Out of sync chimes

[George Nelson]

Hi, Group,

I'm hoping an expert can be of some help here. I received a wonderful old bracket clock recently. I know the clock worked fine before transport, as I had admired it many times. However, the previous owner laid the clock down in his trunk, and the clock chimed in his trunk all the way across town. Needless to say, the chimes are now seriously out of sync.

The movement does not seem to be self-adjusting as I had hoped. As it is now, the clock chimes as follows: On the hour, it plays the Westminster chimes as it should on the half hour, but does count the correct number of hours. At the quarter hour, it sounds chimes for the three quarter hour, etc.

Taking off the hands and repositioning them would correct the musical chiming, but then the hour count chime would be off. Any suggestions?

The clock is unmarked as to name of manufacturer.

Thanks in advance,

George Nelson

[harold bain]

George, your clock should be self-correcting. If it isn't, then it would benefit from some service attention. It looks to me to be a Junghans movement.
You could fix your problem by putting the chime silent switch to silent after it chimes (say the first quarter), then turn it back on just before the next quarter that would be the correct quarter.

[alskogen]

can't you move the hour hand to the hour being struck then moving the minute hand around to the correct time ? Al

[bangster]

I'm trying to figure out how that could happen (somebody help me here).

As I think I understand things, the lobe on the chime cam that unlocks the strike train is in the Full Tune part of the cam...hour westminster is what lets the hour strike happen. How could that change, unless the chime cam has shifted on its arbor or something?

Straighten me out, please.

bangster

[AllThumbz]

George:

This is a beautiful bonnet-top Junghans Westminster, circa 1920. I have a similar case circa 1906 that I fixed a crack in the door.

Wind the hands backwards (counterclockwise) and then forward until you get 4 notes on the quarter after, 8 on the half, 12 on the 3/4 and all 16 and strike on the hour.

Sometimes you can gently (never force!) the silver chime tube to synch it up. You should see an arrow and some German writing on the barrel. If memory serves me correctly and Im not near the clock, that should point upwards on the full hour.

Thumbz

[al_taka]

Hi, Group,

I'm hoping an expert can be of some help here. I received a wonderful old bracket clock recently. I know the clock worked fine before transport, as I had admired it many times. However, the previous owner laid the clock down in his trunk, and the clock chimed in his trunk all the way across town. Needless to say, the chimes are now seriously out of sync.

The movement does not seem to be self-adjusting as I had hoped. As it is now, the clock chimes as follows: On the hour, it plays the Westminster chimes as it should on the half hour, but does count the correct number of hours. At the quarter hour, it sounds chimes for the three quarter hour, etc.

Taking off the hands and repositioning them would correct the musical chiming, but then the hour count chime would be off. Any suggestions?

The clock is unmarked as to name of manufacturer.

Thanks in advance,

George Nelson


I also just finished a similar clock and saw it had a self correcting rack and snail for the strike.
But there there wasn't a self correcter for chime. I knew some customer was going to call me when it got out of sync such as when the strike wound down before the chime.

To correct, first make sure the strike is correct for the hour the hand is pointing at.

Turn the minute hand forward until a quarter chime takes place that you recognize, example: 1/4 hour chime. If the minute hand is on the half hour then you know your 45 minutes behind.

Turn the minute hand slowly another 15 minutes and after it starts chiming rotate the minute hand 45 minutes ahead before chiming stops.

After chiming test it a couple of times to be sure you have synchronized the 1/4 hours with the chiming notes.

It worked for me every time.

[al_taka]

can't you move the hour hand to the hour being struck then moving the minute hand around to the correct time ? Al

That fix would work fine for striking problems like a out of sync count wheel. Junghans have a rack and snail on the strike but nothing on the chime except four equal lobes on the hour wheel. So the chime doesn't know which 15 minutes its on.

Here is a pictures of the strike and chime levers.

Al T.

[RJSoftware]

I guess you go through this problem if you forget/ or let run down the winding routine.

But, that seems to make sense. 4 lobes that start the chiming/music sequence.

Is there any issue with the chiming sequence stopping properly? Could be a lever.

RJ

[harold bain]

Guys, I'm pretty sure this movement started out with a chime correction. Steven Conover's Chime Clock Repair Manual shows one. Here's another possiblity anyone with one of these clocks on hand could try. Shut off the chimes. Turn them back on. Does this trigger the chime to run? If so, keep doing this until it is synced. (make sure you do this just after a chime has finished).

[PaulFaf]

I'm with Thumbz on this one.

I just finished similar A-14 if my memory serves me correctly it Has rack and snail and equal lobes as mentioned.

It is my opinion that the chime should be reset by rotating the minute hand counterclockwise until you hear the click then forward until you hit 4 notes at 15 min after.

Good Job Thumbz:clap:

Kind of makes you wonder about where Seth Thomas got the Idea for the 113.

[Storer]

I have done several of these and none had a chime correction devise incorporated. The only way you can turn the chimes off is to lift the hammers off the chime rods with a lever. The little dial on the upper left corner of the dial is used to lift the hammers. Even when the chime hammers are raised it will still strike. It does this because the the chime train still operates anbd actuates the strike train. On some of them the strike can be silenced by accessing a lever in the back of the movement, which again lifts the hammer from the rod, thus preventing it from striking.

[George Nelson]

Hi, al_taka and everyone!

Thanks so very much for all of your help! Al_taka: your solution was the first one I tried, and it worked perfectly! Thanks so much. The clock is now on the sideboard in the living room, chiming happily away. Everyone on this board is so helpful. What a wonderful thing to be able to contact such a group of experts with the touch of a keyboard!

Peace to All,

George