Expert: Martin Meyer - 2/6/2009

Question
In a move, 2 of the chimes broke in our 1980's Urgos grandfather clock.  No replacement is available.  I ordered a similar after-market chime set (base & chimes)that I mounted and adjusted, but the chimes are in reverse order (Winchester melody plays backwards, it's hilarious) I really need to remove those rods but have no idea how to do it safely.  I'm sure it's difficult, but I'm in western Kansas where there are no clock repair shops.  I have a complete workshop where I can do the work. Thanks in advance for your time and help.

Answer
Hi Steve,

This is a confusing question for me because all chime rod sets that I know of are ordered such that they should work properly with an Urgos movement. There were some older movements (1960's-1970's) in which the chimes operated in a reverse order, but they were other makes, primarily Jauch. Any standard chime rod set should be ordered from shortest rod at the back to longest rod at the front. If your chime rod set is the opposite of this, you should exchange it for a standard set.

At any rate, Winchester is the most confusing melody to use as a test. If you set the chime on Whittington (or St. Michael if the clock has it), then turn the minute hand to chime the first quarter, you will see the chime hammers fall in a straight sequence from back to front. (If the sequence is front to back, then you have one of the unusual movements.) This first quarter sequence should chime in order from the highest note (shortest rod) to the lowest note (longest rod). Therefore, the order of rods should be from shortest at the back to longest at the front.

If you do have a situation where the first-quarter chime sequence plays in the incorrect low note-to-high note sequence, then you have a difficult problem. The chime rods are extremely difficult to remove. I very recently discussed this problem at length; please see "Rodrigo - Grandfather clock weights position and chime rod reinsertion"   http://www.clockmasteronline.com