Black forest cuckoo clock

[richardhillmer]

I just recived a black forest clock cuckoo clock, it has three weights. The bellows are bad but the bird go out and the music will play. The problem I am having is that the penulum will only swing to about the count of thirty and stop, I have read some some stuff about tipping it one way or the other but it will still stop after about thirty beats. I have tried turning the minute back a half hour and then forward, but that did not help. the only way I can keep the penulum swing is to pull down on the weight. I know the weights are the right size because they are the ones that came with the clock years ago. the clock is about 40 or 45 years old but looks good beside the bellows. Any advise on the subject would be great Thanks

 

[richardhillmer]

I just recived a black forest clock cuckoo clock, it has three weights. The bellows are bad but the bird go out and the music will play. The problem I am having is that the penulum will only swing to about the count of thirty and stop, I have read some some stuff about tipping it one way or the other but it will still stop after about thirty beats. I have tried turning the minute back a half hour and then forward, but that did not help. the only way I can keep the penulum swing is to pull down on the weight. I know the weights are the right size because they are the ones that came with the clock years ago. the clock is about 40 or 45 years old but looks good beside the bellows. Any advise on the subject would be great Thanks

 

[chasbaz]

Hi Richard,
Welcome to the board.

If the clock is old it is probably worn, gummed up with old oil, out of adjustment - any number of causes. All these things contribute to friction, which is basically the reason why the weight is now not enough to drive the clock as it used to when it was new. Unless you want to get into clock repair I suggest you have it cleaned and overhauled. If you DO want to fix it (and that is not something to undertake lightly) I suggest you have a look at some basic repair books to give you an idea of what is involved.

I guess you realise that although we are very happy to help you, you need to narrow down the problem to something a little more specific.

 

[shutterbug]

The problem is due to power loss (that's why more weight helps) and there are several possible reasons. The clock is probably quite dirty, which will definitely stop it. It may also need bushings, and possibly more depending on what is found inside. This is probably not something you'll want to tackle as a "first" experience with clock repair so I'd suggest taking it to a professional clock repairman to get it up and running again. This is fairly common in clocks like yours. It probably has not been serviced before, or at least not in the past several years.
Looks like Chasbaz and I were typing at the same time

 

[Lloyd Lehn]

YOu might want to look into the Cuckoo Clock Club on Yahoo Groups. Those folks might give you a different answer. However, I agree with the two responses you already have. It is not uncommon to have to increase the weights on an older cuckoo because the pivots are gummed up. Sometime after it runs for a while, you can go back to the original ones. Hand some extra weight on the time chain or whatever and try it for a month. Then try the originals again. It might loosen up by then. First you want to do a good lub job which means taking the movement out of the case. Take your time and write down what your doing or take digital pictures and it can be done. Have fun

Lloyd

 

[shutterbug]

If you try Lloyd's suggestion, be sure you oil only the pivots, never the gears. Your best bet is a good cleaning because running a dirty clock will cause unnecessary wear and will require a bigger repair bill to fix. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I still suggest doing it right the first time