english 8 day rack striking problem

[clocks55]

At various hours, the clock, which is about 200 years old, will strike all but one, such as 4 at 5, leaving the hammer on the rise, and the warning pin back at the 12 oclock position where it is when it finishes striking and the gathering pallet resting on the pawl pin as it should be when it is finished striking. It does this infrequently and at random hours. I have rebuilt the clock and have checked everything I can think of, all parts appear to be original to the clock. This is a customer job and I have several like it in the past, but this has me stuck.

 

[R. Croswell]

You might try turning the gathering pallet a quarter turn to allow the strike time to complete.

RC

 

[clocks55]

Thank you for your suggestion. I will try this. Kindest regards, Peter

 

[shutterbug]

Stop the train as the last hammer falls, hold it there and put your GP in the stop position at that point.

 

[clocks55]

Dear Shutterbug, Thank you for the gp suggestion, this makes sense, at present the movement has stopped this odd behavior without my making any changes, further report will follow, Peter Elmendorf

 

[R. Croswell]

In post #1 you stated "It does this infrequently and at random hours." This suggests that the cause of the problem is something that's on the critical edge of being or not being an issue. If nothing was done to eliminate the problem I would expect it to return again even if 'infrequently and at random hours'. I expect you will find that the gathering pallet is coming to rest at almost the same instant the hammer drops. A little wear and looseness here and there could account for the intermittent nature of the problem. I suggest you do as Shutterbug suggested - stop the train the moment the hammer falls - then see where the gathering pallet is in relation to the rest stop. It should be approaching and close to the rest stop but not in contact with the stop. There must be a moment after the hammer falls before the GP stops the train.

RC

 

[clocks55]

Thank you so much for the additional analysis, I believe between the 2 of you , you are focusing in on the solution.

 

[clocks55]

rotating the gp 90 degrees has solved the problem, giving it a little more time to finish striking, thanks for all the help!