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Smiths Westminster 8 day Chiming Clock

NickNYorks

By NickNYorks
in All Things Clocks

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NickNYorks Member

NickNYorks

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Hi everyone. I've been lurking on these forums for some time and have picked up some very good information on mantel clocks and horology in general (so thanks for the excellent response to questions).

I have a Smiths 8 day chiming mantel clock but the chimes & strikes are all out of sync. I before I go to bed, I engage the silence lever. This morning, I enabled the chimes but noticed the clock had stopped and the minute hand was impossible to move forward. I think the silence lever had only been partly engaged. After a couple of "on off" moves of the silence lever, the minute hand was free to move and after putting the pendulum back in swing, the clock started working.

However- the chimes/strikes now appear to have gone completely out of sync, some chimes/strikes not even finishing but resuming on the next ¼ or ½ hour (if this makes sense).

Does anyone have a step by step guide how to reset the chimes/strikes from scratch?

I'm familiar with removing a Smiths movement and basic cleaning/oiling/letting down mainspring power etc.

Attached is a photo of the type of movement I have.

Many thanks in advance, Nick. 

Screenshot_20220612-133018_Gallery.jpg

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transporter Super WRT Addict

transporter

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your chime train is in the half past section of the chime wheel, and your gathering pallet is activating the rack for a strike.

So you need to sort out why this is happening, what you could do is activate the chime side by lifting the lever and allowing the chimes to run until you get to the hour chime .

Then refit your hands to that hour struck and allow to  run to see if all is ok.

Edited by transporter
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NickNYorks Member

NickNYorks

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Thanks for the info transporter, much appreciated. I'm also just getting used to the terminology 🙂.

Haviing left the clock alone for a few hours, I came back to it and noticed that the strikes seem to be ok - the hour and half hour strikes. It's the Westminster chime function that appears to be completely random.

Would it help me to remove the movement completely and go from there to see what the internals are doing? i.e. the front of the movement that cannot be seen unless it's removed...

Sorry for the complete lack of knowledge in this department...

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watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

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Hi there is a lot of information on this site apertaining to chiming clocks

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrIQhznB6diwCsAagx3Bwx.;_ylu=Y29sbwMEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1655142504/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.davewestclocks.co.uk%2f/RK=2/RS=.x1C5AESjws8LeSd9bVfx1_n21o-

Some basic questions.  Have you had it to bits and cleaned it ? or is it as is.  Remove the clock from its case and put on a stane , refit the hands and move the clock hands to the striking position. then re fit the hands to correspond to the strike.   move  the hands through the quarters    two rounds for 1/4 past    3 for 1/2 past  and 4 rounds for 3/4 hr,  then full chime and strike on the hour.      Three train clocks have an autocorrection mechanism to synchronise the chimes/strike if the hands are moved out of sequence. All need to be considered.

Hermle Chime Mvt front.sm.jpg

smiths enfield front plate.jpg

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oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

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I would take the movement out of its case. Wind it up, put the minute hand on and move the hand from the center (not the end as you could bend it) around and watch the action, make sure none of the hammers lift on the warning action. Try putting the clock into silent take the hand around a few times then switch the silent off and watch as it puts its self right and see it it games up. As you say your is a Smiths, even the action is like that with the Hermle it is not the same, so don't bother with that. When you have gone through what I have instructed get back to me, note any problems you encountered. 

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NickNYorks Member

NickNYorks

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On 6/13/2022 at 11:29 AM, oldhippy said:

I would take the movement out of its case. Wind it up, put the minute hand on and move the hand from the center (not the end as you could bend it) around and watch the action, make sure none of the hammers lift on the warning action. Try putting the clock into silent take the hand around a few times then switch the silent off and watch as it puts its self right and see it it games up. As you say your is a Smiths, even the action is like that with the Hermle it is not the same, so don't bother with that. When you have gone through what I have instructed get back to me, note any problems you encountered. 

Thanks OH. I've opened up the back (for the time being) to watch what the hammers do.

I've watched it on the half hour chime - the furthest hammer ever so slightly lifts on the warning. On the chime itself, the partly raised hammer raises fully and starts a chime. The chime seems to play the last two notes from the previous (1/4 hour) chime, carries on with the 1/2 hour chime but it doesn't complete. I've taken a short video, easier to show than explain...plus you can hear it.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oENjE01zUCf6KkqxwYA5IvR7dY9jkVIW/view?usp=sharing

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oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

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Remove this wheel (red arrow)

Hand rotate this wheel (green arrow) and watch the hammers, you are watching for the hammers to go down the line from one end to the other, which will be the quarter past or the last of a quarter too. When you are happy with that put the other wheel back on and clip it so it won’t come off. Move the minute hand by its center around, make sure no hammers lift on the warning, if it does you will need to take the wheel off again and move it one tooth. When you are happy with the chimes put both hands to the correct position. I would say you have to do it this way because the auto correct is not working properly. Any problems let me know.

Smiths Chime movement.jpg

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NickNYorks Member

NickNYorks

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Those instructions worked perfectly, it's now chiming in sequence and at the correct quarter. The clock on fhe whole has been running really well since I bought it for £21 from ebay. I'm loth to take it apart and clean it 😅.

Many thanks for the instructions OH. I've learned something again today that I can apply to another couple of similar clocks that definitely do need disassemble and cleaning. 

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