Setting Time on a Grandfather Clock

[calhouns]

I just had a repair of a Grandfather Clock with an Urgos Movement UW32001 A. Repair was rather simple and clock runs fine. However when I went to take the movement back and put it back in the case, I had an extremely hard time getting the time set. Even in the shop I noticed it was very hard to move the minute hand clockwise, and with a beat amplifier attached, when you tried to move the minute hand the volume of the beat increased significantly. Add to that having to stop every 15 minutes for it to play chime, it took forever for me to set the right time. Is there an easier way to set time on these kind of clock movements with musical chime, so it won’t take so long? And how about daylight savings time, when you have to turn the clock back an hour?

[david pierce]

Calhouns,
Go to Ebay and check out item # .

[willofiam]

hey Calhouns, in the case of setting the time in reverse or back an hour just stop it until time catches up, then restart, I cant really say with the movement you have but they should not take too much effort to move the hands, I have experienced some clocks to be tighter than others when moving the hands and it depends on whether certain things are tight or not, over the years standard brands of American movement can slip too easily and an adjustment can be made. if you are able to get to a chime lifting lever then you can trip the lever thru the chime sequence, when you get to your hour just move the hour hand to the corresponding number. I am limited and think I need some coffee right now but there are certain ways to do what you are talking about that are easier but I am not sure which movements would go with which process. In my experience the beat will get louder when moving the minute hand. have fun, William

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Calhouns,
I’m just guessing here until I can either dig up a UW32001 or at least a pic of one to look at.
I think the center wheel can be lubricated where it slips on the center shaft. This should loosen it up for smooth setting. If that doesn’t do the job then you’ll need to pull the plates apart again and then remove and clean the center shaft and center wheel hole. Also I thought that this movement has a self adjusting chime which means you don’t need to stop for each chiming sequence as it will adjust itself to the correct sequence. If you see two hook type levers sitting right next to each other (possibly between the plates) then it’s self adjusting.
Again I’m not sure about this info so I’ll try to dig up a movement or pic in the morning.

Adios for now,
Bob

[calhouns]

Hey guys, thanks for the replys.

I did find one suggestion interesting. When I disassembled the movement for cleaning, I did not remove the minute hand assembly from the front plate because it seemed like the gear on the inside and outside of the plate seemed fixed on the shaft. So it makes me wonder if the slip joint part of the minute was stuck. I have seen some american clocks that if you breath hard on the hands it slips. So I thought this was unusual.

So if I understand correctly, when you reassembly a clock movement, it should be easy to move the minute hand to set the time, but not so easy so as to seem too loose. Is that right?

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Calhouns,
Didn’t have that movement here and couldn’t find a decent pic or drawing so still not sure of the cannon setup on that Urgos. You’re correct about the setting tension. You should be able to move the hand forward and backward without excessive tension. After re-reading my post from last night I see that I shouldn’t have said “center wheel hole” but rather the place that allows the center shaft to slip independent of the center wheel. This clutching assembly should be disassembled when the movement is cleaned. This is the location I was referring to in last nights post where applying a small amount of lubricant will often loosen up a tight or stuck setting assembly.

Hope this helps Calhouns,
Bob

[calhouns]

Hi Bob,
I did get the intent of your message. I have also had movements that I disassembled the clutch assembly and cleaned and lubricated it upon assembly. But going by memory, I don’t think it was very easy to disassemble the crutch on this Urgos. So I thought it didn’t have one, or at least was different than anything else I have seen. It may be of interest to you, after doing some research into the movement, I found that R&M Imports sells replacement movements from Urgos. However the UW32001 has been replaced with a UW32319, which suggest to me that there may have been a problem with the older movement.

I really like this forum. It is a wealth of information. If I need help I can usually find it here.

Thanks Bob.

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