Expert: John Newman - 5/5/2010

Question
I stopped my clock while out of state for 5 months.  After restarting, all was fine however the chimes and music seem to be getting more off tune.  Could lubrication be needed? What can be done to correct the off-tune sickly sound of the chimes and music?

Answer
John, without the model of the movement I can not be sure what type you have.  But generally, it could be that if the clock hasn't been serviced in the last 7 to 10 years, the lubricants have become gummy and the inactivity has caused the chimes not to strike with the same speed.  As far as being "off tune", that is a difficult call because the only thing that can cause this is for the chime rods to be altered.  It sounds like maybe the hammers are not striking the rods squarely.  Below is an excerpt from my description of tuning them:



CHIME AND STRIKE HAMMER ALIGNMENT

First, the chime sound board and chime block screws should be very tight.  
Any looseness will cause diminished sound and quality.  For the preliminary
set up, each chime hammer should be aligned with its respective chime rod.  
The center of the hammer head should be in line with its rod and parallel
to the line of travel.  Another way to look at it is that it should not be
angled off to one side.  At rest, each hammer should be approximately
1/16" to 1/8" from the rod.  Pull the hammer back one hammer length and
release it. It should give a solid strike without double-striking or thudding.  
If it does this, the hammer wire needs to be formed back a little.  If the
volume is reduced too much, it needs to be formed closer to the rod.  
Do this with each of the chime hammers.  When you have completed this
sequence, test it by turning  the minute hand around the quarters letting it
chime on its own.  As the chimes will possibly lift differently than from when
done manually, they might need a little more find tuning.

The strike hammers will be done in a similar way with this exception:  
The four hammers all strike at the same time making the adjustment a little
different.  If  3 of the hammers are at the proper rest position and one is
resting on its rod, when it is formed back the other three might move closer
to their rods and the will  have to be adjusted back a little.   This will
now possibly put the first one out a little. The procedure is to form each
alternately until they all strike with good volume and do not double-strike
or thud.


I hope this helps a little.


John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama