In this last article of the series, repairing your grandfather clock on your own, we’re going to go over some more things you can do at home before taking your grandfather clock in for repair.

Another common problem with grandfather clocks is for the chimes to go out of sequence with the time that’s displayed. This usually happens on the quarter hour chimes. If this happens there may not necessarily be anything wrong with the chimes mechanism. Most grandfather clocks that have been manufactured in the last 50 years have a chime correction device that should recycle the chimes back in sync with the minute hand when it reaches the hour. If your particular grandfather clock doesn’t have an automatic chime correction device, the problem can be manually corrected by turning the minute hand back 15 minutes then forward past the quarter hour. Just keep doing this until the number of chimes match the quarter hour the hand is pointing to.

To give you an example, Westminster chimes play 4 notes on the first quarter hour, 8 notes on the half hour, 12 notes on the three quarter hour and 16 notes at the top of the hour. If the problem still continues it may mean that the minute hand has been installed on its arbor in the wrong direction. To fix this, remove the nut holding down the minute hand with a pair of pliers. Then, pull the minute hand off, rotate it to the quarter hour indicated by the number of chimes being played and then reinstall the nut. This should get the chimes back in sync with the timing mechanism.

One final problem is when the weights refuse to drop. Every quarter hour the time train causes the chimes to strike. That in turn causes the left strike weight to fall at the top of the hour. So if the time train center pendulum doesn’t drop then the chime and the strike weights won’t drop either. The first step in fixing this is to get the pendulum swinging again. We covered that in the first article.

If the right and left weights refuse to drop, meaning the pendulum is swinging and the clock hands are moving but the chime is not operating, then what will happen is the chime will not operate and in turn the strike will not operate either. What you do is check to see if the chime lever on the grandfather dial is properly centered over a chime and not in the off position. After doing that, you take the side panel off your grandfather clock and check to make sure that the steel chime retard bar has NOT been lowered onto the chime hammers causing the chimes not to operate.

If only the left weight will not drop that means only the hour strike is not operating. To fix this open the side panel and make sure that the steel retard bar has not been lowered onto the strike hammers causing them not to operate. Also make sure the hammers are operating freely. Finally, check and make sure that the trip lever from the chimes is releasing the strike train.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Grandfather Clocks

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

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In this second article of our “repair your grandfather clock on your own” series we’re going to go over some other things you can do on your own before taking your prized possession to a very expensive repair shop.

In our first article we went over what to do if the pendulum doesn’t swing. Next we’re going to go over what to do if the clock runs too fast or too slow.

If the clock is running to fast or too slow what you need to do is adjust your pendulum bob. That big round disk at the end of your pendulum is your pendulum bob. You adjust your pendulum bob with the nut located at the bottom of the bob. This is what adjusts the timing. If the bob is raised up this will make the clock run faster. If the bob is lowered this will make the clock run slower. You can expect to get this accurate to within one minute fast or slow per week. Better than that, consider yourself lucky.

Start by setting your grandfather clock to a standard electric or quartz clock or watch. Then check the time against the clock 24 hours later. If the clock is running fast, turn the nut to the left. If the clock is running slow, turn the nut to the right. Then reset the time on your clock and check it again in another 24 hours. Keep performing this process until the clock appears to be running on time. Expect to do this every week at least. Keep a record of the distance you turned the nut each time so you will have an idea of how much you’ll need to turn it in the future.

Eventually the timing will be accurate enough so that you’ll only have to check the clock once each week and it should never be off by more than a minute. Just a tip. Some grandfather clocks are made so that a full turn of the nut is actually equal to one minute. So if your clock is running 2 minutes fast then all you need to do is turn the nut two full turns to the left and this will set the timing correctly. Of course the only way to know if your clock is one of these is to test this theory out.

Some grandfather clocks actually have two nuts attached to the bottom of the pendulum. If your clock is one of these then most likely it is a very accurate clock. Many clock owners believe the bottom nut is a lock nut against the top nut. This is not true. Actually you must make sure that the bottom and top nuts do not touch. Let the top nut raise or lower the pendulum bob until you’ve gotten the timekeeping as accurate as possible. Then by either turning left or right use the weight of the top nut to make your final adjustments to your clock’s timing.

In our last article we’ll go over some more tips on getting your grandfather clock running up to speed.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Grandfather Clocks

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

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Grandfather clocks. Amazing pieces of machinery. Very few people understand how they work and even fewer know how to fix one, should something go wrong. Bringing to a repair shop is going to cost you an arm and a leg, so if you have a grandfather clock that’s not exactly running up to snuff and you don’t have the bucks to fix it, then you might want to try to tackle the job by yourself. In order to do that, aside from needing some mechanical expertise, you’re going to need some troubleshooting tips, since these marvels can get pretty complicated. This article is going to cover some of the things to do when trying to fix the old man.

Let’s start with the most common problem of a grandfather clock. The pendulum itself stops swinging.

The first thing you have to do is make sure the clock weights have been pulled up. Sometimes all that needs to be done is simply wind the weights. This can really save an unnecessary repair.

Next check the hands. Are they touching each other? If they are this will stop the pendulum from swinging. If they are touching and the time train is jammed all you need to do is push the hour hand slightly towards the dial in order to clear the minute hand. Just make sure it doesn’t touch the dial.

Next, check to see if the hands are touching the glass. If they are, all you have to do is bend the minute hand away from the glass.

If by some chance you’ve recently moved your grandfather clock (they are very temperamental and don’t like to be moved), the pendulum may have stopped swinging because the case is now leaning at a different angle. To fix this you simply have to start the pendulum swinging and balance your clock. Don’t use a level. Continue testing until the swinging sounds more balanced. This requires a good ear and a lot of patience. Balancing the clock itself may require you to do one of several things.

First you may have to actually place something under the clock on either the left or right side to get the pendulum swinging just right. A bracket or shim will probably do the trick for this.

Second, you may have to actually tip the clock itself towards the wall so that it is slightly leaning. You have to be very careful when performing these tricky manoeuvres. You don’t want to tip the clock too far in either direction or back. The clock may fall too far off balance and spill to the floor. Trying to catch one of these falling monsters is not easy so care is needed.

In the next article in this series we’re going to continue with troubleshooting techniques to figure out just what is wrong with the old man, including running too fast or slow, weights not falling, chimes out of sequence and others. By the time we’re done your grandfather clock should be as good as old.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Grandfather Clocks

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

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‘My Grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf, So it stood ninety years on the floor… …And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.’

Do you remember that song? The grandfather clock actually exists and the story it tells is a true one. In fact, it’s how the grandfather clock got its name.

The George Hotel is a 16th century coaching inn on the banks of the River Tees in Piecebridge, North Yorkshire, England.

In the late 19th century, the George Hotel was managed by the Jenkins brothers, a couple of bachelors. In the hotel lobby stood a long case clock which could always be relied on to keep good time.

Sadly, one of the brothers died suddenly and the clock began to lose time – at first just 15 minutes a day, then up to an hour a day and no clockmaker could repair it. The locals thought it no coincidence that when the other brother died at the age of ninety, the long case clock stopped, never to go again.

The hotel’s new manager left the clock exactly as it was in the lobby and in 1875 a visiting American songwriter heard the story of this amazing coincidence and came to the George Hotel to see the clock for himself. He told the story in a song and Henry Clay Work’s lyrics were published when he returned to America. Over a million copies of the song sheet, ‘My Grandfather’s Clock’ were sold.

And that’s how the grandfather clock got it’s name.

The George Hotel still stands on the banks of the River Tees in Piecebridge, North Yorkshire and offers reasonably priced accommodation. It has four poster beds, a bar and restaurant and an inglenook fireplace. It is a convenient base for exploring the North Yorkshire Moors and the Dales, as well as being a living piece of grandfather clock history.

My Grandfather’s Clock

By Henry Clay Work

Copyright unknown

My Grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf, So it stood ninety years on the floor. It was taller by half than the old man himself, Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.

It was bought on the morn of the day he was born, It was always his treasure and pride, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

In watching its pendulum swing to and fro, Many hours he spent as a boy. And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know, And it shared both his sorrow and joy.

And it struck twenty-four when he entered the door, With a blooming and beautiful bride, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

Ninety years without slumbering, tick, tock, tick, tick, It’s life seconds numbering, tick tock, tick, tock, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

My Grandfather said that of those he could hire, Not a servant so faithful he found. It wasted no time and it had one desire, At the end of the week to be wound.

And it stayed in its place, not a frown upon its face, And it’s hands never hung by it’s side, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

Now it rang an alarm in the still of the night, An alarm that for years had been dumb. We knew that his spirit was pluming in flight, That his hour of departure had come.

Still the clock kept its time with a soft and muffled chime, As we silently stood by his side, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

Ninety years without slumbering, tick, tock, tick, tick, It’s life seconds numbering, tick tock, tick, tock, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

About the author:

The author is a lover of grandfather clocks and will one day inherit her great-great grandfather’s long case clock. She hopes it doesn’t stop when its current owner dies.

Article: Courtesty of http://ClockTips.com

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Like the storied countryside of England, grandfather clocks from that country are rich in history and tradition. The first known pendulum clock was made in 1656. Grandfather clocks got their name in 1875 from a song by Henry Work. Grandfather clocks are also known as longcase or tallcase clocks.

English clockmakers have been involved in grandfather clock design and construction since the beginning. English grandfather clocks span a period of history that included the reign of Charles II, the Queen Anne period, the Georgian period, and the days of Queen Victoria. In fact, the famous Eastgate Clock was designed to celebrate Queen Victorias 80th birthday in 1897.

English grandfather clocks are not the work of a single man. Rather, they exemplify the best in teamwork. Each clock is a testament to a fine collaboration between designers, woodworkers, and silversmiths. Only the finest craftsman in each category worked on the clocks. Together, they created grandfather clocks that were beautiful, functional, and long-lasting.

In early 18th century, English grandfather clocks were made with moon dials. This enabled clock owners to know the moon phase at a glance, in addition to the hour and the minute.

More than just a stylish fad, the moon dial was critical to the lifestyle of the day. This feature was helpful to travelers, as they often needed their journeys to coincide with the moons phases. Journeys were safer by the light of the moon. Moon phases were also helpful for farmers. Some clocks today still feature a moon dial and lunar calendar.

Today, many antique English grandfather clocks are still in circulation. These valuable clocks are quite popular with collectors. Some popular English grandfather clocks include those by Holmes, Trubshaw, Thomas Cartwright, Thomas Wright, Matthew & Thomas Dutton, Daniel Quare, Allam & Clements, and Thomas Johnson. For a clock of enduring quality and classic beauty, any of these fine examples would be a valuable prize for someone considering the purchase of an English grandfather clock.

About the author:

Grandfather Clocks Info provides detailed information on antique, contemporary, discount, English, and German grandfather clocks, as well as kits and repair information. Grandfather Clocks Info is the sister site of Cuckoo Clocks Web.

Article: Courtesty of http://ClockTips.com