essex clock repair service
 
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I am increasingly being asked to take a look at modern clocks so I now have a fast-track service dedicated to that. Generally, these are either battery or mechanical clocks that the owner has had from new, so they're usually less than 25 years old.

Many battery clocks comprise nothing more than a small quartz movement, fixed to the back of a simple dial. If you turn the clock over you'll see a small plastic box about 55mm x 55mm and about 15mm deep, holding an AA battery - see the top illustration. It's held in place with a thin brass nut on the front of the dial - see the second illustration of the front of the movement, most of which is normally hidden from view by the dial of course. If your quartz clock has has stopped, first check that the hands are not colliding as they pass one another. They're delicate and usually unprotected so can easily get damaged or bent. If they're OK, try a new battery (fitted the right way round!) but AVOID Duracell batteries as they seem to have too high an output that can upset the vibrations of the tiny quartz crystal. And if it still doesn't work, for £25 I'll supply and fit a new timepiece movement. Strike / chime movements are more expensive at £60 (including fitting and soldering). Where I can, I will use you existing hands so that the clock will look exactly the same afterwards. But many clocks have cheap Chinese movements, with hands that have non-standard size holes, whereas I only fit quality movements with standard I-shafts, made by Seiko, Hermle or UTS so new hands might be unavoidable. Often I can do this within an hour! But please don't ask me to replace the mechanical movement in an old clock with a new quartz movement; this is what the Americans would call a 'swap-out' like-for-like service - I'm not ready to sell my horological soul yet!

The more expensive modern clocks have mechanical movements powered by springs or weights, a pendulum and require a weekly wind. Many are wall-mounted and chime the quarters. But no matter what name appears on the dial, the movement behind it was probably made in Germany by Hermle, the largest producer of clock movements in Europe. To illustrate, the third photograph is of a Hermle named dial; the fourth one is identical but signed by William Widdop; and the final one looks different and is signed by Comitti. But all three are fitted with the same Hermle movement, chiming on Westminster gongs slung underneath, that can be silenced by a lever on the left of the dial. Their movements have a distinctive pattern of dots in columns and rows all over the plates. Usually you will see the Hermle name engraved or laser-etched on the back plate. There will also be some numbers to identify the movement type, the date of manufacture and the pendulum length. Have a look here at my Hermle page for more on this. But sometimes you might see FHS instead of Hermle. FHS is part of the same group (Franz Hermle & Son). Turning the clock over, you will find four nuts on the back in a square formation; these hold the movement in place, typical of a Hermle movement mounting.

Providing they're regularly oiled, they should not need cleaning for the first ten years from new. But if not cared for it can be cheaper to replace the movement rather than to repair it. For more about this see my page dedicated to Hermle and their movements.

In my opinion Kieninger make better movements, truer to the ones they made a hundred years ago, with polished, heavy brass plates. But they are twice the price. So you may be lucky enough to find that yours has a Kieninger movement instead but they, too, are German.

In many cases (Hermle included) it is possible to clean a modern movement very economically without completely dismantling it, using cavitation techniques of an ultrasonic tank; tiny bubbles are formed and when they burst, they blast dirt from virtually every nook and cranny. Usually, the cost of cleaning a three train movement in this way is half the cost of a full strip & clean so at around £65, it is very economic (and only a third of the cost of fitting a new replacement). For this to be possible, however, it must either be weight-driven or the mainspring barrels must be removeable without having to separate the plates, so that they can be opened, the mainsprings cleaned, dried separately by hand and re-greased. Whatever anyone tells you, if you leave the barrels in the movement while cleaning it in a water-based ammonia solution, you're setting yourself up for trouble in the long term. It's impossible to dry the springs so they will quickly oxidise; surface rust will then form, impairing their smooth free-flowing capability and the clock will stop - probably just after their guarantee expires!

If the mainspring barrels cannot be lifted out on their own then I'm afraid that a full strip and clean is the only option.

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