Murday Murday Reasons Clock Brighton

[Terry Gray]

Hi i was wondering if any one might be able to help? a few years ago i acquired a Murday Reasons clock with the large balance wheel, it's never run properly,when it impulsed it managed 3 or 4 at best,clearly there is something wrong?and this was with transformer at 5 6 volts it put into the hands of so called expert who did virtually nothing,i sent the coils to professorial coil winder tho tested the coils he said that the winding had broken down probably through age,they were rewound in modern copper wire,the sapphire bearing had suffer damage over the years,this was professorially replace by company that specialises in this type work,the movement is quite good and shows no wear,at the bridge there is an adjustable screw a locking nut this showed considerable wear and has been re bushed, the contacts are in good condition,on the face of it there is little wrong,this now only leaves the balance spring,i suspect that it might be a modern reproduction,which is to strong for it,Electrical Time Keeping,it says the amplitude varies considerable and is dependant on the state of the battery but it give 7 to 30 swings,as mentioned mine is 3 or 4 swings at best ,i also believe it should run on 3 volts ,it would be nice to see it run once judging by the wear in bridge locking screw nut it had run for long while,any information especially about the balance spring would be gratefully received

 

[John Hubby]

Terry, welcome to the NAWCC Message Board! Thanks for posting the info and photos of your Murday clock. For convenience in searching this forum for other threads about these interesting clocks, I have added a "Murday" prefix to the title of the thread. If you click on the prifix, it will select all the Murday threads in this forum as a single list and make it much easier to find info.

In looking at your clock, the balance spring is suspect to me. The coils of a normal Murday balance spring open gradually and symmetrically outward, whereas yours are very open in the center and "bunched" together on one side. This can be corrected by taking the spring out of the clock, then slightly bending each coil inward in successive steps around the circumference of each coil as you proceed to the outer coil. when you finish, the outer coil of the spring should be the diameter needed to fit to the retaining post with little or no need to move it to fit into position, and with all the coils spaced in decreasing increments towards the center. I don't know if that will enable the clock to swing more than the 3 or 4 turns you are now getting but it should help, even if the spring is too strong. I don't know of anyone who makes replacements, however I would look at small novelty clock mainsprings for starters. I do have two of these clocks presently in my shop but right now am away on a short trip. I'll check when I return and measure what I have so we will have a reference point. Perhaps another user may have the original specs for these they could post, that would save a lot of time.

 

[Terry Gray]

many thanks for taking the time to reply,i did try to straighten the coils of the spring but it seemed a bit worse,than when i started,i have another spring which i fitted and the coil are spaced evenly,buy manually swinging balance wheel it seems a bit better,i need to rewire the clock,i removed the wiring when i was trying to eliminate problems,i recently acquired a David Harriman clock which is a copy of the Murday,as it runs well i will copy the wiring from that clock,that clocks balance wheel turn any from 27 33 times but each turn slightly shorter till it re impulses,and this is on 3 volts,i will of course keep you posted,
Kind Regards Terry.

 

[Terry Gray]

Terry, welcome to the NAWCC Message Board! Thanks for posting the info and photos of your Murday clock. For convenience in searching this forum for other threads about these interesting clocks, I have added a "Murday" prefix to the title of the thread. If you click on the prifix, it will select all the Murday threads in this forum as a single list and make it much easier to find info.

In looking at your clock, the balance spring is suspect to me. The coils of a normal Murday balance spring open gradually and symmetrically outward, whereas yours are very open in the center and "bunched" together on one side. This can be corrected by taking the spring out of the clock, then slightly bending each coil inward in successive steps around the circumference of each coil as you proceed to the outer coil. when you finish, the outer coil of the spring should be the diameter needed to fit to the retaining post with little or no need to move it to fit into position, and with all the coils spaced in decreasing increments towards the center. I don't know if that will enable the clock to swing more than the 3 or 4 turns you are now getting but it should help, even if the spring is too strong. I don't know of anyone who makes replacements, however I would look at small novelty clock mainsprings for starters. I do have two of these clocks presently in my shop but right now am away on a short trip. I'll check when I return and measure what I have so we will have a reference point. Perhaps another user may have the original specs for these they could post, that would save a lot of time.

 

[Terry Gray]

Hi thanks for you reply in your previous post you said that you are the owner of Murday Reasons
Clock, and you would let Me have the dimensions the width and thickness, of the balance spring, I recently spent a considerable amount time trying to get to run but still no success the best is a few hours but then it stops, I am fairly certain its the balance spring, I would there for be very grateful if you could let have the dimensions,
Kind Regards Terry Gray,

 

[Uhralt]

Hi thanks for you reply in your previous post you said that you are the owner of Murday Reasons


Clock, and you would let Me have the dimensions the width and thickness, of the balance spring, I recently spent a considerable amount time trying to get to run but still no success the best is a few hours but then it stops, I am fairly certain its the balance spring, I would there for be very grateful if you could let have the dimensions,
Kind Regards Terry Gray,

I'm not sure if the spring is the culprit. Maybe there is some friction somewhere in the movement so that the balance wheel needs more power to drive the clock and cycles more frequently.

I have a Poole clock that ran poorly and cycled every 3 to 4 swings of the pendulum after disassembly and cleaning. I found that I had mounted the dial slightly out of center and the second hand very slightly touched the rim of the dial hole. After repositioning of the dial the clock runs very well now and cycles every 36 to 38 oscillations.

Uhralt

 

[Terry Gray]

Hi thanks for your reply, the movement is in excellent order and condition, its possible to remove the movement from the base, and still have the impulse balance wheel in place, the contacts still impulse the balance wheel but still impulses very poorly 4 swings at best about 55 degrees at best and slows very quickly, the coils are in good order as are the contacts, the bottom bearing has been professionally rewound, when the balance wheel is free to revolve it will spin freely, I get the feeling its the balance spring, King Regards.

 

[Uhralt]

Hi thanks for your reply, the movement is in excellent order and condition, its possible to remove the movement from the base, and still have the impulse balance wheel in place, the contacts still impulse the balance wheel but still impulses very poorly 4 swings at best about 55 degrees at best and slows very quickly, the coils are in good order as are the contacts, the bottom bearing has been professionally rewound, when the balance wheel is free to revolve it will spin freely, I get the feeling its the balance spring, King Regards.

I agree. When the balance wheel behaves the same without the movement attached (I was thinking about proposing such a test), then drag in the movement is not to blame. Hopefully John will soon chime in with regard to which spring you will need.

Uhralt

 

[Terry Gray]

thanks for reply, Terry Gray,