Expert: John Newman - 12/1/2009

Question
QUESTION: John, I purchased this movement back in 1976.  It employs a floating balance wheel that through my own ineptitude became damaged.  I took it to a local clock shop and was told that the 8 mil wire in the floating balance had become "kinked".  The technician informed me that the floating balance mechanism for this clock was no longer made but he found another guy who could rebuild it.  Unfortunately  this guy had no access to 8 mil wire so he ended up using a 9 mil wire to rebuild the floating balance.  After 7 months in the repair shop, I got the clock back and it runs fast and no adjustment I make can slow it down.  I move the adjuster to the left (in a CCW direction) and have moved it several times to no avail. The movement still  gains a couple minutes a day.  My question is "how far in a CCW direction can the adjuster be moved?  Can it be rotated past 360 degrees?.  Is there any other way to slow down a mechanical clock movement?  Thanks in advance.

Gerry Turock

ANSWER: Gerry, I think the floating balance is the standard one that was used on most clocks of that nature.  It is correct that the company that manufactured these floating balances is no longer in business.  There is a new balance wheel assembly that can be substituted for the floating balance.  

On the rebuilt floating balance, I have used guitar string for the proper wire.  It could be that the 9mm wire did cause a small amount of binding, reducing the amplitude of the oscillations and causing the clock to run a little faster.  The adjuster prongs on the wheel will adjust until they reach the limit and stop.  Without forcing it and breaking something, it can be moved safely to the limits.  There is a further way of "course adjusting" of the balance, but it is tricky.  It involves removing and replacing the small plugs on the wheel.  I recommend that be done by an experienced clockmaker who is familiar with this procedure.


John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama


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

QUESTION: John, Just out of curiosity, would the replacement plugs on the balance wheel need to be lighter or heavier to make the clock run slower?  Thanks in advance.

Gerry Turock

Answer
Gerry, it is not a matter of the weight plugs being lighter or heavier in altering the regulation, but the number of them, which adds or subtracts weight.  It's easier to calculate the numbers of the plugs of equal mass rather than keeping up with the minute weights of each.

So, if you remove the weight plugs (always in opposing pairs), the timing will increase, adding (also in opposing pairs), the timing will decrease.

John Newman