Expert: John Newman - 8/18/2009

Question
we just got a Necor clock with hermle/overocean 340-020 movement dated 1976. the clock works but the chime and stryker have both recently stopped sounding. is this at the end of its expected life as some posts say? what are odds a cleaning will fix it? can it be rebushed? what is reasonable cost for cleaning? rebush/ repair? I want to have an Idea before taking it in.  thanks for your insight.   mike

Answer
Mike, when a movement needs service after some time, usually the first failure is in the chime train as it actually does more work than the strike or time.  If the chime fails, so will the strike, as it is dependent on the chime functioning properly.  If it hasn't been maintained properly, it could be that the cost of restoring it might be equal to or more than a new movement.  I recommend that a modern production movement such as yours be serviced every 7 to 10 years.  Service includes removing the movement from the case, cleaning, inspecting for worn or broken parts, repairing or replacing them, oiling and adjusting.  I cannot tell you what a "reasonable" cost would be as I would not know the going rate in whatever area you reside.  To show the comparison of service and replacing, I recently received a call from a lady whose clock had stopped and she could not reach her regular clockmaker.  She told me that he said she should have the clock serviced every two years.  If we use a hypothetical cost of an average house service call at $150, that would equate to $75/year.  She had a triple-chime cable-driven grandfather movement and a replacement would cost around $450 installed.  So, six years of service calls would equal $450.  If she was going to have it serviced every two years, she might as well run it until it stopped (on the average quite a bit more than 6 years) and have another one put in.  BTW, what I found was that evidently the other clockmaker failed to lubricate 2 "hidden" bushings and they were dry as a bone and were completely worn out.  I had to take it in and do a complete restoration.  So much for 2 year service calls.  I do not give actual prices out on Internet forums, but if you would like to get an idea of what the rate for a Hermle 340 and a replacement would be (in my area), contact me at my shop email address below.  Maybe that will give you an idea of what to expect.  But, remember, shop rates vary over a wide range from one part of the country to another.

John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama
klokdok@juno.com  

(General Note:  Due to the commitment I have for answering Allexperts questions and follow-up information,
and the excessive backlog at my shop, I regret that I cannot answer other questions from
this email address in a timely manner)