Cuckoo Clock Repair Problem

[twoess]

Hi, everybody. I've got a Cuckoo Clock in my shop that is giving me trouble. When I turn hands to say 4 o'clock it strikes five. But when I go around the face and let it strike each time, half hour, hour, half hour, hour, etc it strikes just fine. It's just when it goes around naturely that it's bad. Even on my test stand it's fine. Anybody else ever had this problem.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi twoess,
If it's striking an extra strike when running naturally but not doing so when manually turning the hands then you might try checking the center arbor/plate hole fit for excessive play. A worn center wheel hole will sometimes allow the snail to be pushed away from the rack tail causing the rack to fall a little farther than it should. The extra amount the rack tail may fall could be just enough to permit the gathering pallet to gather an extra rack tooth, resulting in an extra strike. When checking by hand the pressure you put on the center arbor will be upward as you approach and reach warn (near the 12 o'clock mark) which might lift the center arbor and snail back into the correct position for the next fall of the rack tail...resulting in a correct strike.

Good luck and please let us know what you find out,
Bob