Missing a click

[chaplin37]

I cleaned my pocketwatch today for the first time and it appears nothing is broken. When I wind it up it now finally works and has been running for the last 8 hours and keeping time. My question is that the clicking sound it makes it sounds like it misses a click. Any suggestion on what it might be or how to troubleshoot?

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Chaplin,
By "click" do you mean the "tick" while running or are you referring to the clicking sound when winding? I think you're talking about the ticking sound but not sure.
Bob

[chaplin37]

hi bob, yeah it the sound that I meant. Any suggestions on what it could be?

[Bob Tascione]

Thanks for clearing that up Chaplin37,
Could be several reasons for a faint tick. Without having the watch in front of me I'll be guessing here but here goes. Something may be causing poor impulse on one of your pallet jewel faces. This can result in a sluggish pallet fork preventing the fork from "snapping" over to a banking pin. It could be and often is something as simple as dirt or old sticky oil on the jewel impulse face which could be preventing a nice clean impulse. Cleaning and polishing the impulse faces with a cut piece of pegwood should remove any grime from the face. Also a damaged (chipped) or loose pallet stone might be a problem. Close observation under high magnification will reveal any damage. Another reason could be uneven drop. This can occur from incorrect pallet stone depth, pallet angle or banking pin adjustment.
Hope this helps Chaplin37,
Bob