Grandfather clock issues

originally posted by: FauxMulder
a reply to: DBCowboy

Next week?! I don't have the patience for that. Do you have some gun oil? Go pull the dip stick out if your car and start smacking those clock gears with it.

Don't you know how to redneck?

I'm doing this by the numbers. . .

originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: DBCowboy

I used to play around with Mechanical pocket watches.

Oookay?

a reply to: DBCowboy

Damnit man. I thought we were gona stay up all night and MacGyver this thing into submission. I was about to call out of work tomorrow. This seemed like a good excuse.

originally posted by: FauxMulder
a reply to: DBCowboy

Damnit man. I thought we were gona stay up all night and MacGyver this thing into submission. I was about to call out of work tomorrow. This seemed like a good excuse.

Patience young Jedi.

I want this to work long enough to have my kids own it one day.

Though they'll look at at and say, "WTF?"

originally posted by: DBCowboy
During my cold and stay at home until I'm better, my wife had to get out of the house to get away from my whining.

While she was out she went to an estate sale and purchased a Howard Miller "Tempus Fugit" clock. It was made in 1982 according to the brass plate.

I reassembled the clock and got it going but the pendulum stops after just a few minutes.

The clock is on an even surface, is level.

Does it just need a good cleaning?

If you can’t fix it with a hammer your either a weak man or it’s an electrical problem.

a reply to: DBCowboy

I've already raped my alarm clock in front of it.

Your alarm clock isn't impressed...

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: DBCowboy

I've already raped my alarm clock in front of it.

Your alarm clock isn't impressed...

Guess he put his service to the test

Clock update, so far the pendulum is still swinging even afer an hour.

Keeping time, but no chines and I do have the chione select lever to "on".

originally posted by: DBCowboy
Clock update, so far the pendulum is still swinging even afer an hour.

Keeping time, but no chines and I do have the chione select lever to "on".

Many GF clocks have a switch on the face to silence the chimes.

originally posted by: IAMTAT

originally posted by: DBCowboy
Clock update, so far the pendulum is still swinging even afer an hour.

Keeping time, but no chines and I do have the chione select lever to "on".

Many GF clocks have a switch on the face to silence the chimes.

EDIT: but you have it 'ON'...Maybe switch off and on again.

originally posted by: IAMTAT

originally posted by: IAMTAT

originally posted by: DBCowboy
Clock update, so far the pendulum is still swinging even afer an hour.

Keeping time, but no chines and I do have the chione select lever to "on".

Many GF clocks have a switch on the face to silence the chimes.

EDIT: but you have it 'ON'...Maybe switch off and on again.

Done.

. . . . aaand no chime.

hmmpf

a reply to: DBCowboy

My old GF clock is some big-ass monstrosity from the 1870's...and very complex.
I'm sure yours is far more efficient and technically advanced.

The biggest and most recurrent problem I have is with over-winding. It can sometimes lock the chimes and interfere with the coordinated dropping of the 3 weights.

a reply to: IAMTAT

Frankly I'm going with service.

It needs cleaning and oil.


It probably hasn't been serviced in 38 years.

I have the wieghts raised, but not even all the way. And before placing the chains, I did work the sprokets.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: IAMTAT

Frankly I'm going with service.

It needs cleaning and oil.


It probably hasn't been serviced in 38 years.

I have the wieghts raised, but not even all the way. And before placing the chains, I did work the sprokets.

Bring it outside and hook up the gas powerwasher and clean all the crap out of it. Then get ten cans of spray gun oil and soak the gears and stuff all down. One good thing is that if the clock isn't accurate, since there are no numbers left on the dial after you powerwash it, there is no proof it is not keeping time correctly.

a reply to: DBCowboy
I was going to leave an actual comment but you already got a lot of good advice so I'll just leave this.

a reply to: DBCowboy

I'll have to keep an eye on this thread.

I'm going to visit my folks over Christmas and they have a grandfather clock that they say needs attention. It's chiming every 15 minutes getting on their nerves.

I was just sitting here reading this thread and realized I know exactly zero about a GF clock. Never had one, never worked on one and don't know a thing about them.

I remember Mom had one when I was a kid. It was really (really) old, like 1700's kind of "old". It still worked (amazingly), but I remember it kept horrible time (like off 15 minutes in an hour). Mom loved that thing and faithfully wound it all the time. But sometimes she'd get lazy and not adjust it for a long time, so it would be chiming 5 o'clock and it would be like 1:30. After a while it just became noise, bong-ing and bing-ing at random times for no apparent reason. Drove me nuts.

I'm kind of a nut about the time (I sort-of collect watches), so having something with the wrong time on it makes me bonkers (more so than I already am). I was gonna' clock-nap that thing once, and hold it for ransom...or hurl it into a dumpster behind 7-11...but I figured I'd get into more trouble than I already was (I was always in some midland to extreme state of trouble as a kid). In the end, I just moved out, on my own...at the age of nine...and lived in a tree fort in the forest behind our house.

Several decades later when my parents decided to downsize, Mom tried to give the clock to us kids (read - force one of us to take it). Of course my two older sisters declined, so then the Eye of Mordor spun around to focus on me. There was no damn way I was putting that thing in my tree-fort, so I ran off and joined the circus under an assumed identity.

The End.

a reply to: DBCowboy

I'm getting you a hand cranked Victrola for Christmas.

Please post about the hilarity that ensues when you attempt to operate the device.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: DBCowboy

I'm getting you a hand cranked Victrola for Christmas.

Please post about the hilarity that ensues when you attempt to operate the device.

Hey! It kept great time overnight (it's still working) but still no chimes.