Spirit of 1933 clock

[c.kelly]

Hi all,
Clock business has started to really pick up lately. Just took in three more yesterday. I am posting some pictures and you can see two of them in the background. The one you can barely see on the right wouldn’t run at all. All ready got it going. The on in the middle background likes to gong 13 o’clock from 8 till 11:00, after that it seems to be all over the place. Will be starting that one soon. The one I want to ask about is the electric “Spirit of 1933” electric clock. I did plug it up and attempted to start it however all I got was a hum but no real action. I did turn the starting wheel for a while. Pictures I’m posting are of the clock in question. There does seem to be some damage to the coil as shown in the picture. Is there any way to save this clock for the customer and if so what? I’m not an electrician but can do a few things when needed.
Thanks,
Charles K

[willofiam]

Hey Charles, I have not dealt with a movement like this, and I second your quote telling my customers “I am not an electrician”, actually I have shocked myself way too many times over the years 😯 ..though I have restored a bunch of electric clocks and have come up with some techniques to deal with the motors taking them apart and cleaning but I am not sure of exactly what you have there.. I would assume that if your hearing a hum then the coil is working. My experience with these old electric clock movements is that they need to be taken apart and at the least cleaned and who knows what else because they are usually run for years without maintenance. They heat up and cool down many times over their life, oils dry up and or become very thick. It looks like your is in that condition from the photos.

[c.kelly]

Thanks William,
Just started really looking over the electric clock. After I posted those pictures I started work on the clock in the center background. It was a real bear. It had chime issues. When I took it out of the case the rack fell off the movement, the e-clip that held it in place was missing. Got that fixed but still wasn’t right. The wheel for the snail was bent which pushed it out of position allowing the rack to fall to far. Will probably take the electric clock apart tomorrow and see if a cleaning will help. It is very dirty but wheel that is supposed to start the clock is actually very free. That particular shaft has a screw type of drive which turns the second hand. There aren’t a lot of wheels though and the clock looks fairly simple. The coil must send current up the arms to the sides of the large wheel in the photo of the back causing it to rotate. Have been looking for parts in case I should need something but these Gibraltar/Windsor clocks seem to be scarce.
Thanks,
Charles K

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