Expert: William J Perkins - 1/28/2009

Question
QUESTION: I just bought this clock and everything appears to be working well, except for the moon dial. The moon dial does not turn.  Is there a pin missing from the moon dial gear that turns the dial? If so, how can this be repaired? I have more pictures available.  Thanks.


ANSWER: It is hard to tell from your picture but it appears that the moon dial gear is not making contact with the driving gear from the clock.
I would suggest you push the drive gear back towards the frontplate, this would cause the gears to mesh.  Again, due to the quality of the picture, I really can't tell.  If my observations are not correct, it would be appropriate for you to contact Emperor's customer service department. <www.emperorclock.com>  Regards WJP

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The problem is not with the gears meshing and turning, but it is with the moon dial not advancing. When I turn the minute hand the driving gear from the clock and the moon dial gear both turn.  The problem is that I do not see how the moon dial can turn without some kind of pin mounted on the moon dial gear.  I would expect that once the moon dial gear made a complete revolution that the pin would come into contact with the moon dial and cause it to advance ahead one tooth.  When I read the user manual it did make some reference to a moon dial pin.  Does this make sense or is there some other mechanism that would advance the moon dial one tooth per day?

Thank you,
Fernando


Answer
The pin you allude to should be protruding from the backside of the small gear affixed to the moondial.  As that gear rotates, with the hour hand, the pin engages the saw tooth teeth of the moving moon wheel causing it to move one tooth at a time, every 12 or 24 hours, depending on the design of the dial.  If the pin is broken, you  will need to drive the stub out and replace it with a taper pin, cutting the pin to proper length.  If the pin is bent, you need only to straighten it.  Again though, as I view the picture, the gear from the clock does not appear to be in mesh with the drive gear of the moondial.  If this observation is correct you need to bring these gears into FULL contact, one to the other.  Regards WJP