Ansonia New York Slate with Visible Escapement

[chrisuk]

I had this clock in for repair, would not run, strike erratic.

Once the movement was apart it became clear that a lot of bushing would be required on the going train. One pivot on the 2nd wheel had been done before but the grooving on the pivot had not been ground/polished out. In the end I Bushed both pivots of the 2nd and 3rd wheels and the front one of the 4th wheel. After this it ran but the escapement action was not great, lifting the pivot of the escape wheel with a finger nail rectified this so I bushed that as well. I mounted the movement through a piece of wood of approximately the same thickness as the slate, it then stopped. The thickness of the front of the case is important, too thin and the back of the chapter ring touches the end of the anchor arbor when the fixing screws are tightened. I had to make new screws as the old ones had very little thread remaining.
The strike train was erratic. The relationship between the pin and warning wheels was wrong, before the pin on the warning wheel reached the locking detent the lever which enters the notch in the pin wheel was already beginning to climb out again taking the locking detent with it. I corrected the relationship between the count wheel and the pin wheel so that the lever dropped into the centre of the notch then attempted so fit the warning wheel. The overall length of the arbor on this wheel was greater than that of the other strike arbors so they came free of their holes before this one could be inserted. In the end I shortened this arbor by as little as possible, the pivots were over length anyway, so that the wheel could be fitted without disturbing other ones. The strike continued to get out of sync. Testing and monitoring with a Microset revealed that it struck nine every time that it should have made one blow for 8:30. Close examination of the count wheel showed that the notch for 8:30 was not cut as deeply as all the others. A touch with a small file fixed the fault. Pictures of the notches and locking detent here.

 

[Dave T]

Excellent write up! Makes me wonder if this clock ever was correct.

I wish I had your ability to identify the problems. I can sit and study a clock for hours and not figure out what's wrong with it.

 

[chrisuk]

Its a matter of repairing clocks for a long time, in my case more than fifty years. There was one more thing. The minute hand was bent so that it pointed to an hour when the strike started. The lifting piece seemed to be OK, not bent or filed and the cam on the centre shaft was very tight but it had to be turned on its arbor to correct this fault. I include a picture of the worn pivot which I forgot to show before.

 

[Fitzclan]

I have noticed that with this type of dial mount, that the screws are not all the same length. The one at 8 o’clock is shorter than the other two. If you use one of the longer screws there it will jam the count wheel and cause striking issues.
Having the second to last pivot to be installed longer than the others can be problematic, but sometimes front and rear pivots are not the same length and installing the long end first can ease the issue.
I think
I would have made an adjustment at the count lever instead of filing the count slot. I’m sure it worked properly out of the factory and it looks like the maintenance lever is too far down in the cam which may require adjusting of the levers anyway in order to unlock the strike. Always more than one way to skin a cat. As long as it works...

 

[chrisuk]

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I knew about the screw lengths but omitted to mention it. Both pivot lengths were the same. The problem with the strike was that once unlocked it would not stop. It was a matter of the least amount of bending of levers, I tried other ways. I decided that the angle between the locking detent and maintanance lever is not easy to adjust in an assembled movement. If the lever is not at the bottom of the slot then the warning pin flicks the locking detent out of the way, the lever climbs out of the worn slot and striking continues, especially when the strike mainspring is nearly fully wound.

 

[Fitzclan]

A “helper spring”, for lack of a better word, can keep the detent from jumping out of the cam. Many times they are missing and some movements seem to do fine without them at all.

 

[chrisuk]

Yes, this movement has one. When it is disconnected the strike never locks properly.