Expert: William J Perkins - 2/23/2008

Question
I purchased an Asian made Kassel 31 day regulator style wall clock at the end of December 2007 and at it has recently stopped working. The clock has been working beautifully up until now. The problem with the clock is that it will not run for more than three minutes. When I am able to get the clock running it will tick-tock evenly for about three minutes than stop altogether. When I say stop,  I mean the clock stops running after the tick-tock fades away.

To get the clock working temporarily I have noticed it helps to move the minute hand while the pendulum is swinging, but again the clock will work only temporarily; never for more than three minutes at a time. I’ve also noticed that when the pendulum is swinging with a tick tock, if I apply pressure with the key to the winding mechanism the clock will begin to “tick-tock” but only temporarily. Could there be a problem with the pendulum spring?

As I said the clock is key wound. It has a hole on the left side for the gong and one for the clock’s movement on the right. They are both fully wound and cannot be turned anymore. Do you have any recommendations? I’d hate to pay for the more than likely expensive shipping cost associated with sending this back to the manufacturer.  

Answer
For some reason the spring is not providing sufficient power to drive it's train of gears, if that is so I would indeed recommend you return the clock.  Another possibility is that the clock has gone out of beat.  Should that be the problem you could hear it.  Set the movement into motion and listen its sound.  If it has a nice steady beat, tick-tick, equal on both sides, being out of beat is not the problem.  If on the other hand the sound is uneven, tick-tock, it is out of beat.  Most of the current Asian clocks have an automatic beat adjustment,  sometimes this feature needs some help.  Grasp the pendulum at its very bottom, i.e. the projecting thread upon which the pendulum nut is fitted, moved the pendulum to its direct center position and pull down gently, while still pulling down move the pendulum back and forth through an arc equal to  the diameter of the pendulum bob.  Release the downward pull on the pendulum at dead center.  Gently start the pendulum, it should be in beat.  I wish you luck.  Regards WJP