Expert: Martin Meyer - 3/30/2009

Question
I have a 10 year old howard miller 2114 mantle clock. Recently the chimes for the hour strikes play the melody at every hour but the number of the hour sometimes chimes and sometimes not eg 7 or 9. I changed to new duracell batteries but problem persists. Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Frank,

Quartz movements are not repairable. If you have tried a new battery and the hour strike still does not work, you will need to replace the movement. The 2114 movement (made by Hermle) is readily available.

Installation of a new movement is often not difficult. First, you must gain access to the dial and hands. On many clocks, the dial is open and access is easy. On others, you may need to remove the entire movement and mounting board through the back of the clock. You will need to remove the hands, then remove the large nut on the hand shaft. Sometimes this is all that is holding the movement in, but sometimes there is double-sided tape or glue holding the movement to the back of the dial. You should be able to remove this by gently prying the old movement away from the back of the dial. It is important that you get a new movement with a hand shaft of the same length as the original (the 2114 comes in 4 different hand shaft lengths).  http://www.clockmasteronline.com