On Nov 24, 2:00*am, isw wrote:
In article
,
*klem kedidelhopper wrote:









Sorry to post this question here but I really didn't know where else
to address it to. It is obviously not electronics related however I
was hoping that someone could never the less help me.

I was given this really nice wall clock. The clock was missing the
pendulum and the winding key when I received it. The clock is supposed
to chime once on every half hour and then appropriately the correct
number on every hour.

A friend who does clock repair gave me a small pendulum and a key. He
said the size of the pendulum is not too critical and so he thought
that the one he gave me should work. Well it does however the clock is
really running slow. It sounds like it's in perfect beat though, and
although I've run the pendulum up the stick pretty high now it's still
a few minutes slow over a two hour period. I've tried adding some
weight to the pendulum but that didn't seem to make any difference.

The clock doesn't look gummy but it is dry. I had planned to spray the
movement down with a no residue cleaner and then oil every thing that
moves with a light oil. I just didn't want to possibly introduce
another problem into the equation before I fix the current one.

So I had some questions. i don't know what this pendulum that he gave
me is from. Is the pendulum weight and length critical?

Weight, no; length, yes. The length alone determines the period of the
pendulum. The weight just needs to be heavy enough to not be affected by
air resistance, and light enough to not damage the bearings that support
it.

My friend says
no, however the loss of several minutes over the course of two hours
seems really excessive. Is it possible that the incorrect pendulum is
causing the current problem and that perhaps there might not even be a
problem if I had the correct pendulum?

Yes.

Could the need for a cleaning
and lubrication cause such a speed error?

I suspect that the major result of crud in the works would be a tendency
for the pendulum to stop, or for timekeeping to be erratic.

If anyone has some advice for me as to my questions and how to proceed
with this project I would be very grateful. Thanks for any advice on
this.

What did you mean by "sounds like it is in perfect beat"?

Isaac

I meant that it produces an even "Tick, Tock", as opposed to a "Tic
Tic, Tock", or "Tic, Tock Tock" sound. Lenny