Kundo Minature Won't Run

[David Holk]

I have a Kundo Minature which won't run despite all my efforts. I have cleaned and lubed, including the mainspring. I have burnished pivot holes. A couple of pivots had flaking in the plating so I polished them. I even bushed holes which showed any sign of wear, catrefully hand fitting the bushings. Each pair of wheel and pinion runs freely.
What might I have overlooked?

Thanks,

David

P.S: I have sucessfully repaired quite a few 400 day timepieces.

 

[David Holk]

I have a Kundo Minature which won't run despite all my efforts. I have cleaned and lubed, including the mainspring. I have burnished pivot holes. A couple of pivots had flaking in the plating so I polished them. I even bushed holes which showed any sign of wear, catrefully hand fitting the bushings. Each pair of wheel and pinion runs freely.
What might I have overlooked?

Thanks,

David

P.S: I have sucessfully repaired quite a few 400 day timepieces.

 

[Robert Gary]

David:

I am certainly no expert, but until John H. gets here, have you carefully examined the teeth of the escape wheel, and its trueness?

RobertG

 

[Bill_NY]

Hi David,
Exactly what do you mean when you say it "won't run"?
Does it run for a while and the pendulum slowly stops?
Does it stop fairly sudden?
Tell us what you observe.
A couple of things that I would suggest is to let down the power completely, then remove the hands and the anchor. Wind the mainspring about a quarter of a turn or so. The escape wheel should begin to spin. If it doesn't then touch each wheel from the escape to the 1st wheel. If it starts to run when you touch one then there is a problem in that wheel or the adjacent one. I would look for bent arbors, pivots, teeth etc. If it does run then put the anchor back in the train. Wind it about one turn. While slowly moving the anchor pin, observe the escape action. Are the drops correct? on each and every tooth of both the the entrance and exit pallets? Make sure that you observe evey tooth of the wheel. When you do this it is very easy to see a "problem" tooth.
If everything appear to be fine then mount the movement in a stand, and hang the suspension and the pendulum. Level it in both planes. Put the movement in beat. Does it run? If not then remove the intermediate wheel. Does it run? If it does look for look for a bent hand shaft. If it still does not run then something was missed. Is the spring free in the barrel, is it coned causing it to drag and lose power.
If it runs with the movement complete in the stand for a day then mount the hands. If it does not run then there is a drag that the hands are causing.
If it still runs then mount the movement in the clock. Be careful not to overtighten the mounting screws, this will flex the plates and bind the wheels.
Hang the pendulum and check the beat.
Start the clock and it should run, if not you have missed something.
I find after going through the above steps that I'll usually find the problem.

I hope this helps. If not I am sure John will be along soon to help!

Bill

 

[John Hubby]

Bill, you covered all the bases . . everything you listed should be checked in that sequence and the results reported.

The only point I might make is that the assembled bare movement (no motion works or anchor) should start to turn freely with only a couple of clicks on the mainspring. If it doesn't run until a quarter turn then for sure there are problems in the train.

John Hubby

 

[Bill_NY]

Thanks John! I stand corrected and will change my check procedure accordingly.

Bill

 

[David Holk]

Thanks for all the replies.

The clock does run without the motion works. I did find a slight bend in the minute shaft and have gotten it pretty close to straight. Now when it stops, it is with the minute hand between 7 and 9. I have moved the minute hand a quarter turn on the cannon pinion to eliminate the possibility of meshing problems. This is one of the heavier hands I've seen on a minature. (Carriage clock with bright brass filegree hands) When I test it without the verge and wound a couple of clicks, there is a very distinct difference between when the minute hand is rising and falling.

Could the spring have lost enough strength that it can not handle the weight of the minute hand?

Thanks,

David

 

[harold bain]

David, on full wind, no. After 6 months or so, maybe.
Harold

 

[David Holk]

I finally got the clock going by bushing the winding arbor hole in the front plate. I have seen much more wear in clocks which ran quite well.

Thanks for the replies,

David

 

[Joe Collins]

Its hard to understand how an arbor that doesn't turn during the operation of the clock would have that much effect. The depthing between the barrel and the second gear must be super critical.

Joe

 

[Bill_NY]

Joe-
I am with you. I don't understand this either!
Just when I think that I know what to do with these clocks to get them up and running, something else comes up and humbles me! This is best thing that I love about this craft-always something new to learn!

David-was there anything else that you did while bushing the plate? Did you remove the mainspring from the barrel again and regrease? Did you oil the barrel bushings where it contacts the winding arbor? Anything else at all?

In any event David - Good job and congratulations on getting your clock running!

Maybe John Hubby can shed some light on this.

Bill