Barr & Poole Poole electromagnetic beat adjustment

[Chris]

I don't know how or why, but I have Poole electromagnetic that seems way out of beat. The field coil and electromagnet setup seem fine as the pendulum is swinging and the trip is actuating, but the time train will not run. If I put the clock at a steep angle, it will run and sound in beat, but it's obviously not correct. Suggestions?

 

[Chris]

Sorry, but I realize now that it's a Barr clock and not the later Poole. I adjusted the drop and lock of the pallets with the escape wheel as it was locking and is now smooth, but it's still way out of beat. Suggestions

 

[eskmill]

Chris and all. Although the Poole and Barr electric clocks have a kind of escape wheel and pallets, there's no escapement. Instead, the pallets push and pull the toothed wheel to give motion to the hands.

The "escapement" as used in the ordinary clock or watch is named "escapement" because it allows the force or power of the mainspring or falling weight to escape in measured increments of time, a horo-definition used in many modern languages for several hundred years.

Thus to be exact and horo-precise, the Poole, Barr, KundO, ATO, Bulle and other similar battery-electric clocks don't have an escapement but instead use pawls driven by the pendulum motion to rotate the hands of the timepiece using a pair of "pawls" to drive and lock a toothed ratchet wheel similar in form and shape to an escape wheel but there's no escapement.

Does this make sense?

 

[Tinker Dwight]

Hi
It is possible that the swing is not large enough but not
beat in the ordinary sense. As Les says, it is just a pawl
pushing a ratchet. If the swing were enough to grab at one
angle and move the ratchet one tooth, it would be the same
at some other angle, unless something was restricting
the swing.
It is possible that the timing of the impulse is incorrect.
Tinker Dwight

 

[Chris]

I've still had no luck getting the pawls set properly to engage as they should when the case is level. Is it adjusted only by the two tabs on the pendulum?

 

[eskmill]

Chris and all. I admit to not having much experience with the Poole/Barr battery Hipp Toggle Type clocks and but I did once own one which was a fine running timepiece. In operation, Chris, it does not sound anything like a wind-up or weight driven tic-toc clock. They have an odd and irregular cadence.

Generally they are fairly silent but make an obvious "ka-chunk" sound at odd intervals and at least once a day, there's a double "ka-chunk-chunk" a flaw you learn to live with....the "double" trip.

You should, in my opinion be focused more on the general operation of the the entire machine instead of focusing on the way the hands are advanced.

A good running Poole or Barr battery clock should run along silently for about thirty or more swings of the pendulum before the toggle gets caught and unlocks the roller and consequently closes the circuit to the reset electromagnets. A poorly running Poole or Barr battery clock will run rather reliably daily for months on end without stopping but for lack of being level, or gummy lubricants on the links, may only swing silently for as few as ten or fifteen passes between "hits" of the toggle.

Disregarding the motion and drive to the dial hands, Chris, how many "passes" of pendulum strokes occur between "resets" or unlocking of the roller arm and resets on your troublesome clock?