Cuckoo clock will not stay running |
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One of the reasons a Cuckoo clock stops working is that the mechanical movement of the cuckoo clock is not level. This generally happens when the cuckoo clock is not hung level or straight on the wall. The mechanical movement cuckoo clock is driven by the sway of a pendulum, often decorated with a had carved maple leaf.
Start by listening to the back and forth swing of the pendulum. This tick-tock sound is often referred to as the cuckoo clock heart beat. The pendulum should swing to the right for the same amount of time that it takes for it to swing to the left, one second for every back-and-forth movement. If the heart beat is irregular, adjust the cuckoo clock’s position on the wall until the tick-tock beat of the pendulum sounds even again. Sometimes the cuckoo clock itself may not be strait and level on the wall, but you are getting a smooth tick-tock then there is an adjustment that needs to be made on the pendulum leader. This is the wire that the pendulum hangs on. |
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There is a door latch or lock on the door for the cuckoo bird to come out. This latch is used for shipping purposes and sometimes will loosen up and drop down to lock the door. Check to see if this latch is holding the door closed. If it is, simply unlatch the door and the cuckoo bird is freed to come out now.
There is also on some models, an on off switch. Some on off switches are located on the side of the cuckoo clock and some are located on the bottom side of the cuckoo clock. Look to see if your cuckoo clock has one of these switches. Many of the cuckoo clocks that have one of these switches will have a sticker near it to indicate what is on and what is off. If you have tried both of these procedures and the cuckoo clock still will not cuckoo, there are several other items that will to be looked at and most of them will require a professional clock shop to look at the reason behind the problem. |
Many times, your cuckoo clock will cuckoo the wrong hour. Lets say It may be 12 o'clock, however the bird only cuckoo's 6 times. In this example you would move the "hour Hand" to the number of cuckoo's or chimes, in this case you would turn the "hour Hand " to the number 6. The hour hand is just press fit on a tapered barrel and can be turned ether clockwise or counter clockwise. Many times after moving the "hour hand" it may feel loose. If this happens, you can simply press the base of the hour hand down using your 2 thumb nails equally until the hour hand on the cuckoo clock is tight again. Be careful here and DO NOT press the hour hand down to far. If the hour hand touches the cuckoo clocks face the cuckoo clock will stop running. The hour hand just needs to be off the face and not touching anything.
If the hands do not line up even on the hour or if the bird cuckoo's prior to or after the top of the hour, you will have to loosen the threaded nut on the front that holds the Minute Hand" down slightly. Once you have loosened this nut the minute hand will move freely. Line the hand up to the top of the hour (12) then tighten down the threaded nut. You will have to use pliers for this. DO not tighten down to tight. Once the threaded nut is tight, move the Min hand around slowly. When the bird comes out and starts to cuckoo, stop turning, loosen the threaded nut and move the min hand to the top of the hour again. This time tighten the threaded nut down and you should have the min hand adjusted. If you need to make fine adjustments, just repeat the process |
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Telephone678-462-7856
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meredith@clockrepairservice.com
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