As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

On Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:49:47 -0500, wrote:


As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

I'm sure it depends on the clock -- I have heard the same about some
grandfather clocks and similar with very delicate, complicated,
mechanisms. But normal watches and clocks with the square mechanisms
and time-set knob I'm sure are fine to crank either way.

Josh

wrote:
As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

It was very true when talking about older wind up clocks but I don't
think it will hurt a newer clock. Hmm, well not all new clocks. I
wouldn't turn a brand new grandfather clock movement backwards but I've
turned the single AA battery type movements backwards for many years and
never had a problem.

I've not hear that. Might have been true some generations
ago, with older clocks.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...

As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around
the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line
I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands
backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information.
Have I
been misled all these years?

Van Chocstraw wrote:
wrote:
As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

I turn mine backwards with no problems. Of course they are all battery
operated. In the old wind up days it may have been true. How did they
turn a sun dial backwards?


They reversed the orbit of the Earth around the sun.

wrote:

As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?
Hi,
I turn the hand backward on our vintage mantle clock. Nothing happened.
Still it keeps good time and chimes as long as I wind it up every week.

On Nov 1, 11:32*am, Tony Hwang wrote:
wrote:

As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

I turn the hand backward on our vintage mantle clock. Nothing happened.
Still it keeps good time and chimes as long as I wind it up every week.

With older mechanical movements with chimes you are supposed to turn
the hands backwards, or with some clocks you can turn the hands
forward and stop at each chime interval. With electric and battery
clocks it doesn't matter.

R

Tony wrote:
wrote:
As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

It was very true when talking about older wind up clocks but I don't
think it will hurt a newer clock. Hmm, well not all new clocks. I
wouldn't turn a brand new grandfather clock movement backwards but I've
turned the single AA battery type movements backwards for many years and
never had a problem.

Since the post above I changed my clocks back an hour. I see the cheap
single AA cell battery type shows arrows, turning the time adjustment
either direction.

I turn mine backwards with no problems. Of course they are all battery
operated. In the old wind up days it may have been true. How did they
turn a sun dial backwards?

A large pipe wrench...

On Sun, 1 Nov 2009 11:25:31 -0800 (PST), professorpaul
wrote:


I turn mine backwards with no problems. Of course they are all battery
operated. In the old wind up days it may have been true. How did they
turn a sun dial backwards?

A large pipe wrench...

Okay, but what about an hour glass? Rotate left in Fall and right in
Spring?

wrote:
As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

If you adjust the time with a knob and the know will LET you turn the time
backwards, you should be okay.

My grandfather clock came with instructions to adjust the time by turning
the hands backwards only. Turning them backwards makes it unnecessary to
stop every quarter hour for the chime. Otherwise the chime and the hands get
out of sync.

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-
wrote in message
...

As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

On Sun, 1 Nov 2009 16:32:34 -0800, "Walter R." wrote:

My grandfather clock came with instructions to adjust the time by turning
the hands backwards only. Turning them backwards makes it unnecessary to
stop every quarter hour for the chime. Otherwise the chime and the hands get
out of sync.

I turn my cuckoo clock backwards.

"Walter R." wrote in message
...

My grandfather clock came with instructions to adjust the time by turning
the hands backwards only. Turning them backwards makes it unnecessary to
stop every quarter hour for the chime. Otherwise the chime and the hands
get out of sync.


My schoolhouse clock will adjust the chime automatically if I turn it
forward any amount of time. . I've never turned it backward, I just stop
it for an hour and re-start it.

wrote:
As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

Some mechanical clocks were so cheaply built that you risk damage trying
to manually adjust the time in either direction. In the fall it's much
easier to adjust for the change by stopping the clock for one hour
rather than the 11 or 23 hours needed in the spring.

On Nov 1, 8:32*am, Tony Hwang wrote:
wrote:

As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

Hi,
I turn the hand backward on our vintage mantle clock. Nothing happened.
Still it keeps good time and chimes as long as I wind it up every week.

I've always turned the wind-ups backward starting with my first one
about 1954. Never a problem. Got my first battery one a few years
ago.

Harry K

wrote in message
...

As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the
house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have
I
been misled all these years?

Why bother turning them at all. If in doubt, just stop them for an
hour and next spring, turn them ahead.

Bob-tx

Little knob on the back, like the new clocks.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Van Chocstraw" wrote in
message
...

How did they
turn a sun dial backwards?

On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:10:21 +0000, Wayne Boatwright wrote:
It depends entirely on the clock. I have a collection of ~25 vintage and
antique clocks. Most can be turned in either direction. Half a dozen can
only be turned forward. Of those that can only be turned forward, several
literally cannot be turned backwards, as the hands won't move. Of the
others, it puts the chimes out of sync with the time the hands are
displaying.

Yes, I've got one from the '50s where it screws the chimes up if turned
backwards (although there doesn't appear to be anything in the mechanism
that can actually suffer damage as a result). If turned forwards it'll
stay in sync, so long as I stop on every quarter hour for the chimes.

As there's no calendar functionality it's usually easier just to stop and
restart when it next shows the correct time.

Thankfully the mainspring will run for about a week, so it doesn't need
winding that often...

On Nov 1, 10:49*am, wrote:
As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

That's supposedly true for mechanical clocks/watches, although I don't
recall the specifics of what may be damaged or exactly which models
are susceptible to damage. The only mechanical timepieces I have are
a few wris****ches and none have any complications or anything so it's
no great hardship for me to just always set them forward on principle.

When I went to leave for work this AM my wris****ch had stopped days
ago because after 5 PM Friday I had no need to know exactly what time
it was anymore

Might try searching alt.horology; if there's an explanation on Usenet
it's probably there.

nate

On Nov 1, 10:49*am, wrote:
As a force of habit I have been resetting the clocks around the house
by only moving the hands clockwise. Somewhere along the line I was
told a clock could be damaged if you moved the hands backwards.
I have no idea of the source or validity of the information. Have I
been misled all these years?

I just stop the clock for 1 hour, then re-start it. No worries.

Mike

Walter R. wrote:
My grandfather clock came with instructions to adjust the time by turning
the hands backwards only. Turning them backwards makes it unnecessary to
stop every quarter hour for the chime. Otherwise the chime and the hands get
out of sync.

Huh? I never would have guessed. Suppose I got caught up in the "never
turn a clock backwards thing. My octagon clock doesn't like being
turned backwards. It actually jambs and messes up the sync between the
long and short hands. It's a New Haven clock from ~ 1870's but
unfortunately the entire clock mechanism had been replaced while or
before my grandparents owned it.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
Little knob on the back, like the new clocks.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.


"Van Chocstraw" wrote in
message
...

How did they
turn a sun dial backwards?



Mine is on the deck. I just turn the house a few degrees.