Schatz 53 and 54

[Larry Orr]

With a lot of help from this forum I had great success in repairing 3 different Kundo type 400-day anniversary clocks. My family was so impressed that they found 2 other "Schatz" clocks, a 53 and 54. I used the same techniques on these clocks, disassembled, cleaned, polished pivots, cleaned bushings, assembled new suspension spring units, then reassembled. I've attached several pictures. The 54 had a bent shaft and pivot and a damaged gear on wheel 2. I straightened the shaft and pivot and replaced the gear with new one (same number of teeth and size). I reassembled but don't get any power to the escape wheel. The 53 looked good no obvious bent or damaged parts. Since neither clock works, I'm a bit frustrated but strongly committed to get these clocks working again. As always, any suggestions or comments on what I'm missing will be appreciated. Thanks, Larry

 

[Kevin W.]

If you dont have the Horolavar 400 day book, i recommend you get one, to work on these clocks. Did you remove the main spring and clean and lube it?

 

[Larry Orr]

Yes I have the book and used it to assemble both suspension spring units. And yes I pulled both main springs out of their barrels, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled. Thanks...

 

[tracerjack]

I think movements like this come everyone’s way if you work on enough 400 day. You may have already done this, but just in case. First test that each single wheel spins freely. They should come to a rolling stop. Then, start with the mainspring barrel and make sure it rotates 360 smoothly with T2. Add the next wheel, retest, repeat for each wheel. The damage you repaired suggests there may be damage elsewhere that is not so easily seen. It doesn’t take much to stop a 400 day.

 

[Larry Orr]

Tracerjack, I guess my attention to detail was lacking. I found a bend pivot on T4 and the bushing on T2 was very worn so I'm replacing both sides. Sometimes I just don't see the forest for the trees!
Thanks, Larry

 

[Wayne A]

Those upper Schatz pivots are so easy to bend, tiny and soft. Re-pivioted a few of them that were straitened one too many times..

Wayne

 

[Schatznut]

Just keep in mind that a 54 is basically a 53 with a third plate and a honking big mainspring. Repair techniques are similar. Their Achilles' heel is the fact that the rear bearing for the anchor is carried in the suspension bracket, which needs to be precisely set to control the pallet drop. I lightly scribe a couple of lines around the bracket before removing it from the rear plate to ensure I get it close to its original position when I reassemble it. One of the mounting holes in the bracket is round and the other is oblong, which allows a small amount of adjustment, but the bracket has a tendency to walk when the mounting screws are tightened down, so a light touch is required.

 

[Schatznut]

Those upper Schatz pivots are so easy to bend, tiny and soft. Re-pivioted a few of them that were straitened one too many times..

Wayne

Wayne, you mean straightened, like... once?

 

[Wayne A]

Wayne, you mean straightened, like... once?

Yea, you never know how many times its been tweaked before you made that one move and it broke.

Wayne

 

[MartinM]

Checking for good end-shake on all the arbors is always a quick and easy way to see if something's wonky.
just put the unpowered, completed movement on it's nose and lift/release each wheel in the train to ensure they drop back down easily.