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400 DAY REPAIR
HELP! 400 Day clocks - Weight Driven clocks - Spring Driven Clocks - Cuckoo Clocks
400
DAY CLOCKS
Setting up the clock
Changing the suspension spring
Putting the clock in beat
Cleaning and oiling
First rule is to always move the clock with the pendulum balls either in the lock position or take them off completely. To lock the balls into place, lift them slightly so the lock arm can be moved over to the lock position. These clocks are pretty touchy because of the suspension spring that holds the pendulum balls in the air.
This spring must not get kinked AT ALL and this is why the balls are removed or locked during transit. To operate this clock, first find a home for it on a shelf or mantle that does not shake or get bumped. Hang the balls on gently while the spring is sitting right where it normally sits. Adjust the feet of the clock base so the clock sits level with the balls centered in the middle of the cup below it. In this position the balls should be totally suspended in the air, not touching anything, even slightly. Let the balls settle down from jiggling around and notice where they stop. Now rotate the balls 1/2 of a revolution and gently let go. This should let the balls swing 180 degrees, one full revolution. Some miniature clocks swing a bit more than this, but most swing a bit less, being about 3/4 of a revolution upon settling down.
Do not bother to set the time until about 15 minutes go by and the balls are in there pattern of swinging back and forth with the movements power only. It is the speed these balls rotate that determine how accurate the timekeeping will be. The speed of the balls when you first start the clock will be too fast to have accurate timekeeping and therefore the time is set after they settle into there rhythm. Wait 15 minutes and set the time of the clock by moving the minute hand around until the proper time. Put the dome back on the clock and its done.
When its time to repair a 400 day clock, two things usually need to be done. The suspension spring gets replaced and the movement gets cleaned. These two procedures will fix most 400 day clocks.
If you just dug out your clock from the cellar or attic and have no idea what to check first, the suspension spring is the place to start. If it is bent or distorted AT ALL then it is no good. The suspension spring is just a very thin piece of steel running down the back of the clock. Its purpose is to suspend the balls in the air and allow them to slowly rotate back and forth. If this gets bent AT ALL the clock will not work. The only bending this spring can do is twist back and forth with the balls as they rotate. The spring being bent is the number one cause for most of these clocks working. I would venture to guess that this is the reason for about 80% of these clocks that need repair. You are in luck because they are cheap and it is an easy fix if your the patient type. If your not patient and careful, forget it. Give the clock to someone who is. If you are careful and patient, then put on some soft music and tell your wife to take a walk for awhile and you will get the clock working the way it should.
There are four pieces to a suspension spring including the thin spring itself. First there is the a brass bottom block that the balls attach to. Then in the upper middle of the spring there is the fork attachment that whacks the verge back and forth. (The verge is the wire that sticks straight up from the escapement). Then on top there is the top block that the entire suspension spring hooks onto to be suspended in the air. It is common for the fork and the bottom block to become lost because if the spring breaks, then the clock is stored as broken, it is easy for these Small parts to disappear. If you need replacement blocks, they are available on the parts page HERE or below. There kind of steep in price, but there is nothing we can do about that, there is only one company making them at this time and there a little high in price. Hopefully some one who can make these will read this and contact us with a better deal.
First step is to measure the springs thickness with a micrometer. Second step is to order this size from us at this LINK or from below. The new springs come very long and need to be cut down with sharp scissors. To cut them down, you need to determine the length needed. The length does not have to be absolutely perfect for the clock to run. The spring only must be short enough so the balls are suspended completely in the air, and long enough so the bottom block with not hit the bottom of the movement. Easiest way to find the length fast is to match the old spring up to the new and snip off the excess.
If you do not have the old suspension spring because it is lost, then you must use a different method of finding out the length and thickness. The only way I know to find the thickness of a missing spring is to use the Horolovar 400 Day Repair Manual and hope the clock is in it.
This is a very helpful book because it has views of the back plates of various manufactures among some great repair information. While you have the book and the clock in front of you, you are to match up the back of the clock with the picture in the book to determine what clock is yours and see the suspension spring thickness it takes. Then order the correct size spring from us along with a mixed block and fork assortment. If by chance your clock is not listed in the book, you may want to try the popular spring assortment and give a guess to the size. Most seem to take the size .0032 it would be a good place to start. The thicker the spring, the faster the balls rotate. If the balls rotate to fast or slow, the clock will not keep proper time.
Remove the old spring and take the blocks and the fork off with a precision screwdriver.
This is usually attached to the clock with a screw or pin through the top block. After its disassembled its time to attach the blocks to the new spring that you cut down to size. It is very important not to kink the new spring AT ALL while putting these on. Leaving the set screws in place but still loose on the blocks, insert the new spring just enough into the block so the set screws will grab securely. It is easiest to do this step on the table laying the spring flat down, it will take a Small hole in the table to support the bottom block to lay flat because of its cross pin. Either a Small hole in the table will work or a staking block with various hole diameters could be used and would be ideal.
Now with the block ready to be screwed down, hold it with a pair of needle nose pliers to be sure it will not turn and kink the spring. Be sure to get a good solid grip on the block with the pliers, but without gripping so tight the block pops out of them. As you hold steady the block with the needle nose pliers, use you precision screwdriver to tighten up the set screws that secure the block together with the spring end inside. Do this to both sides of the new spring (top and bottom block) then your ready to put on the fork. The fork only has one set screw and is put on toward the top of the spring.
To find out exactly where this spring should go, hold up the suspension to the clock and get an idea on the height it should be put at. It should be able to whack the verge wire back and forth and should be positioned so its sticking straight out of the spring at a 90 degree angle. Its height will have to be low enough on the verge to keep the clock running, but high enough so the clock will not flutter. Fluttering is the term to used to describe the clock running 300 miles an hour even with the balls hung and is the result of having the fork set to low. After determining the approximate place where the fork should be on the spring your ready to tighten up the set screw that grabs on, not really tight however because it will most likely have to be adjusted again later. Best to use the pliers again to hold it secure while tightening.
Now you should have the spring complete with its blocks on and have no kinks in the spring at all. If you did all this in the first shot without kinking the spring, your doing very good. Hang it back on the clock, carefully put the balls back on, and test. Read the operating section on the top to test run the clock. If the clock fails to run after changing the spring read the section on putting the 400 day clock in beat.
To see if a 400 day clock is in beat, turn the clock so it you are looking at the back of the clock with the dome off. Get yourself into position so you can see the escapement action and see the balls go back and forth at once. Now start the clock as described in the operating instructions. Observe the pattern of the balls going one way and having the escapement give a tick then sway back the other way and tock on the other side. Now on the balls path to the outermost place it goes to, from this point start counting evenly until you hear the clock "tick" and then stop counting. This number you counted to, you want to count on the other side also. Now these numbers you counted to should be the same on both sides of the balls rotation or the clock would be considered "out of beat". The numbers counted to is to be same for the clock to be "in beat".
As your looking at the top of the clock you will see how there is a screw that loosens to turn the whole pendulum a bit one way or the other. When loosening this screw be very careful not to kink the suspension spring, it is easy to turn it to quick and far so this happens. Loosen the screw gently, just enough to be able to adjust. With trial and error, of observing the action and moving the beat setter, you will get the beat correct and the clock will officially be "in beat" and ideally should be now running perfectly, if not then check the suspension spring for any kinks.
Cleaning and Oiling
If you are willing to learn how your clockworks operates and would like to clean and repair the clock yourself, it is best to start out with the simple kit we have put together for this purpose. It includes The Clock Repair E-Book that guides you through each step of this process and explains the components so you can reassemble the movement and have it run correctly. It is too much information to put in a typical HTML format such as this page because of loading time, so it is all in a downloadable zip file. This E-Book is included in the Basic Clock Cleaning Kit and you get the clock cleaning solution, the E-Book, some brushes, a clock level and clock oil. The E-Book explains what to do with these items. More information on the Basic Clock Cleaning Kit is available at this link. This is a spring driven clock, so be sure to select the Mainspring Let Down tool also. These clocks have a huge mainspring in them so they will run as long as they do, so it is absolutely mandatory that the springs power is released before disassembly.
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