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Advice before I try and set the beat on Gustav Becker wall clock

RLang386

By RLang386
in All Things Clocks

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RLang386 Member

RLang386

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Now let me first say, forgive me (but let me know) if I use some words wrong, I know only the basic parts of a clock movement and I may occasionally use terms that are exclusive to watch movements...

I have this Gustav Becker wall clock that I've cleaned and oiled, and now it's time to set the beat on it. The beat error is pretty bad, to the point where even oiled and in otherwise good running order, the clock seems to randomly stop after five minutes, an hour, three days... 

On this clock the beat is governed not by a flexible pendulum clutch but by this little soft pin connected to the pallet, which is deformed to strike the sides of its openings at the appropriate points in the cycke. (See picture)

So far I've avoided it like the plague... I feel a light pressure from some tweezers will be enough to deform it. 

Does anyone have a good procedure they follow setting the beat on a clock like this? 

(I apologize for the quality of the image, it was running and my phone camera is very shoddy.)

IMG_20230106_141339.jpg

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RLang386 Member

RLang386

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On 1/7/2023 at 12:07 PM, oldhippy said:

The photo is so bad it hurts my eyes. I need to see the back plate, please take a good photo. 

I'm afraid I don't have a better digital camera at the moment, sorry! Since taking the photo I've messed with it a little and it is currently running a little more evenly and I have the dial back on it. Next time it stops I'll take the dial back off and try to take better lit photos at least, which should improve the sharpness by shortening the automatic exposure time.

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this is where testing is just as important if not more so than the actula servicng. You say you have cleaned and oiled it, did you bush any holes, polish pivots etc or were you lucky and it was in good shape? as with a watch clocks also succumb to friction, and a tiny amount of friction near the great wheel will be amplified at the escapement.

So back to testing, I wouild leave the movement ona test stand out of the case for at least one week running, then I would case it up and keep it on test.

This saves time when it comes to sorting faults out and also allows you a better view of the movement to see the faults.

As for the beat, before touching anything have you tilted the movement to hear the beat improve?

 

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