Chiming Mantlepiece Clocks

[guitarboogie]

Advice wanted please... We've inherited a couple of pre-war chiming clocks and whilst the quarter hour, half hour, threequarter hour and hour chimes all work correctly, we just cannot get either clock to run for more than about a minute. The mainsprings seem to be "wound up" ok and we can manually start the pendulumns swinging - but after about a minute the pendulumns in both clocks just gradually come to a stop. We know that both clocks must have been stored, not running for a period of several years and it occurs to us that the mainsprings might simply be "gummed up" to coin a phrase and we're tempted to give the mechanism a scoot of WD40.....any suggestions or comments would be appreciated please.
Regards, Tony Butler.

[2sp_]

The problem with mantle clocks is that they get/got bunged up with soot from the fire.

It probably just needs a clean, but personally if it was an heirloom and had great sentimental (or indeed financial) value I would get a professional to do it.

[EcclesCake]

Look out for a poster called Stewey. I believe he has an interest in timepieces.

[heathfield]

It's unlikely to be a gummy spring. Dirt or dried-up oil on the gears is perhaps the cause. An old trick is to place something like a tobacco tin containing some paraffin inside the clock. After a few days, the fumes from the paraffin soften any dried-up oils on the gears, and the clock runs properly. If that doesn't work, it's a stripdown and professional cleanup.

[Fitzer]

That's a nifty tip Heathfield as I have a similarly intransigent mantle clock, next question though, where on earth does one buy paraffin these days, used to sell it in my local hardware store 35 years ago, but now?

[guitarboogie]

Many thanks to all 4 of you - I'm most impressed with the speed of your kind responses I'll give the paraffin thing a go - I believe I've actually got a local supplier here in Halesowen, West Mids. But I have been thinking - if it's general dust/dirt etc then I wouod have expected the chimes spring functions to be affected ... and they're not ? Anyway, I'll persevere and report back in due course. Tony Butler.

[stewey]

Guitarboogie, as Eccles mentioned above, I'm a bit of an amateur horologist so I could give you tips and post links on here which would probably only confuse you more. If I actually had the clocks I could probably help you. I would suggest, as someone else, has that you leave them alone and locate a clock/watch maker in your area, and get a quote on the repair. Don't take them to a jeweler, as some people do, and don't use any WD-40 or other stuff on or near the mechanisms.

[stewey]

It would be great if you could post some pictures of the cases and mechanisms on here just for interests sake.

[stewey]

Search the pages in this list to find a repairer near you.
http://www.bhi.co.uk/repairers-register

[guitarboogie]

To update the question: I tried the paraffin suggestion - but to no avail. So I took the clock to a genuine clock man quite local to me. He looked very closely at the mechanism using one of those things that jewellers use with one eye except that it incorporated a light to illuminate the innards of the clock and reported that the final escapement wheel was badly worn and would need to be refurbished and that it would cost £60 quid. He had the clock for a fortnight and it,s working perfectly and we're now quite happy.
Once again, thanks and kind regards.
Guitarboogie.

[guitarboogie]

Additionally, for "Stewey" I took a close look at the other clock and could see just how badly worn the corresponding wheel was compared to the "refurbished" one in the first clock. Before I go any further with paying for repairs however, I'm interested in having a go art seeing how the 3/4 chine is failing 'cos I've got a hunch that it might be quite simple to correct.
After the 3/4 fail the sequence remains silent for the next hour, then the self-correcting function kicks in and we have chimes OK until the next time the 3/4 time comes around and the sequence is repeated and is predictable - every time. When however the minute hand is moved manually through each of the quarter segments, ALL the quarters chime perfectly, so it seems as if there is just some small sticky bit that sticks if the clock is left to run in real time but does'nt stick when the minute hand is moved manually.
I've got no idea how to post a picture here on Answerbank but if you're really interestd I think I can email pictures to you. Our address is [email protected] tele:0121 422 7272