Emperor clock model 200m 300m

QuestionEdit

QUESTION: I have an Emperor Clock that we received as a gift in 1976. The clock worked great until about 2 weeks ago. I stopped the clock one night so that it wouldn't hinder visitors. When I started the clock I did not let the clock chime on the 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and hour, I just set it to the right time of day. Since then, it goes through a very long process of chimes (over and over again) I have tried to reset it according to the book instructions but no luck.

I need HELP. Thank you for your time.

Susan

ANSWER: Susan, I don't think you did anything wrong. Sometimes the chimes or strike will lock up when the minute hand is moved past the trip points, but that can be corrected easily. However, your chimes are starting and won't stop. I take it you mean the chime (melody on the quarters) and not the strike (counts out the hour). I have a 300M (200M is the Westminster chime, 300M is the triple chime) and I cannot duplicate the problem by running the hands around and not waiting for each quarterly chime to complete. There are a couple of levers or cams that could be loose or out of alignment. Does the chime continue until the weight is all the way down or does it stop before that? Do you have any more symptoms? I will keep trying to think what can be done short of having to remove the dial, which is getting close to having an experienced clockmaker look at it. Get back with me. One more thing, If the clock hasn't been serviced in the last 7 to 10 years, the lubricants could have become gummy and it might be inhibiting the stop mechanism at the end of the chime cycle.

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

QUESTION: You said:Does the chime continue until the weight is all the way down or does it stop before that? Do you have any more symptoms?

The chime continues until the weight is all the way down.

AnswerEdit

Susan, as I am fairly sure there is either a lever or cam out of position or a pin called a chime stop pin that is broken. It looks like you will have to have an experienced clockmaker look at it. I just cannot think of anything else.