Hermle movement cleaning

[Jeff]

Is there anyway to clean a Hermle movement without taking it apart?


Thanks

Jeff

 

[Kevin W.]

Simple answer Jeff, no.
It s like asking can i wash my feet with out taking my socks off

 

[Steven Thornberry]

Simple answer Jeff, no.
It s like asking can i wash my feet with out taking my socks off

Hey, Kevin, that's what we did in the bush in the 'Nam! But otherwise, you are right. The movement should be dismantled to ensure proper and thorough cleaning.

 

[Kevin W.]

Steven i would be surprised in that environment your socks did not grow on you.
I have heard it was such a humid place in the jungle.
I wonder out of curiousity how many old clocks exist in Vietnam?

 

[bangster]

A better analogy would be, "Can you wash your clothes without taking them off?"

The answer is, "Yes, but they won't get really clean."

Same for clocks.

bangster

 

[Al Schook]

You can try, Jeff ... ah, yes .........you can but try. That is all that a steer can do....... Do yourself a favor and tear into it..........you will thank us later.


(clean those mainsprings too)

 

[Jeff]

Well there you go. Tear it down,cleaning it,repair it, you might as well get a new movement. Wouldn't it be, better on a Hermle movement to replace it.


Jeff

 

[Kevin W.]

Guess it depends on a lot of things.Age of clock, what is wrong with it and do you want to learn clock repair.
There are many clocks around with Hermle movements and its good to know how to service them also.

 

[harold bain]

Cleaning it without stripping it won't be any more beneficial than just oiling it. Depending on its age, replacing might be the best way to go.

 

[Kevin W.]

Jeff do you have a picture of the back plate of this movement to help us determine the age of it.

 

[Viennaman]

Is there anyway to clean a Hermle movement without taking it apart?

Um... why would you want to? Aside of the fact that you'll never be able to clean it properly without disassembly, it's huge fun to do the full monty on a clock!

 

[Al Schook]

I agree with Vienna. I really enjoy taking them apart , cleaning, bushing and whatever else it takes. Used Hermles are available inexpensively and the things you learn will stand you in good stead when you tackle one that you do not want to flub up.

 

[Willie X]

Kev,

I agree with Harold ... simply oiling with a thicker oil (like Keystone clock oil) will often make the movement run a while longer. This actually gives better results IMOE than trying any kind of 'washout' process. You will have to 'pick' the crud out of the pivots by hand and use some compressed air with a fine tipped blower.

Oh yeah, this is where you warm up the customer to the cost of a replacement movement. Cost per year of operation is will nearly always be better when you go the replacement route.

Of course you can learn a lot about clock repair by repivoting and rebushing these movements but be prepaired to eat a lot of the hours, and pay out a lot for the parts that will HAVE to be replaced.

Good luck, Willie X

 

[bangster]

I yam in the minority against them who say, "If it's a sick Hermle, replace it."

It's so easy to say, "Ah, them Hermles are only made to last for X# of years,so you need to replace it."...(and I can get max return for min labor).

But I think that many or most of them can be given more years of life with a proper repair. And if you say, "Well, they'll still need to replace it in 5 or 10 years," I say: that's 5 or 10 years more of life for the clock, before they have to decide whether to bury it with military honors.

bangster

 

[hoo-boy]

agree with tearing it down to properly clean, especially if in clock repair business, BUT if it is ones own what will it hurt by attempting to clean assembled using using solvent, air pressure etc. IF the bottom line is to replace movement? Might one put off this expense a short while (penny saved) In case of extreme dirty feet I would rather try washing my feet with SOCKS ON before getting a foot replacement. inquiring minds! hoo-boy

 

[bangster]

agree with tearing it down to properly clean, especially if in clock repair business, BUT if it is ones own what will it hurt by attempting to clean assembled using using solvent, air pressure etc. IF the bottom line is to replace movement? Might one put off this expense a short while (penny saved) In case of extreme dirty feet I would rather try washing my feet with SOCKS ON before getting a foot replacement. inquiring minds! hoo-boy

Answer: No, you can't harm anything by doing an intact cleaning. Remove the mainspring barrels first, so's they don't get filled up with solvent. Then go ahead and dunk it and swish it and toothbrush it and toothpick it and compressed-air it until it's as clean as you can get it. Run it through the ultrasonic if you have one. Oil all the pivots, and put the mainsprings back in. You haven't harmed anything. It's your clock; you can do whatever you like.

Let down the mainsprings before you try removing them.

bangster

 

[Dave B]

Since it is your own clock, you may do anything you like in terms of cleaning. BUT- and it is a big one - you should somehow document what you have done. You never know when you may get hit by a truck, and someone else will be coming along behind you. Also - the biggest problem with not disassembling the movement, besides the obvious inability to completely remove all traces of dirt, is you will have a tough time getting all of the cleaning medium out of little spaces like beneath the clicks, and inside the springs, especially the coils in close to the arbors.

 

[Willie X]

Another bad thing, that has not been mentioned, about surface cleaning is the simple fact that a clock may be running fine but not chiming. You surface clean it with a solvent; it may not run any more. You have removed some of the build up, repositioned some of the crud, and repositioned the worn parts slightly, resulting in a no run condition. Customers especially dislike it when they bring in a clock that was running and after surface cleaning you tell them it won't run anymore!

Point, you are doing a quick fix whether for a cousomer or yourself. It will be more likely to work for a while without the surface (solvent) cleaning. You may have to do quite a few before you come to this conclusion for yourself.

Willie X

 

[bangster]

Since it is your own clock, you may do anything you like in terms of cleaning. BUT- and it is a big one - you should somehow document what you have done. You never know when you may get hit by a truck, and someone else will be coming along behind you. Also - the biggest problem with not disassembling the movement, besides the obvious inability to completely remove all traces of dirt, is you will have a tough time getting all of the cleaning medium out of little spaces like beneath the clicks, and inside the springs, especially the coils in close to the arbors.

Good point as a generalization, but: if he's removed the spring barrels, he's removed the click wheels, so no residual solvent problem either of those places. If he's using compressed air, he'll blow out what's under the clicks, and otherwhere. If there's still a concern about residual solvent, wash it thoroughly in hot soapy water (Dove detergent) to remove the solvent, rinse thoroughly in hot clear water to remove the soap, rinse in alcohol to remove the water.

Willie has an interesting comment, but It would apply only to a movement so cruddy that the crud-deposits are keeping it running. But in that case, it's not only a problem of Dirty, it's a problem of Wear. And wear can't be fixed without disassembly. (Absent Rathbuns, center-punches, and other abominations.)

bangster

 

[Dave B]

Ah, yes, BAng - I missed the statement that the spring barrels woulsd be removed. That's what I get for reading too quickly.