Reply To: Seth Thomas chime clock

[willofiam]

Hey Mclark3617, congrats on the new purchase.

It is false that a clock can be “overwound” it could be that the mainsprings are really sticky and it is wound up tight, having a difficult time unwinding, or possible the springs are broken, or anything else that hinders the function. My experience with these is that those who owned them have not had them maintained, oil gets gummy, green and sticky, pivot holes are worn, mainsprings dry and sticky, ect…basically wearing out…..there is hope though…, a thorough cleaning, bushings, clean and greased mainsprings, oiled, I like to use the #859 synthetic clock oil for these movements, remember NOT to oil any of the lifting levers, but we can talk about that when the time comes.

I think there may be a PDF on the forum here about floating balances, if not and I remember correctly they have been discussed here, see what you can find and let us know what your coming up with.

My advice would be to study the movement thoroughly when you get it, If you have not worked on a rack and snail chime system it can be confusing, the more you play with it, take photos, examine the function of each piece it will become more clear on what it is actually doing and why….Do you have any books on striking mechanisms? they will help.

Take notes and or photos of everything before taking apart and even photos during the removal process to show yourself how things fit back together.

Dont be afraid to jump into it, if all else fails you can send it to me and I will put it back together for you and you can start over fresh, but I think youll be able to tackle this with careful study. Have fun with it, William