Now this is a niche request, but I have faith in STW…

I inherited a wall mounted grandmother clock – was in my 94yr old Nana’s house all her married life and her mothers before that.. Quite old but £ wise not worth a lot.

This has been stopped the time I have had it – it only running for 5 mins before stopping again and it would be quite nice to have running when I have the whole family over for xmas lunch. I’ve Looked into getting it professionally repaired, but that looks to cost serious money (~£ 600) and not sure if it is worth it in the grand scheme .

Some amateur sleuthing on internet has shown up a common cause of the stopped clock syndrome is the lubricant in the winding coil getting sticky and preventing the release of the potential energy in the spring.

Over a cuppa this morning I had a play about and found the screw which lifts a lever, which allows the cogs to spin which de-powers this spring. Right enough the coil was sticking whilst unwinding.

So I now want to lubricate the spring. This is visible side on so I can see the whole spiral but obviously the clock is made up of approximately a gazillion cogs so there is no way I am disassembling to soak in degreaser before relubing so I want to spray some light oil in there.

So what’s best spray to get in there – gt85? a silicone based spray?

Like I say, quite a niche question

My dad repairs clocks. From what I have observed this appears to be %90 cleaning and reassembling.

He just uses “clock oil”, a bit of Googling: http://www.m-p.co.uk/muk/parts/oils.htm

That’s useful Geomick, thanks. Not sure I’ll be able to get a syringe in there though. Good access for a red straw, thus the spray lube hope…

I’ve used https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clock-Oiler-Pocket-Precision-Syringe-Oil-Pen-Tool-Clock-Oil-Mechanical-Clocks/254420012252 on my grandfather’s clock when it stops and it seems to free up the mechanism enough to keep it moving – it’s weights driven rather then spring – not sure how much diff that makes it

I’m not a clock repairer

I recently had the family grandfather clock refurbished. I dropped it off at the workshop and got shown round. The clock maker had 3 different grades of oil and was talking about how important the correct grade in the right place was.
Like yours it has been in the family generations. As far as I know it hadn’t been running for 25 years. Some parts were replaced including bearings and the cords holding the weights. The face which looks engraved but is actually a flat brass plate with brass parts attached was taken apart and cleaned to remove brasso residue. Then lacquered. Apparently brasso is very bad as it is an abrasive and having it anywhere near the clock was not a good idea.
The clock is now working and accurate to 5 secs a day. It can be adjusted by turning a nut on the end of the pendulum to fractionally shorten or lengthen.
Total cost was less than £600 which included the guy bringing it back to me and setting it up.
It was never a top quality clock but dated from the 18th century and I remember my grandparents when I hear it chime.
For what it’s worth I’m not sure spraying anything on it is a good idea.
The clock maker I used is sem-iretired and takes on very little work. As far a the cost goes I looked on it as costing less than 3 car services for more work and more or less a one off cost.

Actually. I have just realized where I am and have reconsidered (apologies for my initial sensible reply)!

Just get the worst of the mud off with a hose, then blast anything not painted with GT-85!

🙂

Can you get access with a long cotton bud type thing? I’d be trying a bit of degreasing first, with something like Isopropyl Alcohol that won’t leave any residue then put the clock oil on.

Do not use wd40 or gt85 or anything like that. You need clock oil, and only a small amount in the correct place. Think end of a cocktail stick.

Unfortunately it’s an expensive job to sort, £4-600 is about right for a long case service depending how much over and above the clean and overhaul is required but it’s normally a case of it’s dry and dirty and oiling one part won’t be enough.

If it’s anything like a pocket watch the preferred lubricant is best butter.

[strong]slowoldman[/strong] wrote:

If it’s anything like a pocket watch the preferred lubricant is best butter.

I shouldn’t of searched that. Who knew you could buy “Fisting Butter” lube. The mind boggles.

Oops sorry, I was thinking more along the lines of “Alice in Wonderland”.