Regulating Schatz 1000 day clock issue

[finiteguy]

Hi everyone, I recently repaired a 1000 day clock. Needed a new suspension spring so I got the spring on ebay, but it was the steel wire itself. Had to cut to length and add the hardware to make a complete suspension spring. I cleaned the movement, although I did not clean the mainspring. I'm not great at working with main springs....got injured once. The clock runs, but having difficulty regulating it. I have read where any slight turn of the regulator nut has dramatic effect. Any advice on how to regulate it? Is it just iteration until you get the right beat? Thanks.

 

[Schatznut]

What you've got in the Schatz 54 is basically their regular miniature movement with a honkin' big mainspring. The wire, if you bought a pack of Horolovar springs, is made of invar, an alloy whose material properties are exceptionally stable over temperature.

These clocks, like torsion-pendulum clocks in general, are extremely sensitive to changes in the regulator nut. So yes, it's an iterative process, and you need to make minute (my-noot) adjustments to it to get it into regulation. If you can just barely feel the nut move, you've probably made a change of about the right amount. Otherwise you may end up chasing the regulation back and forth. Patience and a delicate touch are required.

If the mainspring has not been serviced, don't expect it to run for a full 1000 days on a single winding. With the right sleeve and a mainspring winder, however, it's no more difficult to rebuild than any other barrel-type mainspring, but it does require the right tools and a healthy respect for the potential energy stored in the spring.

 

[finiteguy]

What you've got in the Schatz 54 is basically their regular miniature movement with a honkin' big mainspring. The wire, if you bought a pack of Horolovar springs, is made of invar, an alloy whose material properties are exceptionally stable over temperature.

These clocks, like torsion-pendulum clocks in general, are extremely sensitive to changes in the regulator nut. So yes, it's an iterative process, and you need to make minute (my-noot) adjustments to it to get it into regulation. If you can just barely feel the nut move, you've probably made a change of about the right amount. Otherwise you may end up chasing the regulation back and forth. Patience and a delicate touch are required.

If the mainspring has not been serviced, don't expect it to run for a full 1000 days on a single winding. With the right sleeve and a mainspring winder, however, it's no more difficult to rebuild than any other barrel-type mainspring, but it does require the right tools and a healthy respect for the potential energy stored in the spring.

Thank you for this. I know that invar is a very stable material. In the optics industry it was used because the CTE was very close to fused silica glass, so any extreme temperature changes wouldn't cause thermal stress in the glass.

 

[Wayne A]

You can get it regulated fairly closely with just a stopwatch timing the 10bpm pendulum. Now once its close the rate adjustments are almost imperceptible. Another thing to be watching for is flutter which can be very intermittent. If the clock seems to speed up by several minutes, recheck the pendulum with a stopwatch before adjusting rate, might be flutter. Easy to get into an over adjustment loop with intermittent flutter.

Wayne

 

[finiteguy]

You can get it regulated fairly closely with just a stopwatch timing the 10bpm pendulum. Now once its close the rate adjustments are almost imperceptible. Another thing to be watching for is flutter which can be very intermittent. If the clock seems to speed up by several minutes, recheck the pendulum with a stopwatch before adjusting rate, might be flutter. Easy to get into an over adjustment loop with intermittent flutter.

Wayne

Not sure what flutter is. Is it the pendulum swaying?

 

[Wayne A]

Not sure what flutter is. Is it the pendulum swaying?

Flutter is when the anchor gets in a feedback loop with the suspension spring and fork/pin connection. Flutter when viewed in action you would see the anchor rock back and forth by itself quite fast. Time flys when this happens! If its happening the usual causes are fork to low or fork to pin gap too large.

Wayne

 

[finiteguy]

Flutter is when the anchor gets in a feedback loop with the suspension spring and fork/pin connection. Flutter when viewed in action you would see the anchor rock back and forth by itself quite fast. Time flys when this happens! If its happening the usual causes are fork to low or fork to pin gap too large.

Wayne

I see....thanks for this

 

[Dells]

You can get it regulated fairly closely with just a stopwatch timing the 10bpm pendulum. Now once its close the rate adjustments are almost imperceptible. Another thing to be watching for is flutter which can be very intermittent. If the clock seems to speed up by several minutes, recheck the pendulum with a stopwatch before adjusting rate, might be flutter. Easy to get into an over adjustment loop with intermittent flutter.

Wayne

You’ve been there as well then Wayne with the flutter.