial.  Wait for chiming or striking to complete at each quarter, half hour, and hour.  While you can often get away with winding the hands around the face quickly, there are small pins (warning pins) that can get bent or broken when this is done.  Replacing the pin is expensive as the entire movement must be taken apart to press out hte old broken stub that is left and then pressing in a new pin.  Modern German movement, the vast majority of European, and many American clocks can have the hands turned counterclockwise without damage.  The American mantle clocks with visible pendulums and glass doors are usually NOT safe to turn the hands backwards on. If the minute hands does not want to move backwards beyond some point, just don't force it.  It wither isn't meant to be turned backwards, or there is some defect that will not be made better by pushing things.


8)  If your clock always stops with one of the hands in the same place, or whenever the hands are together, one of the hands may be bent.  Carefully straighten the bent hand out, or call your friendly local clock repair guy.  Don't overlook the seconds hand.  These regularly creep out from their mounting post and foul the other hands, then get pressed in too far and stop the clock.


9)  Dust your clock regularly, and try to keep clocks away from fireplaces, woodburning stoves, and other sources of smoke and dust.

10)  If you have frayed cables or chains that skip and jam while winding your clock, please stop and call a clockmaker.  Frayed cables or stretched chains should be replaced promptly.  Many old clocks have damaged weights and split or missing panels in the base from weights dropping.  Please don't let this happen to your clock!

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