Expert: William J Perkins - 10/31/2008

Question
I have an Emperor Clock model 120 with a 100M movement.  My father built the kit in the mid 70's.  In moving the clock from Calif to Ohio, most of the chime rods broke off.  I need to replace these and can't seem to find anything that tells me the location of the specific lenghts of the rods in the iron rod block.  Also, is it critical to get a set of rods the exact length as the originals?  The longest chime rod seems to 19.5 inches.

Answer
It is very difficult, expensive and time consuming to replace only some of the chime rods.  Trying to get them tuned is a real problem. Buy a tuned set from a materials house.  The only things you have to concern your self with in replacing chime rods in a block are 1) they fit the block properly 2) they are not to long for the application.  To acquire these parts I suggest you contact R V Tapp of Ronell Clock Co.  Explain your problem to Mr Tapp and he will assist you.  You can reach him on-line @ www.ronellclock.com.  Before talking to Ronell I suggest you copy down and have available all the information that is stamped upon the brass backplate of your clock.  This will tell them the exact movement and chime block of the application  Regards WJP