wont chime or gong

[gdjones321]

HELP:
I am working on a Howard Miller Westminster grandfather clock the movement says
a k j M 12 116cm.
It will chime on the quarter hr,1/2 hr,and 3/4 hr but will not do anything on the hour.
Would appreciate any help.
Thanks

[willofiam]

Hey gdjones321, I think that movement has the chime locking taking place between the plates, there would be 2 levers in there, right next to each other. One of the levers will lift the other, that is where the auto correction would take place. they should both have a hook at the end to capture a pin on the wheel. Does this sound like your movement? Let us know then we can go further. William

[gdjones321]

Yes that sounds like my movement.
Thank you I need help
gdj

[willofiam]

O.K…if you manually move the minute hand watch how the levers get lifted. When it come around to the top of the hour you should notice the levers wanting to be lifted higher than the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 hour chime, now this is if your center cam has the lifting pins properly placed (we can deal with that later if all else fails) The lever with the set screw should lift the other lever. If you notice it trying to lift it and then it drops and still has the chime locking pin captured the the lever with the set screw needs to be adjusted so it lifts the other one high enough. Hope that makes sense. You can test that by allowing it to malfunction then by hand lifting everything far enough to set it off (if that is whats going on). I am still wondering exactly what is going on with your chiming but we can go one step at a time. Have fun. William

[gdjones321]

Thanks William,
Yes that’s what it is doing not raising high enough.
Thanks
gdj

[gdjones321]

What should I do now?

[willofiam]

Did you make an adjustment to the lever with the set screw?

[gdjones321]

no I haven’t was waiting to hear from you first. What do I do next?

[willofiam]

O.K…loosen the set screw just a tiny bit, move that lever up and “slightly” tighten the set screw, give it a test, if it is not enough then try some more. Keep testing until the auto correction hook (lever without the set screw) will release the locking pin at the top of the hour. Once you get it tighten the set screw a little bit more and retest. Hope that helps, William

[gdjones321]

This was somewhat tricky but after a while I think its fine.
Thanks so much William for the help.

gdj

[gdjones321]

Willam,
Now it is stopping at 5min tll. Is that from the adjustment I made to the screw. The chime is working fine.????

[bernie weishapl]

I am on the road and finally doing some reading. Yes the lever could be set a tiny bit to high which if lifting against that lever could stop it at 5 min till. It is a common problem and takes some time to make sure the adjustment of that locking lever is set properly. What I do is make a adjustment then I run it thru the chiming of 15, 30 and 45. Then I let it run on it’s own from the 45 and watch it closely as it gets toward the hour. You may have went just a .001″ to far. Just back it off a bit then take it thru the 15, 30 and 45. Watch it again as it runs thru the last 15 min on it’s own. You will get it. It just takes patience and time. Good luck.

William I will give you a call when I return home in a week or two. I am on my son’s computer this morning. We have been watching our grandson play golf with the Jr. Golf club and 1st T he belongs to.

[willofiam]

If the chimes are working then to me it sounds like you have some other issues happening, possibly a lack of power? It is difficult to answer. It is probably going into warning when it stops, double check all moving areas when it come to that time just to make sure nothing is binding or getting hung up (exactly what Bernie has mentioned). Have you taken the movement apart and cleaned it? post some photos for us to see, that may help. William

[gdjones321]

Good afternoon William…..I have my clock imgs on my pc of the clock I’m having the problems with I need to send them to the forum page so u can possibly see what my problem is….I don’t have a photo program …..any idea how I can get them on the forum?

[willofiam]

My way of getting photos on the forum is kind of goofy, take a look at the top of the general discussion forum list, Chris Mabbott has put together indepth instructions on how to get the photos on the forum, it is called “How to Post and Take Photos” there is also alot of other posts about it. Search for those and study Chris’s essay. Have a great day, William

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