Expert: Martin Meyer - 4/28/2008

Question
Hi, Martin.I have a grand father clock that the middle weight won't drop,the right and left weights do.My grandson wound it up and this is what is happening,the pendolum stops after about 5 to 10 minutes.Thank You.

Answer
Hi Mary,

There are many possible causes of a clock's stopping, however, it is most likely that the pendulum was knocked out of beat when the clock was wound. This can happen if the weights begin swinging while the clock is being wound, and hit the pendulum.

Many clocks have automatic beat setting. If your clock has this feature, you can reset the beat by starting the pendulum swinging with as wide a swing as possible. As the pendulum settles down to a normal swing, the beat will correct itself.

If your clock does not have automatic beat setting, you must set the beat manually. This is a process which requires some practice to do effectively. This is the beat setting process:

Listen to your clock's tick. If a clock is in beat it goes "tick-tick-tick" like a metronome. If it goes "tick-TOCK-tick-TOCK", or makes no tick at all, then it is out of beat.
    If your clock does not have auto beat setting: Remove the side or back panels to access the back of the movement. You will see that the pendulum is connected to a strip of metal about 6 inches long. This is the pendulum leader. There will be another brass flat strip (the crutch) which comes out of the back top of the movement, bends to go straight down, then ends in a connection to the pendulum leader. This connection will be either a round post on the crutch going through a hole in the leader, or a forked end on the crutch going around the leader.
    Now move the crutch to either side. You will feel a point of slight resistance near the end of the swing. Push the crutch past the point of resistance, just a tiny amount. If the uneven ticking sounds worse, or if there is no tick, do the same thing in the opposite direction of swing. Do this in small adjustments on whichever side makes the tick more even, until you achieve the steady "tick-tick" sound.
    Adjusting the beat is a very delicate process, and it will most likely take a few tries for you to "get the feel" of the adjustment. But, if you do it patiently and in very tiny adjustments, you should be able to correct the beat.