Problem: My mechanical cuckoo clock seems to lose or gain time during the day! How do I fix this? Solution: They are a novelty to me and I have derived a substantial part of my income from the repair of cuckoo clocks over many years.If you have a 1-day or 8-day cuckoo clock, you can search for your issue and find a solution below. I enjoy cuckoo clocks for a couple of reasons. Welcome to the board and the fascinating world of clock repair, It is claimed that every time a cuckoo clock is wound, dirt and abrasives are dragged into the movement on the drive chains. Many clock repair people shy away from cuckoo clocks because there is a lot going on in the houses. Those plastic hands become brittle and break with age, etc. In addition, it is probably a good idea to replace the clock hands. The new bellows tops can be glued to the original whistles with carpenter's glue. The suppliers call those "bellows tops." Normally the whistles are not affected and the parts can be separated with a jeweler's saw. The paper in that style deteriorate and leak with age. When/if you replace the movement, it might be a good idea to replace the bellows on the cuckoo whistles. Cuckoo movements have a normal life span of 20-25 years. There is a manufacture date code stamped on the rear plate of the movement but I cannot read it from your photo. A further indication that the movement is probably worn out. Much of that is metal from wear in the movement. Your picture shows plenty of debris between the movement and the case. Over stressed chains will become stretched and distorted enough that they will foul on the sprockets. If you decide to replace the movement, the new movement will come with new chains. You may and probably will get some bad advice here. This board is populated by all levels of clock repair people. If you want to be a competent clock repair person (or cuckoo repair person), my advice would be to first, find a mentor and secondly, read everything you can find on clock repair. (The mechanical clock industry is in very poor shape) Those have been on back order for a year or more. All of the oil in the Mid East will not solve wear, nor will cleaning.Ī new replacement movement may now be available from the normal suppliers. Adjustment, if providing any relief, will be a short term solution. Those big three are seldom of much use with a worn movement as those are preventative rather than being curative. The long and short of that is the common assumptions are not true.Ĭlean, oil and adjust are the first things to surface with novice repairers. Many times those are damaged by someone, usually a child pulling on the weight side of the chain and damaging the click assembly. The click is the small dog that locks into some sort of ratchet wheel on the first wheels in a cuckoo clock. It sounds like there is a problem with the click assembly in your movement. That gummy film becomes more troublesome as time goes on. When the solvents from those spray products evaporate over time, a gummy film remains. Many times those parts will slide too easily, making the clock inoperable. There are parts in clock movements that depend on friction to work properly. When a movement is sprayed with those products virtually everything is coated with an oily film. The spray is a detriment for a number of reasons. Worn movements appear the same as those in good shape to novices and the wear is easily denied. Unfortunately spraying cuckoo movements is a knee jerk reaction by ill informed or amateur repair people toward worn movements. The general coating with fuzz on the movement to me indicates the movement has been sprayed with WD-40 or similar product.
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