Expert: Martin Meyer - 7/9/2008

Question
Have a 1913 9 tube tubular bell Herschede .  It has 2 chimes westminster and WHittington
Problem: -  When I put the selector knob all the way in the active setting for Westminster and the cylander moves to the left.( when facing clock) It does not move far enough to engage bell number 8.  the strike foot passes between two teeth on the cylander w/out engaging.(1/16 short)  If I push the cylander left and hold pressure the chime works fine.  

Can I make this adjustment to the selector arm or will I need the clock maker to do this....

Yhe clock was just reassembled by the clockmaker who assured me it would functionin both chimes- set up in whittington - will not engage bell 8 for westminster.  (I do not think this particular clock maker will honor his work and return for a repair/adjustment)
Phone- 410-495-8223

Mr D

Answer
Hi B,

The Herschede tubular chime is a high-grade and complicated clock, and I wouldn't recommend making adjustments yourself unless you are completely clear on how the mechanism works and what needs to be done. Additionally, if you work on it yourself and it is still not correct, there is probably no chance that a clockmaker will consider a no-charge return call.

There are a number of possible causes of this problem. First, the chime selector hand must be turned so that the chime shift lever (the lever at the left end of the pinwheel shaft which moves the pinwheel to the left or right) can fully release the pinwheel and let it move all the way to the left. If the shift lever cannot move all the way left, then the setup of the shift lever and selector hand assembly may be incorrect. More about this later.

If the chime shift lever is not the problem, then the pinwheel is failing to move all the way to the left for some other reason. If this is the case, you should be able to see that there is a slight gap between the left end of the pinwheel shaft and the shift lever. There are numerous possible causes of this problem.

First, you must make sure that none of the chime levers are catching on any tooth of the pinwheel; this can prevent the pinwheel from moving left. If any are catching, the problem is in the indexing of the pinwheel. Correcting this should only be attempted by a clock repairer qualified to service Herschede tubular chime clocks.

Next, Rotate the pinwheel very slightly forward and back, and feel for clearance/slack between the large gear on the pinwheel and the crown gear which it engages with. If there is no slack, there may be a gear depthing problem, and this is also a job for a professional.

Next, there should be a curved flat spring at the right end of the pinwheel, and it should be pressing on the end of the pinwheel shaft to provide the force that moves the pinwheel to the left. The spring often slips off the shaft end; if it is off, pivot it to replace it in position, and make sure its screw is tight.

You say "push the cylinder left and hold pressure". If the pinwheel is simply being impeded by anything other than the shift lever, you should not need to hold pressure on it; once you push the pinwheel to the correct full-left position, it should stay there on its own. If it does not, the shift lever must be pressing on the shaft end. If this is the case, you need to observe what is preventing the shift lever from moving to its full-left position (as described above). You may have the chime selector hand turned too far or not far enough; the correct position is not always an exact lining up with the "Westminster" indication on the dial. If there is no position of the chime selector hand which allows the shift lever to move fully left, then there may be a problem with the selector hand assembly or the shift lever itself, both of which should be addressed by a professional.  http://www.clockmasteronline.com