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Clocks, Watches/welby clock chimes off cycle
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Question
John, i sent you a problem with my clock,12/13/09 you said to move the minute hand til the clock chimed the hour and was pointing to the 12. I did that but it still is wrong. Let me give you a little more detail. It will chime the hour at 2 then chime the quarter at the quarter, but you can hear it click before the half, but it does not chime, you can hear it click at the three quarter but it does not chime, THEN at the hour of 3 it chimes the half, and it will not chime again until the next correct hour and quarter and repeats the cycle. ANY help you can give me i would deeply appreciate.Oh the mechanism says welby corp germany
2 jewels unadjusted.
June, I don't think I told you what you are saying in the first sentence. I would have said that if you turned the minute hand until the hour struck and the minute hand was not pointing to the hour, then remove it and reinstall it pointing to the hour.
But let's get our terminology understood first. A clock chimes the quarters, 4 notes on the quarter, 8 notes on the half, 12 notes on the three quarter and 16 notes on the hour. Then it strikes out the hour. That is the difference between chimes and strikes. Under normal operation, if the chime get out of sequence and the last chime was the three quarter (12 notes), you will hear a click at any of the quarters without chiming until it gets to the hour. That shows that the auto chime sync is working.
So, if you will tell me again what is happening in sequence, I will try to diagnose it. If there is a problem with the auto chime sync, then it would have to be looked at by an experienced clockmaker. Let me know what you find. If you want to email me about this, my shop email address is below. This will free up the Allexperts queue of my limit of questions per day, and I will be leaving on vacation next week, but will be accessing my computer periodically, depending on the Internet coverage.
John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama
klokdok@juno.com
(Due to the number of Allexperts questions and
the workload I have at my clock shop, I regret
that I cannot answer personal email questions on a timely basis
other than Allexperts follow ups.)
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Answers by Expert:
John Newman
Expertise
As much as I would like to offer values of clocks, I am not a certified appraiser and will not venture into giving an unresearched guess. There is very little published information on what I consider to be the value of "modern production clocks". Considerations are what the clock originally sold for, the condition of the case and movement, and particularly the area in which you live, the demand and the economy. ALSO, WATCHES ARE NOT MY FIELD. However, I can advise the clock owner on proper maintenance of a clock to keep it running, small corrections and adjustments and how to move a clock without damaging it. I can also advise on obtaining parts for clocks. It helps if you can send any information on the clock movement which is usually found on the back plate of the movement. I have been a clockmaker for about 35 years and was plant engineer in the mid 90's and later operations and engineering consultant at Emperor Clock Company in Fairhope, Alabama. I now have my own clock shop.
Experience
One of my greatest accomplishments was traveling to China to assist a clock factory in building clocks to the standards which we required. With the proper specifications and quality control, some beautiful clock cases were built. The factory people from the wood carvers to the plant manager were very congenial, friendly and I left a lot of wonderful friends when I returned from my trips.
Organizations
Chamber of Commerce
Small Business Committee
Publications
Horological Times, a publication of the American Watch and Clockmakers Instute. Collaberated column author, with Photos and ideas for clock movement conversion article.
Education/Credentials
Associate of Science Mechanical Engineering Technology
Emperor Introductory Clock Repair (Eventually taught a portion of the class after becoming employee)
Awards and Honors
Small Business of the Quarter (Prattville, Alabama)
Leadership Class of 2009 (Autauga County, Alabama)
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