Need Help with a Lux 30 hour movement

[mikebob62]

Hello all! I have a client that left off (literally) a Lux Mantle Clock that wasn’t working. I said to myself, Self, that thing is awfully tiny, but I’ll give it a try. Getting it apart wasn’t too bad, and I thought I could replace the main spring which happened to be available at Time Savers. Then came the hairspring and escapement lever. That wasn’t so easy, but I replaced that with trial and error, and I got the whole thing back together. I can get it running for about three hours, but it hasn’t gone beyond that yet. The escape lever seems to get hung up on the escape wheel, but I’ve tried an extra cleaning and pivot polishing on both the escape lever and the escape wheel. That’s when I got the three hours, but I can’t seem to find anything else. Any suggestions?

[willofiam]

Hey Mikebob62, just saw your post. real quick…the first thing that comes to mind is the lever and escape wheel pivot holes. If they are worn the it can act up like your saying it is. Watch the pivots in their hole thru a loupe or a microscope while the movement is running and see if they are bouncing around. Need to run for now but let us know what you discover and we can go from there. William

[mikebob62]

Hi Willofiam, I can’t detect any jumping around on the lever or escape wheel. There is some slop in the lever, so I’ll take that down again and make sure the pivot shoulders are smooth. I’ll also go down a couple more stages to make sure those pivots are good and smooth. I’m interested in any other options you may have once I go down and back up. Thanks for your expertise though.

[dave booth]

Is this one of those little sheet metal wonders, wherein the balance pivots are cone bearings? If so, double check to be certain you have really gotten all the gook out of the bottom of the cones. That will give you an absolute FIT. The durned thing will run for an hour or two, until the pivot finds a new spot of dirt, then hang up. They seem to be a little touchy about end shake, too – probably because the pointed end of the balance pivot has worn a little point in the center of the cone. Also, if it is like Westclock and the older New Haven pin pallet escapements, it will run for a while slightly out of beat, and then decide to stop. They seem to be real particular about that.

[willofiam]

Hey Mikebob62, Dave has brought up my next thought, he is way ahead of me (I think I need more coffee). I have always polished the pivots and cups of the balance exactly for those reasons Dave mentions. There are several things to be looking at with these, pallet pins loose? escape wheel teeth worn? out of beat? and back to the pivots as mentioned before
@Mikebob62 wrote:

There is some slop in the lever, so I’ll take that down again and make sure the pivot shoulders are smooth

My thought was not the smoothness of the pivot but the side shake of the pivot in its hole. Hope that makes sense.
If you dont have Donald DeCarles book “practical clock repair” it is a pretty good book and has a section on these type of clocks. Have a great day, William

[dave booth]

You my have to tighten the cone after polishing them and the pivots. One cone has a coarse thread on it, and is made with two flats, so that you can grasp it with a wrench and turn it. They are notoriously tight, and you probably cannot get a fine enough adjustment using parallel jaw pliers. If you have some scrap steel lying around, I recommend you make yourself a closed wrench, like this one. (Open end wrenches tend to spread, unless you have pretty hard material, and that is a pain to work.) When I made mine, I had to reach in behind a plate,so I put a funny bend in the shank. I use an adjustable wrench or pair of vise grips to grip and turn it.

[mikebob62]

Hi William, and David. Thanks to both of you for your advise. I did remove the cup pivots, and while I didn’t find any gunk in them, I cleaned them just the same and reassembled the clock once again. I started it up, but it only lasted for an hour this time. So I decided to wind it up a few clicks, and try again. This time it was good for 4 hours. So I wound it up some more, and that time it went for about 6 hours (it stopped sometime during the night). I decided to give it a full wind, and it has been going now for 4 hours, but I’m convinced that the problem has been resolved. Thanks again! By, the way, I decided to order the book Donald DeCarles, “practical clock repair” you recommended William. I’m sure that it will be as good as you say. I’m a happy guy!

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