Cuckoo Clock Movement Installation

Cuckoo Clock Movement Installation

There is a lot going on in a tight area with cuckoo clocks. Above all, it takes some patience to get these right. The thing with cuckoo clocks is the more stuff going on, the harder it is to swap the cuckoo clock movement. Things like dancers, wood chopper, bell ringers, water wheels and the sort can complicate things.

Cuckoo Clock Movement Installation

• Take off the hands. Unhook the bird from the door and remove the hooks and rings from the chains. Then flip the clock over.
• Take off the back. Remove the bellow wires off of their lifters. Open the loop that lifts the bellow wires up and down. Use a small flat screwdriver to do so. Twist the screwdriver inside the loop to open it up.
• Next, take out the bellows. There is a screw on the outside of the case on the side panel. Unscrew this screw. The bellows will now come out. Subsequently, the movement can come out by removing the four screws that hold it in.
• As a result of getting a new cuckoo clock movement, you will need to adjust the arm. This arm the bird sits on has to be bent and cut to size. Loosen the set screw on the bird and put it on the new unit.
• Installation is then the reverse to remove the movement.

Bending the bird arm into position

The cuckoo movements have a bird arm that needs adjusting. This is the bar or wire that the bird sits on and secures with a set screw. It comes way too long and you must shorten it and then bend it.

After cutting it to size, it must be bent into a 90 degree angle. To clarify, this bend must be done right the first time or it is difficult to correct. The correct way to do adjust this bird arm wire is as follows:

• First, measure the complete bird arm wire on the old unit. Include the right angle section in the measurement.
• Second, cut the bird wire on the new unit to the same size.

Matching the bird arm with the old movement

Take note of the old unit if the arm is forward or backwards. The arm needs to be forward on the old and new movements. This is to avoid an improper 90 degree bend. A proper bend will be when both movements are set the same with the bird arm. They are set so the bird is coming out in the forward position to the front of the movement.

Both units are set the same way so the bird is forward, then make the bend nice and straight. As a result, it would be hard to correct as one 90 degree will not be forward when the other one is. Put the clock in strike mode to make the arm go forward. In other words, cuckoo mode, when the bird is forward toward the front.

Measure where the bend is on the old movement and then go ahead and bend the new units bird arm to a right angle. At the same location as the old one (where the arm is even with the front of the movement, not back)

Swapping the bird arm new to old

Putting the old arm on the new unit is the easiest way as the right angle bend is perfect as it was assumptively as it worked in the past. The bird arm does not wear out. It is fine to use the old arm on the new unit. The old arm comes off easy with a small flat screw drive to just open the two brass C clips that hold the arm on. Release the spring, put on the new unit just as it came off the old. Close back up the Brass C clips with needle nose pliers and hook up the small spring just as it was.