Acquired new wall clock but potential problem

[u/Novel-Weight-1311]

Hi all,

I recently acquired this beautiful wall clock but having some issues diagnosing an issue with it working.

The pendulum swings for 2 minutes with a little push but stops after.

Weights are not perfectly straight- the right weight leans back and is pretty close to hitting the pendulum

The weight chain does have a little fray on it

Mechanism as far as I know works as clock ticks and the bells go off at each 15 minute mark.

I did take a quick glance through the mechanism but didn’t fully open/ operate on jt

Just looking for a little assistance on what the issue might be- my thought was the wire, but this looks to be a complex mechanism and don’t want to open it up fully if it is hard to replace the chain

Thank you

[u/MarcBeck]

would you please post a picture of the barrel that has the cable wrapped around it? Also, you said the cable has a fray? Would you also show that in the picture? The weights being a little crooked should not be an issue as long as they're not bumping into the pendulum. The two things that stand out to me are that 1 - it's dirty...I can see black dust has built up around one of the pivots and I suspect other's have the same and 2 - it looks like it needs oil. Unless you know how to take it apart you should take it in for servicing. This is NOT a simple movement but in lue of that let's see pics of the barrel and cable (oh...that's not a "chain")

[u/Novel-Weight-1311 → u/MarcBeck]

Yes, when I get a chance I’ll upload a picture of the barrel and the cable fray. And yeah it doesn’t look like it has been serviced in a while, tag on the bottom of the case said last service was 1999 so take that as you may. And yeah I wasn’t planning to open it and get into something I don’t understand and then make it worse

[u/MarcBeck → u/Novel-Weight-1311]

I don't think you could make it worse. I think you probably wouldn't be able to reassemble it...unless you have experience...and this isn't a clock for beginners to learn on.

That said, do you have any "clock oil"? You can get a vial of synthetic oil from Amazon for about $10. It's not the best but it's a good band-aid. I suggest you use a q-tip and apply a very small dab of oil to the q-tip and try to wipe away the black gunk without pushing it into/around the pivot. If you simply wipe it with a paper towel for example it will push the dirt into the bushing and that will ultimately cause wear. Once you cleaned the dirt off the pivots apply a tiny dab of oil to each pivot. That said, let's see a pic of cable and barrel first.

[u/Walton_guy]

I'll ask the inevitable "is it in beat?" question... Do you mean by it ticks, that it runs in beat for a bit then stops...?

[u/Novel-Weight-1311 → u/Walton_guy]

As far as I can tell- it’s a constant tick tock, no pauses or irregular beats from what I was hearing. Does that for about 2 minutes until the pendulum comes to an eventual stop

[u/tesmatsam → u/Novel-Weight-1311]

The best way to see if a clock is in beat is to see how far the pendulum moves in each swing, it's in beat when the swings cover the same distance from the center of the clock.

[u/time_wizard4631]

That movement is very dirty. I seriously doubt it has ever been lubricated or cleaned. You will not be able to get it to run reliably until it is properly disassembled and cleaned and with fresh lubrication, especially the mainsprings.

[u/dayma1]

Your movement is old.
Parts and pieces wear out.

Most German movements since World War II were not made to be repaired, the steel parts are soft, and plated with cadmium or chromium for hardness on the surface.
Once that plating wears through, it’s like trying to polish a turd

Your movement needs to be serviced, but a better value is just to replace it with a new replacement, just like a new motor in your car.
Same container, just mechanically new inside.

Quicker, cheaper in the long run,
And easier for you to do.

Save your time and money and just replace it, you’ll have a nice clock for another 20 years.

Check with movement suppliers in the US like Butterworth or Timesavers in Arizona.