Expert: Martin Meyer - 11/1/2008

Question
I recently purchased a Seth Thomas Westminister-Whittington Mantle clock, Love it!  It's driving me crazy though.  I didn't do all the research I should have I guess and realize it chimes on the quarter hours too.  Is there anyway I can rid the quarter hours and only have it chime on the hour?  I'm thinking not but thought I'd ask.  Can't get ahold of the customer service folks.  Thanks in advance for letting me know.

Answer
Hi Jeanette,

There is probably no setting that will silence the clock on the quarters and still let it strike on the hour. There are a few clocks with relatively high grade movements, which have a setting that will make the clock strike the hours, but not play the "musical" chimes, i.e. Westminster, Whittington, etc. This setting is usually marked "4/4 Silent". But this feature is almost always available only on longcase (grandfather) clocks.

Additionally, there is no way to disable the quarter hour chimes by internal modification. Mantle clocks usually use one row of 8 chime rods to make both the chime melodies and the hour strike. Other clocks, almost invariably longcase clocks, use one set of chime rods for the chime melodies and a separate set of rods for the hour strike. When this is the case, it is possible to tie back the chime hammers in their raised position, so that when the chime mechanism operates, the hammers do not strike the chime rods. It is highly unlikely that your mantle clock has this arrangement and, because the rods do double duty for both chime and hour strike, it is not possible to tie back the chime hammers without also disabling the hour strike.  http://www.clockmasteronline.com