E. Ingraham Movement running fast

[hank7421]

Hello everyone. To be specific, I have a E. Ingraham Mantel Clock movement 8 day with gong and 1/2 hr. Bell, with the numbers 8/13 stamped on the front. I believe this means it was made in Aug. 1913. I have mounted it in a Sessions case Circa 1910-1930. To slow it down I have lowered the pendulum shaft as low as it can go, yet the movement is still running fast. I even added weights to the pendulum hoping this will slow it down. Can someone advise me on how to slow down this movement?
Getting frustrated

• This topic was modified 1 year ago by hank7421.

[Bob]

Hi Hank,

it’s been awhile, hope all’s going well with you!

Just saw this post.

You might have already figured this one out but in case you haven’t yet then here goes…

I’m sure you’re certain that the pendulum length is correct so how fast is the clock running before adding weight to the ‘underside’ of the pendulum bob?

Have you checked to see if the escape wheel teeth might be ‘tripping’ past the verge? A bent escape wheel arbor pivot or badly worn bushing can cause this.

 

 

 

 

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by Bob.

[hank7421]

Hi Bob. It’s nice to hear from you again. I’m going to have to time it again to see where the timing is at. I will post the results here. As far as the weights, I was gluing several ball bearings right to the led pendulum. there is nothing to attach weights to below the pendulum. What if I hang a paper clip to the bottom of the pendulum hook and then hang the pendulum on that? Would that work better?

[hank7421]

Thanks for the good advice about the escape wheel Bob. I removed the movement from the case to take a closer look at the escape wheel and verge. That’s where the problem was. I removed the pendulum and operated the clock by moving the pendulum hook back and forth by hand to get a good look at what was happening. Sort of like one of your slow motion and stop videos.

I noticed that several escape wheel teeth were bent slightly at the tips. As I watched the interaction of the verge pallets and escape wheel I also noted that with every cycle of the escape wheel one or more of the teeth skipped past the exit pallet. That was causing the movement to run super fast.

I also noticed that the exit pallet would sometimes hit the end of a tooth instead of landing between the teeth, and that was enough to stop the clock. That’s what was causing the bend in the tips if the teeth.

To solve these two problems I followed the video instructions on how to straighten the teeth, using a wide tipped tweezers with smooth surfaces.

Then I tried to bend the arms of the half-dead beat verge to line up better with the teeth.
That took many hours of trial and error. At times I thought I would never get it right, but with persistence and just getting in there and doing what made sense, the job got done.

Finally, It was almost there but the exit pallet would not drop down far enough to let the tooth pass when the entry pallet was fully engaged. To my surprise, readjusting the bend in the pendulum crutch quickly and easily solved that problem. Who would have thunk it?

After putting some oil on the pallet faces and on the working side of the escape wheel teeth, the movement has been running continuously ever since. I will now check the timing over the next week or so.

I will post the results when I get them.

[Author]

Posts