Expert: John Newman - 11/25/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have an Emperor grandfather clock with movement # 199.  The hammers on the strikers need some adjustment.  The clock strikes correctly, but the hammers appear to be too close to the chime rods because some of them remain in contact with the rods after striking them, and slightly muffle the chimes.  Can you tell me how to adjust the hammers, or where I can find an online manual?
Also, is Emperor Clock, LLC in Virginia affiliated with Emperor Clock Co. in Alabama?

ANSWER: Tom, below is a copy of my notes from of a movement conversion instructions sheet.

Emperor was bought out by Hermle Black Forest Clocks is 1996 and the moved the operation from Fairhope, Alabama to Amherst, Virginia in 2005.  They handle mostly the newer Emperor products and I help them out by taking calls and emails on the vintage products prior to the move.  

I hope the following instructions help you a little:


CHIME HAMMER ALIGNMENT

First, the chime sound board and chime block screws should be very tight.  Any looseness will cause diminished sound and quality.  For the preliminary set up, each chime hammer should be aligned with its respective chime rod. The center of the hammer head should be in line with its rod and parallel to the line of travel.  At rest, each hammer should be approximately 1/16" to 1/8" from the rod.  Pull the hammer back one hammer length and release it.  It should give a solid strike without double-striking or thudding.  If it does this, the hammer wire needs to be formed back a little.  If the volume is reduced too much, it needs to be formed closer to the rod a little.  Do this with every one of the chime hammers.  When you have completed this sequence, test it by turning the minute hand around the quarters letting it chime on its own.  Some readjustment might be required.  The strike hammers will be done in a similar way with the following exception:  The four strike hammers all strike at the same time.  If  3 of the hammers are at the proper rest position and one is resting on its rod, when it is formed back the other three will move closer to their rods and the will  have to be adjusted back a little.   This will now possibly put the first one out a little. The procedure is to form each alternately until they all strike with good volume and do not double-strike or thud.  


John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama
  



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

QUESTION: John,  Thank you for your prompt reply.  When you say the hammer wire needs to be "formed" back, do you mean the wire should be "bent" back?  Or is there an adjustment screw?
How do I set the date dial?

ANSWER: Tom, "formed/bent", just a habit of words.  The company I worked for we formed parts as a result of them getting bent in the first place.  And that's what you do to the hammer wires.  They are wires that can be bent or formed.  I usually like to form then near the bottom as it looks better.  No adjustment screws on this mechanism.  

On the question concerning the "date dial" are you talking about the moon dial or is there actually a "date" dial on the face of the clock?  If it is the moon dial, the numbers on the arch do not have anything to do with the day of the month but the days of the moon phase. The simple way to set the moon dial is to wait until the day of the full or new moon.  If it is the day of the full moon, the moon dial should be manually rotated (clockwise) until a full moon is showing in the center.  If you have access to the moon dial (which looks like a circular saw blade) from the side of the clock, you can reach in and turn it manually, or you can use your finger or soft pencil eraser from the front of the clock.  For the day of the new moon, rotate the moon dial until the moons are completely hidden.  If the moon dial cannot be turned, it is because it is probably in the process of being advanced by the clock and there is a pin which is engaging a moon dial tooth.  Wait a couple of hours and then you can manually turn it.  If you want to set the moon dial on any day, look for the date of the last full or new moon in an almanac, weather page of your newspaper, the Weather Channel or Internet.  If the full moon was 5 days ago, rotate the moon dial clockwise 5 clicks.  Older clocks that used a lever mechanism on the hour hand advanced the moon dial twice a day, therefore you would move the moon dial 10 clicks for five days.

John Newman
Let me know if you have any more questions.

John Newman

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

QUESTION: John:

Thanks again for the great and prompt reply.  My clock has a separate date dial, so I meant date dial, not moon dial.  I has "teeth" aroung its edge, similar to the moon dial.  I think I can just rotate it similar to how I rotate the moon dial, butI wanted to check with you before trying that.
When forming/bending the strike hammer wires, should I hold the base of the hammer's wire with pliers to prevent torquing the rod they are attached to?  Tom

Answer
For some reason I cannot remember an Emperor clock with the date dial.  But the advance mechanism for a date dial would be the same.  You can hold the wire with a pair of pliers, but I find it difficult to get pliers in to the inner wires.  I just use three fingers, two on one side and one on the other side of the wire.

John Newman