Seth Thomas Wall Clock

[chessie62]

I have a Seth Thomas Wall Clock (chiming) that is powered by weights. When you wind the weights to full height and start the pendulum, it goes for about ten or so seconds and then stops. It looks like the pendulum just loses momentum. I noticed the suspension rod spring has two bends in it, sort of like a lazy “S”. I thought the suspension rods were to be hanging straight. Could this be my problem? I am just beginning to learn clocks so forgive my ignorance. This was a bargain find clock and thought it would be a good first project. Any help would be a blessing.

[willofiam]

Hey Chessie62 it sounds to me like a loss of power, lack of lubrication or possibly out of beat. If it is lubricated and in beat then there are many things that cause a lack of power. @Chessie62 wrote:

It looks like the pendulum just loses momentum

Gunk, goo, wear, bushings, pivots, ect… could be the culprit. Also being a @Chessie62 wrote:

Seth Thomas Wall Clock

it could depend on the type of movement and escapement it has. Either some photos or an explanation of the condition will help, though being @Chessie62 wrote:

a bargain find clock

it may need many things done for proper function. As for the suspension spring if the pendulum is hanging and it is straight it is probably o.k., if it appears to have a bend in it with the pendulum hanging you want to either straighten it or replace it. Have a great day.

[chessie62]

William, Thanks for the help. The clock is pretty clean and I do not ( at the present ) see any excessive movement in any of the wheel pivots. The few moments it does run it actually does sound like it is out of beat. Being a 25 years watch repairer it sounds like a pocket watch out of beat with the tick-tick, tick-tick instead of the steady tick-tock, tick-tock. The suspension rod is definitely not handing straight; the spring has that ” lazy S ” bend and the rod is hanging bent to the right ( say on a clock face it points at the 25 after instead of straight at the 30 ) That was why I was wondering if the first thing would be to replace the suspension rod.

[willofiam]

@Chessie62 wrote:

The suspension rod is definitely not handing straight; the spring has that ” lazy S ” bend and the rod is hanging bent to the right

Is that with the pendulum or pendulum bob on there? Alot of times you will see a bit of a bend without the bob or pendulum attached, once you hang the bob or pendulum it straightens out.

[chessie62]

William, when you hang the bob it does hang straighter but still has a slight bend to the right. The rod also looks like it has been bent several times before. I have some new rods ( too short ) I purchased for another project where the suspension rod was missing and they are dead straight. Being ignorant with clocks that is why I thought that would be the first problem. It actually looks like the only part I can see that has been tampered with.

[chessie62]

William, I did take some time and straightened the suspension rod and spring. I got it to where it was hanging pretty straight without the pendulum bob, then attached the bob and gave it a push and it took off running with the normal tic-tock, tick-tock that sounds in beat. l Will have to see now how it keeps time but thanks for your help.

[willofiam]

excellent!!!
When quickly testing a customers clock being in beat is one of the first things I check, alot of times I will set it up without worrying about how it looks on the wall, move the case back and forth to get it into beat, see if it keeps running, later I can make the adjustment for how it sits on the wall and be in beat. If it is in beat and stops then I can quickly assume other issues without even looking at the movement, though I always like to look at it with the customer. Hope that makes sense. William

[Author]

Posts