SchatzSilver
Repair Guide Plate #1287
[Purchased from Deseret Industries for $15, with glass dome]
Uses 0.0040" suspension spring
Regulation Screw:
- Clockwise = Slower
- Counter-Clockwise = Faster
2013-11-15
The mainspring was broken on this unit when acquired. Everything else looked intact. There is a narrow scratch on the face of the dial that has penetrated through the 'brushed aluminum' material to the substrate, and there are some staining of the 'brushed aluminum' underneath the dial face along the scratch. With the glass dome in place it is difficult to make out the damage. The clock was quite dusty, probably from being stored for some time in, say, a garage or basement shop.
I cleaned up the surfaces easily enough with Windex, but found that I could do nothing with the staining along the scratch in the dial.
I tried to remove the thumbscrew from the suspension spring saddle, but it was very tight. Using a pair of forceps for better leverage, I was able to finally get the screw to rotate. Alas, all I accomplished was to shear of the screw, leaving the threaded section still imbedded in the block of brass that is the suspension saddle.
I tried some of the other screws holding on the back plate and found them to also be very, very tight, and I was unable to release them using my narrow handled jewelers screwdrivers. Then I had an idea. Since the screws appeared to be steel, and of course the plates are brass, if I were able to heat up the metals in an oven, I may be able to release the screws, since the brass would expand faster than the steel, thus 'making the screw holes bigger'. Indeed this is what I did, and it worked very well. I heated the kitchen oven to 250-degrees and placed the movement assembly inside for about seven minutes. Upon removal I was able to release all of the screws except the two at the top of the back plate. A little more heat, and a little muscle got them loose.
I disassembled the movement, removing all the wheels, the hands, and the barrel.
Without knowing what else to to, I drilled out the sheared-off screw shaft still in the suspension saddle, but that made the hole biger of course. I let the issue of how to properly hold the top block remain for the time being.
In the meantime, I wanted to get the clock cleaned up and readied for reassembly. my first issue was to try to remove the mainspring from the barrel for cleaning and relubrication. It is here that things went on hold while I gathered parts and pieces to make my mainspring winder. Once that was ready, I fitted the barrel and started to wind, only to have the arbor pin shear off leaving me with no way to wind the mainspring.
Somewhere along the way, I finally discovered that Horolovar.com has 'parts' available for sale, upon request. I sent and email asking about a new arbor and suspension saddle. Yes, they had these parts, so I order them along with a variety pack of suspension springs.
2014-01-31
Replacement parts were received from Horolovar, which include:
- Suspension spring saddle
- Barrel arbor
- Suspension spring .0040" (from Popular Variety Pack)
The arbor fits perfectly and easily engaged the mainspring. I mounted the barrel into my homemade mainspring winder and found that I could not place a sleeve on the wound spring...the 1" sleeve is too small, not able to fit over the wound mainspring coil, but the 1-1/4" sleeve is too large, not able to fit withing the barrel. I'm going to have to find something in between, perhaps trying the local plumbing supply house for a 1-1/8" sleeve, assuming such a size standard exists.
2014-02-14
With a 1-1/8" sleeve now on hand, I was able to extract the mainspring. It was dry, and fairly clean, though there was some old dry residue on it. I wetted some tissue paper with fingernail polish remover and cleaned the spring. Then, using another piece of tissue paper wetted with synthetic mainspring oil, I lubricated the mainspring from the arbor loop all the way out. I then returned the mainspring to the barrel with using the winder. I pressed the barrel cover into place with a small desk vice.
With that barrel back together I reassembled the movement with all wheels, but no anchor. I lightly lubricated the pivots and then wound the mainspring by 1/4 turn of the key. The movement unwound without any trouble. Looks good. I removed the back plate again and installed the anchor.
I had a little trouble with the minute and hour wheels (and hands) on the front plate. The tiny tension washer had of course come away when I first removed the minute wheel, and I hadn't paid enough attention to how it was arranged before disassembly. This required a bit of trial and error to work out where it belonged and in what orientation. At last I discovered that the washer should go on the minute hand shaft, with turned up ends facing outward (toward the front of the clock), under the hour canon and minute wheel. When the hands are mounted, and the nut is sufficiently (but not too much!) tightened the minute hand is secure but can still be rotated to set the time.
With that done, I replaced the suspension saddle using the 'new' one from Horolovar.com, and assembled the suspension spring unit with a new .0040" Horolovar spring. I mounted the suspension spring and pendulum. Regulation was very straightforward with my computer-based regulation system. In about 30 minutes I had the clock regulated and the beat set.
2014-03-03
The clock has been running perfectly for the past couple of weeks. The time has maintained accuracy with only a tiny drift. After two-plus weeks, the clock reads only about 1/2-minute fast.