Expert: Martin Meyer - 10/9/2009

Question
The above clock is six years old and worked beautifully, until two days ago.  One of the three weights (far left, when facing the clock) doesn't drop at the same rate as the others.  It chimes, but always one hour behind the actual time.  It won't reset itself after several attempts to reset the time.  I am the only one the winds the clock and I am very careful not to over-wind it. Your help is appreciated.  Warmly, Cindy

Answer
Hi Cindy,

Your clock has two separate issues, which both happen to involve the hour strike.

The incorrect striking is easily corrected. The hour hand, unlike the minute hand, is a simple friction fit on its shaft. It often gets bumped or catches on the minute hand when the time is being set, moving the hand to an incorrect position. The next time the clock strikes, count how many hours are struck. Then simply move the HOUR HAND ONLY to point to the number on the dial that corresponds to the number of strikes the clock has just made. In other words, you synchronize the time to the strikes, not the strikes to the time. Note that the minute hand will NOT move when you move the hour hand. Finally, make sure that the hour hand will not hit either the minute hand or the dial as it runs; you may need to make a very slight adjustment of how far the hour hand is pushed onto its shaft to achieve this. Reset the clock to the correct time in the normal way, that is, by moving the minute hand, which will of course make the hour hand follow.

If the left weight does not drop at approximately the same rate as the other two weights over the course of a day, then the clock is not striking the hours all the time. Check if your clock has a Strike-Silent feature, usually a lever in the dial near the "9". This is not the Chime-Silent feature, which is usually near the "3". If the strike-silent lever is set to silent, the left weight will not descend at all. If your clock has a Night-Silent feature which is set to "Silent", the left weight will descend, but at a slower rate (over the course of a 24-hour period) than the center weight. Note that, in this case, the Right weight will also descend slower than the Center weight. The night silent control may be on the Strike Silent lever (near the "9"), or it may be a brass rod which hangs down behind the dial, and is usually just barely visible near and slightly forward of the right-side weight. If this lever is pulled DOWN, the clock will strike the hours 24 hours a day. If the lever is pushed UP, the clock will not chime the quarters or strike the hours during the night.

If no settings are on Silent, and the left weight descends slower than the other two, then there is a problem with the strike. You should try to observe when the clock does not strike or strikes too few times, and if there is any pattern to it, then have a clock repair professional do a service call to correct the problem.  http://www.clockmasteronline.com