i went through this kuehl 5-tube westminster movement and set it up on my test stand to proudly watch it run... except it wouldn't. - the crutch forks were too tight... easy fix, much bigger pendulum swing - the pin holding the minute hand in place kept falling out... no matter what. there was no tension washer under the minute cannon, and in fact there was no room for one.... if one was added it pushed the gear teeth too far away from the little cam that triggers chiming and striking. there seemed to be more room than necessary between the end of the cannon and the minute hand pin hole so i put the tension washer under the regular domed minute hand washer and pinned 'em in place... fixed. - got it working great... until i noticed that it would very occasionally go into chime/strike warning, trigger and then... nothing. the chime side gathering pallet would just sit there. if you touched it or breathed on it it would start revolving. i went back and re-polished everything on the front of the movement having to do with striking/chiming, including all of the little pins on the little cam that sets up the chiming/striking.. no go. i took the movement apart... yet again... and re-polished everything with 4000 grit paper making everything as slippery as an eel... still no go. kept staring at it until i noticed that when it would stop the chime side lock pin and warning piece were NOT in contact... there was nothing (apparently) preventing the gathering pallet from turning freely... and then... i noticed there was one of those off-set/adjustable pivot holes for the chime side fan (but not the strike side... hmmm) and thought, what if it's the depthing of the chime side fan gear? i rotated (raised) it ever-so-slightly and voila. if it weren't for the 200 trial and (mostly) error false starts, i'd be pretty darn pumped about my most exceptional clock repair skills.
I recently rebuilt a Jauch 77 movement and it has a peninsula for the chime fly depthing adjustment. Mine would not start occasionally either.. I took it apart again thinking I would find a bent pivot high in the chime train but it all looked good. After reassembly I inspected the depthing of the fly with magnification and decided it needed some adjustment. After adjustment the chime train took off with much improved speed after increasing depthing. There was no indication the peninsula had ever been adjusted. I have always thought the chime and strike fly on these were identical so I didn't keep track of which was which. Looking back I think I probably should have swapped fly's before adjusting depth but it all worked out and the movement runs great now.
the flys on this one are easily identifiable as they have unique cutouts to accommodate close pinions as they spin. it didn’t look like anyone had ever adjusted it... could have been wear, maybe slight bending over 100 years, who knows?
A bit of dried oil or other gunk inside the troughs of the fly pinion could also cause that problem. Uhralt
Make sure the gov. blades are balanced, (not out of balance) I had one that was heaver on one blade and it would not start and rotate.
wow.. good to know. I did try them in multiple positions as they are adjustable. It’s working great now but I will double check when I get back home
I don’t know… Might even work better after an adjustment. Actually, I think I would’ve noticed because I was looking so closely and with magnification… And I’m also a musician and very attuned to read them and balance. Appreciate the tip
Easy to check. If one side always wants to be down when on it's side without other influences, it's the heavy one.
it looks like someone has replaced every pivot in that front plate except for the winding bushings. glad you have it running well, but its quite possible that one of those bushings were put in a bit off center?
all of the bushings look the same, on both front and back plates... i'm thinking they're original. between breathing on the depthing and re-polishing gears and pivots it's been running fine...
