Hello all
It is great to have such an interesting clock mounted on the wall at home but anyone who knows how these things work will know that they are noisy. The tic, tic of the main escapement is a very nice sound but that big CLUNK every 60 seconds is something else.
The previous owner of my example came up with an interesting idea of using 2, 12 volt power supplies in series. The first is a fixed 12 volt and the second is variable. Both ex train set units. This gives you a variable power supply of about 13 to 26 volts. You start at max (26) and gradually wind it down till you get to the minimum the clock needs to work. As you do this it gets quieter. Next I had a lot of echo from the box so I filled the back space between the clock and the wall with thick pile carpet. I also attached some felt to the back of the dial and things got a bit better. Last thing I did was to attach a small spring to the solinoid plunger to keep a bit of tension on it. This got rid of a bit of a rattle that you could hear with each puls. I did make sure to do this in a way that does not hurt the clock. No new holes etc. I am now at a point where we can live with the clock the way it is but visitors who decide to stay over still have a problem with the clunk.
This brings me to my next idea but first I need to find out a bit more about how the clock works.
1/ I believe the clock has a spring in it that will keep things going when the power goes off. If the clock were to be turned off for say 8 hours how long would it take to rewind the spring?
2/ If I were to put a timer on the power supply to turn off the clock every night and then on again each morning would this cause any problems.
In other words would it be OK to use the spring every day or is it intended only for occasional use.
I have a few other questions as well but that will do for starters.
TIA
Steve
It is great to have such an interesting clock mounted on the wall at home but anyone who knows how these things work will know that they are noisy. The tic, tic of the main escapement is a very nice sound but that big CLUNK every 60 seconds is something else.
The previous owner of my example came up with an interesting idea of using 2, 12 volt power supplies in series. The first is a fixed 12 volt and the second is variable. Both ex train set units. This gives you a variable power supply of about 13 to 26 volts. You start at max (26) and gradually wind it down till you get to the minimum the clock needs to work. As you do this it gets quieter. Next I had a lot of echo from the box so I filled the back space between the clock and the wall with thick pile carpet. I also attached some felt to the back of the dial and things got a bit better. Last thing I did was to attach a small spring to the solinoid plunger to keep a bit of tension on it. This got rid of a bit of a rattle that you could hear with each puls. I did make sure to do this in a way that does not hurt the clock. No new holes etc. I am now at a point where we can live with the clock the way it is but visitors who decide to stay over still have a problem with the clunk.
This brings me to my next idea but first I need to find out a bit more about how the clock works.
1/ I believe the clock has a spring in it that will keep things going when the power goes off. If the clock were to be turned off for say 8 hours how long would it take to rewind the spring?
2/ If I were to put a timer on the power supply to turn off the clock every night and then on again each morning would this cause any problems.
In other words would it be OK to use the spring every day or is it intended only for occasional use.
I have a few other questions as well but that will do for starters.
TIA
Steve