Clock Myths eXPOSED

You Cannot Set the Hands on a Clock bACKWARDS

This is mostly false but can also be true. There is no one rule that can apply to every clock! So many of my customers are shocked when they see me move the hands backwards on their clocks. They often say, “I didn’t know you could do that!” Well, in most cases you can. In the last sixty or seventy years more than 95% of the clocks manufactured have been designed so that you can safely move the minute hand counterclockwise. The designers of the movements knew that many clock owners would attempt to backset the hands, so to avoid damage they incorporated into the design a mechanism that allows it to be done safely. Almost without exception, the majority of modern era clocks can be backset. This includes key-wound wall and mantle chiming and or striking clocks, cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks, anniversary clocks and even most battery clocks.

The clocks that cannot be backset safely are usually older clocks, especially most early American clocks made until about 1920. If you attempt to backset a clock that is not designed to allow you to do so, upon reaching a certain point, the hand will simply lock up. If you try to force it you will damage the mechanism or the hand, so be smart and don’t do it! Clocks that cannot be backset are set by moving the minute hand only, clockwise only. If you have a chiming clock that cannot be set backwards you should stop at each quarter hour as you move clockwise, to let it chime before moving on. If you have a striking clock that cannot be set backwards you should stop at each striking point, always the hour and sometimes the half hour.

For the most part you should never move the hour hand independently of the minute hand. If you do this on most chiming or striking clocks you will throw the strike out of synch with the hands. An exception would be if you were resynchronizing the strike, like you might on a clock with a count wheel striking mechanism (sometimes found in older clocks) or if someone else had moved the hour hand accidentally and you were simply putting it back where it belonged.

To sum this up, pay attention to your qualified clockmaker when he is explaining to you the proper operation of the clock. This person should know what is best and will instruct you on proper hand setting. Of course, you can always consult your owner’s manual if you have one.

A Clock Must Be Level to Run

False. The truth is, a clock must be “in beat” to run. The “beat” of a clock refers to the sound a clock makes when it ticks. When a clock is “in beat” the tick and the tock will be evenly spaced like the sound a metronome makes or when you clap your hands evenly to a song. A clock that is crooked can run fine if the beat is set for that position, providing the pendulum doesn’t rub or bump anything. However, because a clock looks best when it sets level, the clockmaker will level the clock and then set the beat for that level position. Once he has done that correctly, he then instructs the owner to level the clock once it gets home. The point is, normally, the level and the beat go hand and hand. The level is simply a tool to help us achieve the proper beat (assuming it was set correctly in the first place).

Important point! If the clock is level but the beat is not correct, you must manipulate the clock, out of the level position, until you hear the beat sounding evenly or take it to your local clock shop for adjustment.

When setting up clocks for my customers in their homes it is not always practical to level the clock. For instance, when a grandfather clock is standing near a doorway which is not square, or when the wall behind it has lined wallpaper which was installed crooked. In these instances, the clock will look crooked even though in reality it is not. In this case I level the clock with my eye or using the lines on the wallpaper as a guide or measuring over from the doorway at both the top and bottom of the clock. This way, although a level will show the clock to be crooked it still looks level. In this case, appearance is what is most important providing the pendulum is not bumping or rubbing anything inside the case. From this position the beat will then be adjusted so as to be correct or “even” and the clock will run fine. The same thing can be done on a wall clock hanging in a similar situation. In the case of mantle clocks where they sit on a crooked mantle, shelf or dresser, etc., if the customer prefers not to shim it into a level position, I simply reset the beat for that particular surface if I happen to be in their home.

Most modern grandfather clocks have what is called a “self-adjusting beat”. In this case, as long as the clock is stable and somewhere close to level, it will run fine. You don’t even need a clockmaker to set the beat for you. Simply over swing the pendulum slightly and the beat will set itself.

Of course, this myth applies mostly to clocks with swinging pendulums. Those that have floating or platform balances and are in good repair can run fine without any concern for level. If it is close enough to look good, that is good enough.

A final factor: Where pendulum clocks are concerned, especially weight driven floor clocks, stability is extremely important. A clock that has a tendency to wobble, such as those free standing on carpet, may sometimes stop for what appears to be no reason at all. The cause is something called “sympathetic vibration” or “sympathetic motion”. The unstable clock case is able to pick up the motion from the swinging pendulum. This will eventually cause the weights hanging in the case to begin to swing slightly, generally occurring when the weights reach a point somewhere near the level of the pendulum disc. The weights tend to swing in a direction opposite that of the pendulum. If this occurs the clock will eventually stop. This leads us into the next myth.

Putting a Board Under Your Floor Clock Will Stabilize It

False. Unless you screw the board through the carpet into your floor, the board will not provide the stability you are after. The board (or piece of marble etc.) will tend to “float” on the carpet even with the heavy clock standing on it. When you set the clock on the board, the weight of the clock is distributed onto the many square inches of the board, therefore the board never really settles into the carpet. Without the board, the weight of the clock is distributed among the four feet or levelers found under most modern grandfather clocks. For example, a board that is 18 x 16 inches has 216 square inches to carry the weight. In contrast, the four levelers combined, only have about 4 square inches. The levelers will settle much deeper into the carpet, providing greater stability. For maximum stability the clock should be allowed to contact the wall in some way. This is easy if your clock is setting in front of a flat wall. In this case the front levelers should be lowered in such a way as to allow the clock to lean against the wall. Once this is achieved simply place a small shim, equal to the thickness of your baseboard, behind the clock towards the top. This gives the appearance that the clock is not actually contacting the wall and also holds the clock in a “front to back” level position.

Unfortunately, when a clock sets in a corner at an angle this is not always feasible. If you try the same thing here the only thing that contacts the wall are the top corners of the clock giving you nothing to hide the shim behind. Sometimes you won’t need the shim because when the corners meet the wall it is not leaning back so far as to look silly anyway. If it does lean back too far the only choices left are either to come up with some sort of bracket that you can hide, either behind or on top of the clock or you can simply add some sort of weight into the bottom of the clock case. Adding weight helps to settle the clock further into the carpet. When we add weight we want to be sure to add a sufficient amount. A pound or two usually won’t do it. Ideally ten pounds or more is better. Some things that work well are large pieces of lead (because of their density), a bag of play sand, or even weights from a barbell set. Of course this is only practical if you have an area in the bottom of the clock large enough to hide it, or some nice way to cover or disguise it.

Special note: For older clocks without levelers built into the case, small, thin wooden shims cut about one inch square can achieve the same results. An old yard stick works wonders. You can stack as many are necessary to achieve the lift you need. If you stack them, it is a good idea to tape or glue them together first so that the shims do not slide on each other.

You Cannot Place a Clock on an Outside Wall

False. I have heard this many times from many customers yet none of them know why it would matter. In spite of this, they still believe it. The only thing I have been able to come up with is that it is a carry over from times past when homes were poorly insulated. In some older homes the walls can get rather cold in the winter. This cold, transferring to the clock case, might affect its timekeeping accuracy or perhaps damage the case. In other homes, the walls might “sweat” from condensation or leak when it rains. This would not be good for a clock or any other item that you might hang on a wall. I have set up thousands of clocks on outside walls and have never heard a complaint from a single customer that it has caused any kind of problem.

You Must Lift the Weight When Winding a Chain Driven Floor Clock

False. I have made an innumerable number of house calls over the last forty four years because of this myth. They may do it this way for years and get away with it, but inevitably they will eventually knock a weight or chain off. The customer always thinks that they are putting too much stress on the clock when they are only pulling the chain and not lifting the weight. To make a point I often tell them that the weights are hanging there all day putting “stress” on the clock. Did they ever think to lift them off and set them on the floor to relieve the clock? You must remember that the clock is designed to handle this stress. What they don’t understand is that during winding the main wheel arbor is not turning in its bearing surface like it does when it is running. Therefore, winding does not produce the kind of wear that contributes to the clock failing to run. Any wear that does occur, however small, happens between the center of the chain wheel and the arbor it turns on. Because winding the clock takes only a few seconds a week, the wear that occurs is so minimal as to not be an issue. I cannot recall a single repair I have made in the last forty four years that was attributable to someone not lifting the weights during winding. If the customer still insists on lifting the weight or is too weak to be able to pull the chain with one hand, it is okay to lift the weight, but you must be sure you are pulling the chain with more force than you are lifting the weight.

On some clocks I see some of the chain links begin to separate slightly, usually on the side of the chain that the weight hangs on. This is normally caused by the weight hitting the bottom of the movement or the seat board at the top of the wind causing the stretching affect. When pulling the weight up by the chain you should always stop at least one or two inches from the bottom of the movement or seat board.

Whichever way you wind your clock be sure to avoid touching the brass chains or weights with your bare hands. Many people keep a cloth in the bottom of their clock for this purpose while others use gloves. Anything that will separate the oil on your hands and fingers from the weights and chains will do fine.

A Cap Full of Kerosene Left in the Bottom of the Clock Case will Lubricate the Clock Effectively

About all you are going to get out of this is a clock that smells like kerosene. This idea probably started many, many years ago when people had to be more self-sufficient. If, they had money to pay a clockmaker, there may not have been one around for a hundred miles. The thought here is that the evaporating kerosene would bathe the clock mechanism in its oily vapors. Of course, if kerosene was a proper lubricant, clockmakers would have been using it themselves and they aren’t. Also, oiling a clock properly is a pinpoint procedure. You don’t want oil all over the clock. You want it in specific places. If the evaporating kerosene does what the myth implies, your entire movement, indeed the whole inside of the clock case is going to become coated with this “oily” vapor. This would turn your clock movement into a dust magnet, which is not very desirable.