Emperor clock

Question

I recieved a used emperor grandmother clock as a gift...it keeps superb time but neither chime works. The outside weights seem to be the same measurement...so switching them probably isn't the answer. I do not know when it was last cleaned or oiled. Oiling is probably something left to an expert??? By reaching in from the back - top...I was able to trigger something that makes the hour strike go off...but then it does not continue to do it on its own. When the hour hand is moved, each quarter hour makes a click sound...what else could I try?

Bryan

Answer

Switching the position of the weight could very well be the answer to one, or, perhaps, all of your problem. Remove the weights from your clock. One weight should be much heavier that any of the others. This weight MUST be hung on the right side of the clock, as you face it. The other two weight should be the same or nearly the same, so it does not matter how you hang them. This arrangement is crucial. If the proper hanging of the weights does not do the job, I suspect the clock needs cleaning and passably repair. Contact a local clock repair person for assistance.

Question

I have an Emperor Grandfather clock with a 209 movement. The clock was moved and the chains and weights were removed. I am looking for instructions to replace the weights and chains, to set the clock and to oil and put back into service. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer

James, I do not recall the Emperor 209 movement. The closest model to that number that we had would be a 299. Let me know if it could be that number, and when I return to my shop on Tuesday, I will confirm.

Chains should not be removed for transporting a clock, just secured. The chains will have to be inserted and run over the chain wheels. The outside ones (left and right, as you face the clock) are rather easy to do, working from the side of the movement. The strike wheel (on the left) turns clockwise and the chime wheel (on the right) turns counterclockwise. The end of the chain with the solid tab end is put over the wheel and the wheel is turned with a small screwdriver until the tab can be pulled down from the bottom of the movement. I do not believe the tabs have to be removed on this model. The installation of the center chain is a little more difficult and requires the solid tab to be removed and a wire tool (that you make) has to be used to thread the chain. The center wheel turns counterclockwise to install. I will try to get down to my shop before Tuesday to give you the instructions and photo of the tool. I will need your email address to do that, so please reply to my email address below and I will answer with the information and photos you need. I do not ask for personal information on a public forum.

I can also send you some general oiling photos and instructions at that time.

On hanging the weights, if one weight is heavier than the other two equal ones, it hangs on the right. If one weight is lighter than the other two, it hangs on the left. There are some exceptions.

As far as setting, the minute hand is turned (as your movement is a "safe-back" type, it can be moved forward or backward to set) to set the correct time. If it has a moving moon dial, the dial (looks like a circular saw blade) can be turned in the clockwise direction so the full moon is showing on on the day of a full moon or no moon showing on a day of a new moon. There is a formula for setting the moon dial on any day by checking the newspaper or Weather Channel and then moving the moon dial a certain number of clicks to advance it to the proper day. But since there are two types of advance mechanisms, I don't know which type your clock has, so the best way is to wait for a full or new moon to set it.

After you have gone through all of the above, let's see if you can get it running. If not, get back with me and I will send you a set of instructions for troubleshooting.

(General Note: Due to the commitment I have for answering Allexperts questions and follow-up information, and the excessive backlog at my shop, I regret that I cannot answer other questions from this email address in a timely manner)

Question

We built a model 110 clock from a kit. It is missing the hour rack assembly. Where can we get this part ?

Answer

Most Emperor clocks have Jauch movements in them. Jauch went out of business many years ago and parts are not available any more. I would search eBay for a movement or parts. There are a lot of old movements out there and the rack is not a part that wears out so a used one should be as good as new. Otherwise you can contact some repair people who have old movements for parts. Quite often Jauch movements are replaced with Hermle movements and the repair person keeps the old Jauch movement for parts. I hope this helps you.

www.norkro.com clock parts and repair

Question

QUESTION: I have an Emperor Grandfather Clock Model 401M with an Orgos movement model 03078B. The movement is a 3-chain weight driven system with a five-tubular bell chimes. The clock stopped running last fall of '09, and I removed the movement and oiled it about two weeks ago. The clock then ran fine, except the hands would stop moving after about an hour, and as a consequence the chimes would not work after the hands stopped. I removed the movement again, and oiled the shaft near the dial face, and work the hands, and things seem to move a lot easier. After installing the movement in the case, the clock will not get in "beat" as before, or if it does, it will stop after a few hours. I can start the pendulum swinging, and press on the chain driven timing weight, and that seems to always get the clock in "beat", only to stop after about two (2) hours. When it is running the chimes are in the right sequence, but about 30 seconds late - I can take care of this by removing the minute hand and rotating the attachment on the back the proper amount. What am I not doing right? Does this movement have an automatic beat adjustment, or do I have to manually adjust it? Thanks ahead, Robert

ANSWER: Hi Robert,

You didn't mention the age of the movement, which may be the most important factor. Your movement shows symptoms of just being worn out. The average lifespan of these movements is about 20 years, although that varies a lot from clock to clock.

I also don't know how you oiled the clock. A small drop of CLOCK OIL ONLY must be applied at every point where a pivot enters a bearing hole. You seem to be referring to the hand shaft. This shaft should never be oiled. If oiling it helped, the clock is in bad shape indeed.

I don't know if that model has automatic beat setting or not. The beat setting should not be changed by the oiling. If you're having trouble setting it, you may have oiled the clutch mechanism on the verge which automatically sets the beat. Oiling it will destroy this feature. Putting extra pressure on the weight does not put the clock in beat; the stronger swing just masks the out-of-beat tick. If a clock is out of beat, it will usually stop within a few minutes. If it runs for two hours, and has been properly oiled, the problem is probably not the beat, but that the bearings in the movement are worn out.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The movement is about 30 years old. The replacement movement is an Urgos model UM03X012. Any ideas when these will be available, and why the difficulty in purchasing any? I recently moved and leveled the clock and I don't need to apply pressure on the clock weight to get it started and in beat. I rechecked the level and found it was off on one side. This may have happen because the clock sits on carpeted flooring. I checked and need to tweak the level front to back. After my first oiling the clock ran continuously without stopping. When I oiled the concentric shafts leading to the hands during the second oiling that seems to improve the rotation of the hands. I was told by a local repair shop that if I rotated the minute hand on a ten minute swing back and forth, I could tell if the bushing was worn on the shaft attached to the hands by the feel. Does this hold true as a valid test? Thanks ahead, Robert

Answer

Hi Robert,

The availability problem with this movement (correctly UW 03X012) is because it is on factory backorder, that is, the movements have to be made. It is not a distribution problem, there just aren't any. As with many items, clocks or anything else, backorder times are unpredictable; there is no date that they have scheduled. very well for this clockmaker. But there are a couple dozen bearings that can wear out in a movement, and the center shaft bearings are not necessarily the ones that wear.

The first and most obvious sign of wear is the black "gunk" that builds up in the bearing holes. This is a mixture of old oil and finely worn metal from the bearings. My preferred method is, with the movement out of the clock, to manually rotate the great wheels back and forth. They will, of course, only move a small amount. While doing this, observe all the bearings for the train that you are moving. If you can see the steel tips of the pivots moving back and forth in the bearing hole, then there is terminal wear in the movement. The center wheel rear bearing is often a good one to look closely at. All second wheels are candidates for bad wear, also the strike train third and fourth wheels, and especially the bearing for the rear third wheel of the chime train. This is the shaft that holds the big chime drive wheel, and you can often see that wheel bobbing back and forth obviously. Also, the great wheel bearings, front and back, sometimes become so severely worn that the wheels can be visibly moved up and down, and the egg-shaped worn bearing hole is obvious.