I need some advise on working on a self winding clock

Have you looked at the wire at the top of the coil. Does it have a push in connection the other end? If it is easy to replace, I'd start there.

 

Good evening, John!

Starting at the beginning, you said that this clock was working for 5 years. Was it damaged in any way? Was there ever a "blue spark" or a "smoke" event? If not, that's probably good.

I'm guessing you can hook up new batteries the same way the old ones were hooked up. Can't quite read what's on the blue painter's tape, but I imagine you can.

On the top left of the movement, near the back wall of the case, clearly visible in the second picture, is a "leaf switch." Have you tried pushing that? Normally, if you do, you will hear the interruptor motor start winding the mainspring and see the wheel turning as it does. You can watch this happening from the point of view of your last photo, in Post #4. If you hold the switch closed until the winding stops, you can then see if the pendulum will swing with the clock fully wound.

If the mainspring won't wind, try winding it by hand by moving the wheel to which it is attached with your finger (Again, see photo in Post #4).

The two Fahnestock (spring) clips at the top of the photos in Post #3 are for synchronization. They shouldn't have any relevance right now.

There is a service manual posted on another thread: SWCC - Self-winding Type F - Various questions

The main thing, for me, is that if it was working for 5 years, there must be some reason it's not working now, "ceteris paribus" (as the economists say). We need to find what's changed.

Best regards!

Tim Orr

 

This has nothing to do with the electrical parts but in a couple pictures the hour wheel looks jammed and the post on the minute wheel looks bent down.

 

When was the movement last serviced? If it's been a while, there could be worn bushings, dirt, etc. that are stopping the movement from running.

 

There should not be room for the hour wheel to slip out of mesh. I'd fix this if you want the clock to work after you fix any other issues the clock has.
There is surface rust in places and a lot of that is in the electrics. This is all very old insulation and you haven't actually said that you have tested all of the electrics?

Certainly the clock will benefit from an overhaul.

As to cleaning the contacts. Mix up a bit of baking soda with water and wash all the contacting surface. Wipe them off with a moist cloth or cotton earbud. Vinegar also works. A glass fibre brush will shine them up afterwards.

 

As a general rule, be very gentle when cleaning the contacts on self winders, and especially be sparing with abrasives and files. The contact point is often a relatively exotic material, like platinum, tungsten or iridium. The contact is welded or hard soldered onto the brass contact arm. Replacing the contact material can be a challenge. Unless the contact is physically damaged or severely pitted, I'd just clean it using a commercial contact cleaner like Deoxit or CRC. If these are unavailable, a few drops of isoproyl alchohol on a q-tip is fine.

 

The period of time between winds may show you more.
Most such clocks only wind the clock enough to keep it running. There is a fair amount of energy involved in winding the mainspring fully.

 

Good evening, John!

Glad you got it to wind and run, even if it doesn't seem to wind much. Let it run for a while and see what happens. Many Type F movements wound once an hour for about 30 seconds or so.

There were special SWCC movements that were used in radio stations. I kind of doubt yours is one of them, because yours is in a square case. Nevertheless, it is so easy to change out a movement that perhaps you have a "radio station" movement. I don't know. In any event, the radio station movements, in an effort to reduce the amount of noise they produced, had thick felt batting on the inside of the case, and, in addition, were set up to wind much more frequently but for a much shorter time, just a few seconds. That way, the noise generated in a radio studio would be less.

The one right behind me just wound, and I am sure it was for no more than 3 seconds. In spite of all the precautions SWCC took to reduce noise, it used to be said among radio announcers that the SWCC clocks were great, but they would never wind or sync themselves until you opened the mike. Not true, of course, but sometimes, it seemed that way.

Let us know how you're doing with it!

Best regards!

Tim

 

Good evening, John!

Like any clock, this one may need a disassembly, thorough cleaning, perhaps some bushings, reassembly, adjustment, lubrication, etc.

"Western Union" is on the radio station clock I have. Western Union supplied the synchronizing signal that activated the synchronizing solenoid on the top right of the clock. In our station, we had a dedicated telephone line connected to the Western Union office. At the top of the hour, Western Union would send a 90-volt AC (I am told) ringer pulse down that line. In essence, they "called" us at the top of the hour. The ringer pulse pulled in a relay that in turn sent the 3-volt sync signal to all of the clocks in our station. This caused the minute an second hands to snap to the top and lit the red light just above the numeral 6.

Western Union was the "distributor" of the Naval Observatory time signals.

I don't think yours is a radio station clock. All the ones I've seen have round cases, sweep second hands, and red minute/second count numbers on the chapter ring. They also wind much more frequently than once an hour. I can't remember how frequently, but a lot more so and for a much shorter time, just seconds as I said above.

Disassembly of these clocks can be scary, for exactly the reasons you've cited. Especially problematic is the fact that some of the insulators may be so old and decrepit that they fall apart when you disassemble them.

The top solenoid is solely for synchronization. The bottom one handles the winding. That yours is now running is a great thing! Congratulations on your efforts so far! This indicates that there's probably nothing serious wrong with your clock.

When you say "solenoid shafts," I'm guessing you mean the shaft that holds the armature. I don't think a lot of lube is needed. In fact, it could be one of those situations where you might just want to thoroughly clean the armature and its shaft and then reassemble it dry. There's no tension there to create wear. The solenoid activates infrequently, and gummed up lube would be worse than none at all. Might need a tiny oil slick to prevent rust. I was born and raised in northeastern Ohio, and I'm guessing it's pretty humid where you are.

Best regards!

Tim