Expert: William J Perkins - 11/17/2007

Question
Hi William,
I just got this Hamilton clock off e-bay.The hammers go up very slowly and they come down to the bars very slowly.I took the hammer assy. off the clock and you can feel the friction when you manually lift the hammers.I've oiled the hammer bushings but still seem to have friction.Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Tom


Answer
Up front the 340-020 is prone to fast wearing.  The fact that the hammers fall slowly tells me a great deal of friction is present.  In general this is most likely due to excessive wear, dirt or both.  As long as you have the unit off the clock, take it apart, clean and polish it thoroughly.  Refurbish any worn pinions, shafts, and pinion holes.  This job not only requires a fairly high level of skill it is also very work intensive.  A possible better alternative would be to replace the movement period.  It is quite possibly the most cost effective and efficient means of solving the problem.  Further if you choose the repair route you end up with a still suspect movement.  Quite frankly, other than performing minor maintenance. I have never wasted my time or a clients money in repairing one of these movements.  I simply replace the movement with a new one.  The client ends up saving money and ends up with a better clock than when it was new.  I hope this helps you, WJP