Expert: Michael Radi - 4/8/2010

Question
recently had cuckoo clock repaired, and when we went to put the clock up noticed one of the chains with hook is up in the clock. So we fashioned a hook and hooked it and then applied the weight to the hook. Then when the orginal hook was down a bit we tried to remove our hook and put the weight on the orginal hook, but it went up in the clock before we could do this. Now it is difficult to reach the orginal hook, it is up to far in clock, any suggestions???

Answer
This is a tough one but it is possible to do. When things get this bad I usually take the movement out of the clock but I'll try to prevent you from having to do that. Here are some options for getting the chain back out of the clock.
1)If it is the strike (cuckoo sound) side of the clock you can put pressure on the wheel with your finger and force the clock to cuckoo by advancing the hand to each 1/2 hour position. If it's a one day cuckoo the chain will come down fairly quickly. If it's an 8 day clock it will take quite a while to do this. If the chain is on the time side this option will take too long to be feasible.
2) You could fashion a wire to go up into the chain hole, attach it to the hook and put your weight on the other end then run the clock until the hook is accessible through the bottom.
3) There is a click inside the chain gear. On some older cuckoos you can see it from the back side. It is a small piece that is pressed into the rachet teeth by a spring. This click keeps the chain from travelling in the direction you want to move it now. If you see this part you can push it out from between the teeth allowing the chain to travel back out of the clock.
After you get that weight hook outside of the clock case put a ring through a chain link a few inches above the hook. This ring needs to be large enough that it won't fit through the chain hole. That was when your chain zips upward it will stop before you get into trouble again.
If none of these options work I would like to see a photo of the back of the clock movement showing the chain gear with the hook stuck up inside.
Michael
www.norkro.com
clock parts and repair