Expert: Michael Radi - 3/12/2009

Question
This past September I purchased a replacement movement for our grandfather clock.  It is an Emperor Clock model 1161 (199M) cable driven triple chime movement.  Both the hour strike and chime train chimes seem to chime much faster than our old movement did in its 20 years of operation.  In fact, one can hardly count the hour chimes from adjacent rooms.  Is there any type of adjustment that may be made short of removing material from the weights?

Answer
The chime and strike speed are each controlled by a fan (also called a fly or governor). There is one fan on each side of the movement at the top of the gear train. They are not adjustable and I would assume that they are working properly on a new movement. Also, they are difficult to replace because the movement plates would have to be separated to get the old fans out and new ones put in. This causes most or all of the gears to become loose and re-assembly if not easy. Empire clock company used Jauch movements that had different weight specs than your Hermle movement. Jauch is no longer in business so your change to the Hermle is usually what people do. When you replace the Jauch movement to a Hermle (as you did) you should also change the weight inserts. Too much weight not only causes your clock to chime and strike too fast, it can also wear your movement out prematurely so I would start with the weights.
Your chime side should have 9.9 pounds, your strike should have 7.7 pounds. If you are using a wood stick pendulum your time (center weight) should have 7.7 pounds, if you are using a lyre pendulum your time side should have 9.9 pounds.
Let me know if you have any questions on this or other issues.
Michael
www.norkro.com
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