How to tell if a clock has an automatic beat setting feature.

[Carl Bergquist]

I have a Kieninger KSU 29 movement ready to take back to its home, probably from about 1993. Triple chime, cable with the moving moon. Conovers chapter 17 does not mention beat setting. Question: is there a way to tell if this feature is on my movement? Is 1993 too early for this feature? It does have a serial number of 4897115250 and was part of a Craft Products kit build. It has been running for a couple weeks. I set the beat by just swinging the pendulum at the maximum arc and it runs fine but the beat sounds a little off. Since my test stand is not the clocks home I see no point in adjusting the beat here. Any ideas?

 

[rjdj2000]

Not sure if Kieninger is the same as a Hermle but here is what the autobeat is on mine. Plastic sleeve in the verge. If you start it and it sounds out of beat, stop an restart by swinging pendulum opposite way.

What I did with mine was to hold the pendulum and go back and forth while holding it until it sounded close then let go of pendulum. My GF has stayed in beat since.

 

[wow]

Almost all of the grandfather clocks made since the 1970s have that feature as far as I know. Many wall clocks do also. I have also worked on some modern mantle clocks with auto-beat. There are different types of auto-beat systems so it is not a matter of just looking at a clock and knowing whether it has auto-beat or not. If a clock has that feature it will have some type of clutch on the pallet arbor. Usually it is a plastic or fiber washer or two on that arbor that is just tight enough to hold the pallets while running but loose enough to allow them to slip when there is overswing of the pendulum. Some Asian made clocks use a little spring wire that keeps pressure on the arbor and acts as a clutch.

 

[John P]

Most all movements with auto beat setting will have a high bridge supporting the S spring and pendulum.

 

[Carl Bergquist]

Thanks for the replies. I will look at the verge assembly and see if it has this type of set-up. I don't work on many newer clocks. This clock was being stopped by the moving moon gears jamming. Today it stopped after five days, I am fairly certain it is the moon. I heard a click when I touched it and it ran strongly again. I will let it go until it stops again. Maybe some bad tooth in the plastic moon gears?

 

[Roy Gardner]

Is the threaded area at the right on the pallet arbor in my ~1912 Lenzkirch model 329 intended for automatic or manual beat setting or both? Is there any part missing?

I figure it should be an interference fit in the threaded joint, with enough friction for stable operation yet still rotatable to allow easy beat setting.

When I got the clock, there was crude solder laid across the top of the assembly and the solder had broken (green arrow), revealing that there was no friction in the joint.

While I checked out methods of solder removal in this forum, I installed some pieces of slotted brass tubing and a setscrew collar to lock the two sections together without further damage.

The original female-threaded tube section is slotted (green arrow), so I figure this is where I could close up the ID to get the desired interference fit. The chewed-up solder area at the right is where I carved off most of it preparation for trying some chemical method.