I've built 2 clocks, a grandmother clock and grandfather clock. The difference is size. The grandmother clock had run for 40 some years and the mechanism was worn, so I replaced it. It is doing fine. The grandfather is another story. It ran fine for 8 years, I oiled it every 2 to 3 years. The last time I did, it had quit chiming. Oiling did not fix the problem. I got a professional and he redid all that i did. It ran great.............for 15 minutes after he left. He came back 4 times and could not get it running longer than 12 hours. He quit and refunded our money. He gave up. A good clock guy would NOT give up.  Anyway, I got a bright light and some magnifier lens and watched everything operate......many times.  I did find one thing, the hands were on so tight that I had to use pliers to loosen. After that, it has run 24 hours and doing good.

 

Do you think that the hands being too tight could have caused this? I checked the web and got varied answers. If it keeps running........I'll have to believe that the tightness was the problem.

Edited July 16, 20196 yr by Ron Altier
correct number

 I should clarify, the knurled finger nut on the hands was that tight.

so if it ran for 8 years with those tight nuts you are saying it was the tight nuts all that time...???  And all the nuts do is keep the hands from falling off... Yea sure you got to blame it on to something. Was the hands bent where it would rub the clock body?

I've just about given up on mine. In the winter it keeps perfect time and chimes correctly. In the summer, the chimes are off by 15 minutes exactly and it only chimes about half as often as it should. I just wind it and let it do its' thing.

so if it ran for 8 years with those tight nuts you are saying it was the tight nuts all that time...??? 

It was never, ever that tight. I never tightened the nut more than finger tight. It may come loose, I'd retighten. That is why I was surprised that I couldn't loosen it with my fingers. It was NEVER as tight as I found it.  If it goes another day or so.......I think it will be Ok

If it works now you fixed it, it ain't broke don't screw with it.

 I sure hope loosening the nut does it. Now that I am older, my eyesight, fumble fingers and patience sure ain't what it used to be. 

 Update;

 The clock has now ran about 3 days, keeping good time and chiming as it should. That is the longest it has run since the "repairman" fixed it. Today I am moving it about 3 feet back into the corner where it sat for years. I will adjust the tick tock and relevel. I believe it will be ok now.

Ron sorry about my wise cracks but I really thought you were kidding. On the plastic movements I put in these wall clocks I build yes you can slide the hands on to far down the shaft and they will rub the plastic body and or the dial and keep the motor from running....but on the metal movements the shaft is very long and leaves a person plenty of room for the hands to be away from the dial where the rubbing would be and make the motor quit running...and on most all grandfathers there is a stop on the shaft to keep this from happening...I thought maybe you had moved the clock and at that time made the hands come in contact with the dial and stopped it from running..but if it was not moved after that 8 years of running then stopped on its on accord a person would think a good cleaning would fix it....even small spider webs can stop some of those little wheels.

  This grandfather clock my brother in law brought from Calif. and put it in storage for at least 6 years then tried to get it to run, but never did and he come and got me and asked it I wanted it for parts....yes...

   You can still see how the wood had stayed the original dark color where the duct tape was wrapped around it so the door wouldn't come open in shipment and all the rest of the cabinet had bleached out lighter... like I said before I positioned paper towels in all the right places and gave the movement a good spraying of WD 40. This was over 12 years ago I think and so far it has never quit running...and I remember Lew or you saying the clock repair people say WD 40 in a no no....but I will argue that cause it works for me....   real dusty areas of the country WD 40 might be a no no.....like in all my school years around Lubbock, Tx where 8 in the morning was a perfect day but by 10 am you might not be able the see the white line in the highway...and this was common about 1/3rd of the time each and every year...….

I have to wonder about these maintence instructions on clocks. I bought a tall case Ridgeway from JC Penney for our 25th anniversary and have procrastinated the cleaning and lube job. Well after 24 years it still keeps perfect time and chimes.  Go figure.

Gerald good house keeping, I think, will help every thing inside of the house look better and last longer.... also a better built clock case with no cracks will keep out small insects and especially spiders...…… The spiders we have outside about this time of year can grab the cat and he has to call for help to get loose...  and if it was just me and no wife,,,,,,,,I doubt if I could ever get all the way from one end to the other..

 The clock ran beautifully, kept time, and chimed correctly for 3 days. I wanted it to be working when my daughter returned from vacation. ONE hour before they arrived, my wife called and said the clock quit. I really believe...........it is possessed by a clock demon.

12 minutes ago, Ron Altier said:

it is possessed by a clock demon.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

Clock update. I disassembled it for transport and brought it to my garage. After careful reassembly, I noticed the clock body was misaligned. It would run for an hour and quit. Then 24 hours. It would chime sometimes. After many adjustments, I got it running and chiming again. For how long I don't know. I reweighed the weights and found none are as they were originally. All weighed heavy and nearly all the same.????? Well...........it is now running and chiming OK.  Who know what next? Just hope it continues to run.

4 hours ago, Ron Altier said:

 I reweighed the weights and found none are as they were originally. All weighed heavy and nearly all the same.????? 

Heavy, dude.

 

I'd think heavy is ok, light not so much.  Time is kept by the action of the pall (?) or pendulum swing.  My only experience with complex clocks was my grandmother's, so it's probably completely different than your grandfather clock.  Grandma's was a cuckoo clock.  When I was stationed in Germany I found that an awful lot of people in the north German woods had cuckoo clocks.   Very confusing.

You got that right!

 While removing the weights for transport...........I dropped one on the brass hook and broke it. Yes, I am that clumsy.  I have to buy a complete set of hooks with metric thread to replace one. $25 & shipping. I am trying something. I cut off the remaining hook, filed it off, drilled a small hole and threaded in a brass hook from HD. It had a wood thread and I cleaned it off until it screwed in very tightly. I removed it and  put JB weld in the hole and on the thread. I think it will hold. I considered soldering it, but I do not have a heat source for such a tiny piece and I didn't want to have a solder mess, especially one that would turn the brass to silver. 

 Do you think it will hold?

Ron , That should do the job as long as the new hook did not get cracked in the process of tightening. After all brass is so easy to break.