Expert: Melvin Mills - 7/28/2007

Question
Recently i bought a quartz clock, Linden make from a antique shop. It is working fine after changing the battery. Also the alarm is working. But it slows down by 7 min per hour. How to correct this problem. I would appreciate if you can answer to this and reply to me on how correct this.

Thanks and regards
Arul

Answer
Arul,

I don't work on clocks so you may want to confirm my answers with one of the gentlemen in this forum that work on them .  I do know about quartz movements so I feel comfortable answering.

Quartz movements do not have a regulating switch to make them run faster or slower.  (Incidentally, mechanical watches do have a such a switch, which is how one times them.)  However, no such luck with quartz movements.

Without getting into an in depth discussion on electronics, let me give you some basic things to try.

First, make sure the battery that you put in is good.  You can put it on a battery tester to know for sure.  If you don't have a battery tester, change the battery and see if that helps.

Next, the clock is old so there might be dirt in the movement.  If you can take the movement out, do so.  Look for dirt or oil that looks more like a solid than liquid.  A good cleaning might do the trick.  Go to primrosesupply.com and get some quartz cleaner.  DO NOT do this with the movement in the clock.  Take the movement out before cleaning it.  

If these things don't help, consider replacing the quartz movement.  In wristwatches, this is done all the time and the watch works like new because, it is :). I am sure it will be the same for a clock. Again, you can check with primrosesupply.com for a new movement.  

Another thing.  When removing the movement,
1. Go slow.  Look at how the clock is put together before taking it apart.  Remember you need to get it back together again.  Take pictures with a digital camera or cell phone to help you remember what it looked like in the beginning and the intermediate steps as you take it apart.
2. Don't force things.  If they don't come apart easily, STOP.  You should not have to force it to come apart.  If you do, you might be about to break something.  Look at it from different angles to get a clear picture of what you are doing.

Lastly, some people cringe at the thought of changing the movement. They think that will change the value of the clock.  CHECK WITH THE ANTIQUE DEALER IF YOU WANT TO KNOW FOR SURE. I can tell you in watches, we change movements all the time.  It does not hurt the value of the watch except in rare cases.