# Ridgeway limited edition Grandfather clock c. 1978 hard to keep running



## jbg7474 (Sep 6, 2012)

So, I have this incredible grandfather clock that I inherited. I believe it was made in 1978. It certainly needs a service from a professional. But let me explain its symptoms to you guys and see what you think.

I can get it to run, but it frequently will stop after 5 minutes or so. Sometimes, however, I can get lucky and it will keep running. When it does keep running, it runs quite fast (like 1 min per hour), even though the pendulum weight is already lowered as much as possible. 

Forgive me for not knowing all the correct terminology, but I think what's happening is the teeth on the escapement wheel are not giving enough of a push to the pallet. It looks to me like the pallet is barely moving when it is running. Is it possible for the pallet teeth to not be engaging deeply enough with the teeth of the escapement wheel? I think that might keep it from getting enough of a push, and if the pendulum swing is not large enough, I could see how that might make it run a little bit fast, since there would be almost no time when the pendulum is not being pushed.

I really wish I could take this thing apart myself and work on it. It looks like there's an adjustment screw on each side of the pallet so that if you could get to it, you could get the pallet teeth to stick out a little further. Anyway, I'll probably just take it to a professional at some point, since it needs to be done.


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## Ben_hutcherson (Aug 27, 2011)

I'm not a clockmaker, but I've tinkered with some of these larger movements.

From what I understand, the majority of these made in the last 40 years or so have used German movements, with the majority of these being by Kieninger, Hermle, and Urgos. 

In any case, the proper fix is probably to take the movement completely apart and clean it(much as is done with watch movements). Unfortunately, this is not practical on many of these movements for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they typically use plated pivots that can't be polished once the plating fails and will instead chew up the brass bushings. For that reason, usually the only real option is to replace the movement, which ranges from $200-300 for 2-train chain driven movements with chime bars, and $900+ for 3 train cable movements with chime tubes. I just recently had to replace the 3-train, 9 tube movement in my mom's clock of roughly the same vintage(fortunately I found an NOS one at an NAWCC show for a price much lower than new retail). 

You may be able to buy some time by putting a few drops of clock oil on the escape wheel and pallets(the teeth themselves, not the pivots). This isn't 100% proper, but the proper fix isn't really economical in this situation and you're really just better off running them until they die completely. 

Also, I should have mentioned this first, but have you made sure that the clock is in beat? Usually the better quality, newer movements will set the beat automatically. The trick with these is to move the pendulum as far as it will go in both directions, and then release it. On lower end movements, you will want to first use a level to get the case as close to level as possible. Then, listen to it running and see if the "ticks" and "tocks" are aproximately the same amount of time apart. There is typically an adjustment on the suspension rod to fine tune this.


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## jbg7474 (Sep 6, 2012)

Ben_hutcherson said:


> I'm not a clockmaker, but I've tinkered with some of these larger movements.
> 
> From what I understand, the majority of these made in the last 40 years or so have used German movements, with the majority of these being by Kieninger, Hermle, and Urgos.
> 
> ...


Ooof. Yeah, it's a 3 train chain movement with chime tubes. So sounds like it will be closer to $900. I'll have to find the maker and see what I can find. Thanks so much for the info.

Regarding the beat, it's a little strange, which is part of why I suspect that there is some wear. When I move the pendulum all the way to one side, the beat starts out even, but as the amplitude decreases, it will go out of beat and stay there. It does have that auto-adjust feature. It was level and working in its current position at one time. Maybe it's gone out a bit over the last few years. I'll have to check on that.

Thanks again!


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## Ben_hutcherson (Aug 27, 2011)

Since it's a chain drive, is it a 5-tube movement?(most of the chains I see are 5 tube and the cables 9 tube). If it is 5-tube-, those are fortunately generally a little bit easier on the wallet than the larger 9-tubes. 

Have you tried oiling the escapement yet? I think you may find that doing so will give as much improvement as anything.


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## jbg7474 (Sep 6, 2012)

Haven't tried oiling the escapement yet. I need to get some clock oil. Any recommendations on that? Should I be getting the same thing that would be used for a watch?
I do have 5 tubes, so that's good to know. Thanks again!


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## jbg7474 (Sep 6, 2012)

I still need to try oiling the escapement, but I have it running continuously now. Turns out that although it was pretty close to being level, it wasn't quite close enough. Half a degree or so seems to have done the trick. The beat is not quite even, but it's closer than it was. I am optimistic that oiling the escapement will help. My theory is that there is a little too much friction, which causes the pendulum to be pushed essentially 100% of the time. That would make the period just a little short. It would also make the self regulation not work quite right, because there is a bit too much force on the pallet. I think that explains my symptoms. All I have to do now is get some oil and try it.


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## John MS (Mar 17, 2006)

jbg7474 said:


> Haven't tried oiling the escapement yet. I need to get some clock oil. Any recommendations on that? Should I be getting the same thing that would be used for a watch?
> I do have 5 tubes, so that's good to know. Thanks again!


Timesavers.com or any of the other parts houses sell clock oil. Or just call a local clock shop. Or if you have any sewing machine oil or other light machine oil that will work too.


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## mossside (Feb 12, 2013)

All newer clocks have a date and yesr of maunfactuer on the plates this can then be searched for on the internet and always use a good swiss clock oil 

Hope this helps


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## ZedU54 (Sep 18, 2012)

...one other thing worth mentioning: have you looked at the suspension spring? It's a little leaf-spring piece that usually links the top of the pendulum to the movement, and those tend to break over time. If that breaks, I think it can affect the amplitude (?) of the pendulum movement and possibly contribute to the problem...


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## Karlskrona Watch Co (Jun 21, 2011)

Have a look at the back plate. If it is a Hermle, Urgos or Jauch movement, Emperor Clock Co. has replacement movements that are at reasonable prices. From what I gather from Emperor, these older German movements use brass or plain steel pivots and typically wear out after 20-30 years. The new movements use highly polished stainless steel pivots at the bearing points. Hope this helps!

Edit: Just talked to the clock maker that I work with. He said immediately that he's heard this same problem over and over. He said it is most likely an Urgos and the bearings and escapement are both worn out. He's replaced tons of these and says it is a common problem for this age of Urgos.


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