Re: Time adjustment
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:01 pm
Robin as Bob said ask away. I have been working on these clocks or all clocks now for over 30 yrs. My first question is how did you clean the floating balance? I hope it was not in a ultrasonic and if by hand that will not do. I clean mine with a product called One Dip. It cleans all the oil and grime off it and dries instantly. I put it in a glass jar and use in a well ventilated area. I never mess with the floating balance until I am positive the movement is tip top shape. I also make sure the floating balance is cleaned extremely well.
Next thing I would do is while you have the movement together let the mainspring totally down. Then with your finger move the mainspring barrel back and forth. You may have to give it a good push back and forth. As you do this watch each pivot in the time train especially in the upper train. If there is any movement back and forth on any of the pivots you are losing power and especially if it is on the upper train therefore could be the problem with your clock stopping. If there is movement your hole is not round and can bind on the pivots. I remember doing one of those Kienzle about a year ago. If I remember correctly it took 7 bushings. The 3 wheels below the fork needed bushing on the back plate and two of those wheels needed bushing on the front plate plus the wheel after the mainspring needed both bushing front and back plate. It also required a couple of bushing on both the strike and chime train. You can move the mainspring barrel back and forth on each train to find which wheels need bushings. Anyway when I finished with the bushings, cleaned, pegged the holes and polishing the pivots I assembled the movement and oiled. I use Etsyntha 859 oil on my clocks and I oil my mainsprings with Slick 50 mixed 50/50 with Mobil One Synthetic oil. Once assembled I then wind the clock on the test stand and just let it run for 24 hrs. I have found over the years it takes about 24 hrs of running to make sure the pivots are oiled well with their rotation. When I went to the shop the next day It was running strong with about 185 deg rotation each way. Set the time with my microset timer to 9000 bph, put in the case and returned to the customer. Over a year now and she told me at church it is still running good. So that will give you some idea how I go about it. Polished pivots and bushings are "extremely" important in these types of clocks. In my experience with the fork removed that escape wheel should move with one click of the mainspring and it will if done properly. If it takes say 3 or 4 clicks to take off then you have problems. Hopefully this will give you some ideas and food for thought.
Next thing I would do is while you have the movement together let the mainspring totally down. Then with your finger move the mainspring barrel back and forth. You may have to give it a good push back and forth. As you do this watch each pivot in the time train especially in the upper train. If there is any movement back and forth on any of the pivots you are losing power and especially if it is on the upper train therefore could be the problem with your clock stopping. If there is movement your hole is not round and can bind on the pivots. I remember doing one of those Kienzle about a year ago. If I remember correctly it took 7 bushings. The 3 wheels below the fork needed bushing on the back plate and two of those wheels needed bushing on the front plate plus the wheel after the mainspring needed both bushing front and back plate. It also required a couple of bushing on both the strike and chime train. You can move the mainspring barrel back and forth on each train to find which wheels need bushings. Anyway when I finished with the bushings, cleaned, pegged the holes and polishing the pivots I assembled the movement and oiled. I use Etsyntha 859 oil on my clocks and I oil my mainsprings with Slick 50 mixed 50/50 with Mobil One Synthetic oil. Once assembled I then wind the clock on the test stand and just let it run for 24 hrs. I have found over the years it takes about 24 hrs of running to make sure the pivots are oiled well with their rotation. When I went to the shop the next day It was running strong with about 185 deg rotation each way. Set the time with my microset timer to 9000 bph, put in the case and returned to the customer. Over a year now and she told me at church it is still running good. So that will give you some idea how I go about it. Polished pivots and bushings are "extremely" important in these types of clocks. In my experience with the fork removed that escape wheel should move with one click of the mainspring and it will if done properly. If it takes say 3 or 4 clicks to take off then you have problems. Hopefully this will give you some ideas and food for thought.