Expert: William J Perkins - 3/5/2010

Question
Friends grandfather clock - Howard Miller Tempus Fugit
Chimes on the hour but gives one extra gong.  If three o'clock it strikes gong four times and so forth.  Can I just advance the hour hand manually or is that tabu? What is the remedy?
Thanks

Answer
Yes you can turn the hour hand.  Unlike the minute hand the hour hand is friction fit to its shaft and can be turned without removing any appurtenances, i.e. the minute hand nut and the minute hand.  Since your clock is striking one hour ahead of the correct time, you need to move the hour hand 1 hour ahead.  This will bring the time and strike into synchronization, but the clock will need to be reset to reflect the correct time.  In this instance the easiest way to do this is to simply stop the clock for 1 hour.  Regards WJP