It could be a fall of muck or a dodgy bearing or a loose escapement which
has slid onto a part of a spindle where it has too much resistance. Lots of
things could cause this, sadly, how old is it?
Brian

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"NY" wrote in message
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"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
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On 28/02/18 11:55, Brian Reay wrote:
On 28/02/18 11:25, NY wrote:
We have a grand-daughter clock (ie like a grandfather but only about 4
feet high) which used to run OK but only runs for a short time since we
moved house. It was transported horizontally on its back.

The tick sounds as if it is limping - instead of a regular,
evenly-spaced tick-tock, the tick is shorter than the tock, if you see
what I mean. Each time we nudge the pendulum, it runs for a few
minutes, initially with the tick sounding regular but as time goes on
it gets fainter and more lopsided until it stops altogether. I think
the amplitude of the pendulum is gradually getting less, to the point
where it won't operate the escapement even though it continues to swing
for a little while after the ticking stops.

Any suggestions?


My inclination would be that the pendulum isn't getting the impulse from
the escapement, or not the correct one.

The escapement does two things, it allows the gear train to move under
the control of the pendulum in this case, and provides an impulse to
keep the pendulum swinging. A 'bad tick' usually means the escapement
isn't functioning correctly. An experience horologist can tell a lot
from a tick (not me I hasn't to add).

The first thing to check is that the clock is vertical, so the 'swing'
is 'even' either side the point of suspension. Also check the winding
mechanism - although you've probably done that. If it is weight driven,
are they free to drop, ie not snagged, touching anything.

Being 'over wound' is a possibility, I've seen ordinary clocks get
jammed. You can release the main spring but it takes care and really
isn't something to try unless you know how. You need to do it in a
controlled way.

I assume from the description it wont have springs, but weights

But yes, somethig has shifted and it needs taking apart carefully to
discover waht.


It has springs: one for the chiming mechanism (designed to chime hours but
not quarters) and one for the pendulum. Both are almost fully wound.

As far as I can tell, the clock is vertical in two planes (side-side and
front-back).

Time to find a horologist and get them to look at it. It's about 5 years
since I last had it serviced, after which it ran perfectly until I moved
it temporarily while we cleaned the carpets (taking care to remove the
pendulum first) when it's been difficult to set it a happy medium between
too slow and too fast. Moving house was the final straw, it seems.