Pendulum question

[Dan A]

The neighbor across the street brought me a bunch of clock mechanisms. His father in law used to make clocks and he has since passed away. He said his father in law would want them to go to someone who would use them. Two of the mechanisms are pendulum type clocks. They apparently keep time but the pendulum eventually slows down and stops. At the moment they are just hanging in the garage so I can see if they keep time. One was marked as not working but I popped the back off and found that the magnet had come off. Near as I can tell there is a small round piece of metal attached to the back of the clock housing and a magnet attached to the pendulum arm that swings. I take it the magnet makes contact with the metal and this is what keeps it swinging. Is there a trick to keeping the pendulum swinging?

Also the rest of the mechanisms have the 1" stem on them. Any suggestions on where to find patterns that would use this long of a stem?

Dan

[evilbadger]

Dan

Can you take a couple of pictures of the movements? Or give a better description mechanical movement, quartz movement..... etc. I have worked on clocks for a few years now and don't recall any magnets but I only work on them as a hobby and I know there are numerous clock manufacturers.

Normally if it is a mechanical movement and the pendulum slows and eventually stops it either needs a good cleaning or the pallet needs an adjustment. If the movement is really old it could be the mainspring.

I never got into quartz movements because it is usually cheaper to buy a new one than try to fix one.

Are there any markings on the movements? Numbers, letters, etc?

[Dan A]

Tim,

I'll try and take pictures tonight. We are headed up to the northern part of South Dakota for a high school graduation and won't be back until later tonight. I don't know who the father in law ordered the movements from. There is a number on the side of the clock case. The magnet has me stymied. I'm not sure what the purpose for it is. The small round piece of metal on the back of the case that the arm passes back and forth in front of is not magnetic.

Dan

[evilbadger]

Dan

I have been doing some research and there were some very old electromagnetic clock movements. Here is a link you can check out Aussieclocks - Bulle Clocks

The first step though is to try and identify the movement. It is easier to fix something once you know what it is and how it is suppose to work. I have a pretty good library of clock repair books so if we can figure out what your dealing with then I can try and help you fix them.

[Dan A]

Tim,

The number on the side of the case simply shows 2224P83. I don't know if these came from Kolckit, Steebar or one of the many others. I did read on the Net this AM that the pendulum probably works by electromagnetic. As I read it the small round piece on the back is "charged" so to speak and is what keeps the pendulum moving. It's possible the battery may be low. It was one that was in the battery drawer and even tho the tester said it was good I don't know how long it's been in there.

On the pictures, you can see how the arm sets, where the little round metal piece is and where the magnet is located on the back of the arm. Hopefully, I can come up with a fresh or new battery and see what happens then.

I'll try and check your post out before we have to leave

Dan

[evilbadger]

Dan

I am guessing here but seeing that coil leads me to believe that it is an electromagnetic movement. That round piece probably only gets a magnetic charge at a certain point of the pendulum swing, just enough to give the pendulum a "bump".

[Dan A]

So is there a way to check that other than putting in a fresh battery?

Dan

[evilbadger]

Dan

I think a fresh battery is the place to start. If that doesn't work then it is going to be tracing down where the electric (battery) current stops. It usually is not worth the time or effort if the battery doesn't fix it because you can get another movement fairly cheap. If you look at the wiring close it might be a loose connection but they usually never work out that easy for me.

[Dan A]

Tim,

After doing a little searching on the Net yesterday you're probably right. If a new battery doesn't do it it's not worth the effort. The one thing I did discover yesterday is that a lot of people recommended using only a Duracell battery. There seemed to be a lot of like opinion that some of the other brands didn't seat as well in the battery holder hence not making a good connection of the electromagnetic pulse to work. Will try a Duracell C battery just to see what happens and then go from there. Thanks for the help

Dan