Cuckoo Cuckoo Clock Not Cuckooing

[albacore]

I could do with some help on a Regula 34-P 8 day movement with 2 x 1260g weights.
I bought the clock new many years ago and about 3 years ago it began to run erratically, stopping for no apparent reason.
So I dismantled the clock and oiled the movement using a synthetic clock oil.
I then reassembled the clock and the timekeeping side of things ran just fine, and has done ever since.
However, somehow or other, I messed up the cuckooing and the bird is silent!
I've lived with it up till now, but the time has come to revisit and try and get it working.
If I pull on the chime weight, the cuckoo function works as it should. I've pulled via a spring balance and reckon I need 2kg of pull to get it working - obviously way more than it should be, and that's with the movement out of the case with no bellows or bird.
I've looked at the fan governor, gears and pivots and everything appears to be free, with the minor play you would expect.
So I' at a bit of a loss now and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lance

 

[harold bain]

Hi, Lance, welcome to the message board. Is it possible that "I've looked at the fan governor, gears and pivots and everything appears to be free, with the minor play you would expect." might be enough to require some bushings replaced?

 

[Tinker Dwight]

Also, the alignment of the wheels are critical on the
strike side.
Tinker Dwight

 

[shutterbug]

And, of course, you might have bent a pivot.

 

[MuensterMann]

I don't think a bent pivot - since "dismantle the clock, oil movement, reassemble clock" did not involve a disassembly of the movement.

Somehow something in the dismantle/reassemble task got changed to inhibit the strike function.

This is what I understood.

 

[Willie X]

alba,
How high are the bellows being lifted? On an 8-day, the lift should be about 5/8". And, make sure that the little whisker wire that makes the bird bob is not hanging up on something. The birds tail should ride about 1/8" above this wire.
Or ... just maybe, the birds door is sticking or binding.
If all this checks out, what Howard said, it doesn't take much wear to stop a modern cuckoo, especially an 8-Day.
Willie X

 

[Vernon]

Perhaps the bellows lift wires got switched or something in this area is rubbing. After having a clock "many years" it may be time for proper service.

 

[albacore]

Thank you for all your replies. I think I've made some progress! The original oil I had used was a generic synthetic clock and watch oil. As a bit of a long shot, I cleaned out the oil from the fan pivots with cotton buds and isopropanol and reoiled with some thinner oil I happened to have (Moebius 8000).
The fan seemed to spin much more freely so I reasembled the clock and now the bird is chirping again. Maybe not just quite as fast as it was, but acceptable.
I guess I could look for an even thinner oil (any suggestions?), or even trim a bit off the fan vanes, but that seems a bit drastic.
Thanks again,
Lance

 

[JTD]

If I were you I should not do anything as drastic as trimming the fan. If the clock works better with the thinner oil all well and good, but it sounds to me as if it really needs a good clean (after being dismantled) and then being oiled. As has already been said, after 'many years' of running would be surprising if this clock did not need a proper service.

Looking for 'thinner oil' would not, in my opinion, be a real answer to the problem.

JTD

 

[albacore]

Thanks for that; so normally the fan pivots would use the same oil as the rest of the movement?
The movement has "Etsyntha Clock 859" stamped on the back plate. This seems hard to get hold of in the UK. Any suggestions on an equivalent?

Lance

 

[JTD]

Yes, it's difficult to get Etsyntha 859 in UK, you can find it on E-Bay UK but it then comes from USA with a lot of extra costs. You can get it on German E-Bay - still not cheap but a lot less than from USA.

But before you go spending money on oil, I would repeat that your clock is probably badly in need of cleaning. YOu may then find that you don't need to go searching for special oil.

JTD

 

[albacore]

Is this feasible for a newbie?

BTW, I've just found the receipt for the clock; it's dated 2004.

Lance

 

[kinsler33]

Is this feasible for a newbie?

BTW, I've just found the receipt for the clock; it's dated 2004.

Lance

I suppose it depends on your level of bravery and experience. If you've never disassembled a clock movement before, a cuckoo probably isn't so great to start on because they're sort of crowded and contain a couple of extra parts to activate Mr Bird.

If you're really stuck and it's your own clock, some benefit might be gained by cleaning the movement without disassembly. A long soak in a petroleum-based solvent like charcoal lighter or, if you have one, an extended session in the ultrasonic cleaner might well clean out the pivot holes. I might also add that if the Elsyntha 859 oil was so miraculous it wouldn't have gummed up the pivots of the clock to begin with. Your 'generic' oil should be fine.

8-day cuckoo clocks are a bit treacherous because they don't have much power available. Eventually it may well require being disassembled, cleaned, and a few bushings installed.

M Kinsler

 

[RJSoftware]

If you where even to consider some reduction of the fly blades, you could easily bend each wing at a 90 or less, so that they reach outward less and hence spin faster. This would be a conservative type of repair that could be easily reversed when you find the real culprit.

Btw, as I was typing this a customer 8 day cuckoo just cuckooed and door shut. The door has been hanging open for some reason and it eludes me.

RJ