How To Oil A Clock (or Clock Repair) - A Step-By-Step Guide 

My clock is a model 520 with an M8 dial - does the "8" stand for it being an 8-day clock?

Patrick, Im glad it helped you out

no oil is what stops most clocks

We are so glad you got it going.

There is another video on how to take car of that. If you subscribe to our youtube channel you will see the one about "adjusting the speed of your clock" Thanks for the imput

Thanks

Thank you

Nick, its best to pull the movement out, yes. I don't have a video for that, there are so many ways that the movement will come out on Grandfather clocks. We have taken hundreds of pictures of the GF clocks we have worked on, hoping one day to put them all together so someone can pick their model # out and follow along to removing the movement, unfortunately we just don't have them organized yet. If you email me a picture of a close up of your clock face, including the wood frame around it, I might be able to point out how to get the movement out. Its not difficult, usually only a few screws hold it in.

Please let us know how it goes, we love it when we get feedback

I was thinking Wd-40....Guesss I won't.Thanks for your comment about it

@@marks7352 I would not the WD in WD 40 stands for water Displacement. The oil we use is thin and the WD40 will displace the oil and will make a mess of your clock.

If you can send a picture of the back to my email, I can look at it and be able to walk you through it bob@clockrepairservice.com thanks

Floating balances should not get any oil. They should be cleaned (if you want to ) in NAPTHA or alcohol, then dried out. There is no place for oil on them.

Thanks. Appreciate that.

Sherry, You might at this point need to have the movement cleaned with a cleaning solution. Usually when the hammers wont come down smoothly, the oil has gummed up inside parts you cannot get to without completely taking the clock apart. If you want to send me a picture of the movement (it can still be in the clock case) I might be able to point you in the right direction for either repairing or replacing the movement.

Thank you so much for replying. The clock has almost stopped completely now. I need to keep setting the time. It strikes all over the place after I set it, not the correct chime or in order. I will try to get a photo. The movement looks like the one you are oiling in the video. Not sure I know how to add a photo here. How would I do that? Sorry! Thank you

It probably will run for awhile. Spray lubes will gunk up the gears and pivots and turn to a gum like substance. Many of them will melt the lacquer on the brass plates and destroy the movement.

Thank you

Thank you Calin

yes it apply for all clocks.

Yes, the spring has either broken or come off its post. The center winding post is for the time and the 2 outside post are for the chiming and striking. Unfortunately you will have to remove the movement and dismantle the movement in order to get to the spring problem. If your not comfortable with it, I can make a suggestion for a repair shop that you can mail the clock or just the movement to for the repairs.

You do not need to wear gloves. The oil on your fingers will eat through the lacquer on the movement, but if you wipe it down all should be good.

you dont have to wear gloves. Some people do, it stops your fingerprints from getting on the brass. The oil is fine to get on your skin. If you have a way to clean it that's fine, the video was showing people who do not have a cleaner or a way to clean it. This method works great for us out in peoples homes when we work on grandfather clocks, however in the shop we do use a cleaner

Yes, the balance wheel should float. if its dropped down and rubbing on its frame it will stop. There are so many other tings that can go wrong with a floating balance. Also to purchase a floating balance is expensive. I personally would look into purchasing a new movement if yours is still made.

Can anything be done to make the balance wheel float again? Black residue is around the axles on all the gears where they stick out through the back plate. Is there anything else I can do?

www.clockpartsplus.com/store/c62/Clock_Oil_and_Clock_Oil_kits.html here is one place you can get it

We are a Howard Miller Certified repair and sales center. If you can clean and oil the clock yourself, then yes every 2 years would be perfect. However if you paid someone $250.00 every 2 years to clean and oil the clock you will wast your money. The modern day clock movement, typically will last about 20-25 years. We have seen them go longer. If you do service it, it will extend the life quite a bit, but again, if you are paying 250.00 each time, in a 20 year period, you will buy that movement 4 times over. We service over 1000 Grandfather clocks per year, we have 3 techs that perform around 3 sometimes 4 cleanings per day 5, days a week. Pulling the movement out, cleaning and re-oiling the movement like in the video is a great way to extend the life of the movement. We get stupid comments from clock repair people, telling us that the only way to clean the movement is to disassemble it, clean and reassemble it. While this is true for older antique clock movements, its foolish for a modern day movement. If you are not careful and don't know what you are doing, you can damage the movement more than it is before you start. You can purchase a new movement and install it yourself for a lot less money and certainly a lot less headaches and hastes than going through the hassles of disassembling one. The video was made for people that don't have the equipment nor the knowledge to tear one down and rebuild it. By cleaning like in the video, you should extend the life of the movement by several years, especially if you are having issues with it now.

@@ClockRepairService Thank you for answering my question. People seem to have different ideas about what should be done. I wouldn't try disassembling the clock myself. Was thinking my clock repair guy might do the disassembly and "thorough cleaning" every ten years at around $250, not every 2 years. I could do the cleaning & oiling you did in the video myself every 2 years without disassembly of the movement. I noticed that I can get a new movement for my 2008 HM Earnest 620-433 clock for around $250 to $300. I agree that shouldn't be too hard to change out with my skills. If I can re-key door locks; rebuild a Kitchen Mixer, work on cars, and fix an A/C, I should be able to deal with a clock, but I don't want to learn how to disassemble the movement. If you have any further comments, I would appreciate them. Thank you again for your advice!

Daniel, Yes , this oil has several properties and agents in it that will continue to run in extremely cold weather as well as hot weather, including both high and low humidity. We decided not to include those properties in the information, not many people work on clock towers and most of our clocks customers have their clocks indoors and would not need that information. Although this oil goes along way, and stays put where you lay it, I would think you would need several bottles in order to do an average sized clock tower. In all honesty, we have only used it on one of our clock tower projects about 6 years ago, (we don't do many) I drive by the tower a few times a year and it is still running and keeping time. As far as I know we were the last to service it, so I don't think its been touched since then, other than winding and setting the time. I hope this helps.

Manufacturers suggest every 2-3 years. The oil we use is a synthetic blend and you can actually do it about every 3-5 years

VIDEOHEREBOB 7

Very so much for all your teachings.

I have heard of people doing that, however, I have not. we use a clock cleaning solution in the ultrasonic when we clean at the shop.

ok thanks. i dont have an ultrasound and had that idea from cleaning carbs. i just want to make sure there is not rubber bushing or anything that could get damaged

www.clockpartsplus.com/store/p111/Horace_Whitlock%27s_Premium_Quality_Clock_Oil_Kit.html This is the best lace to purchase. Its also on Ebay and Amazon

Oil should be put on the pivots as shown. Its best not to put oil on the teeth of the gears themselves. If oil is on the internal gears, it will only collect dust and dirt and gunk up the movement.

Horace Whitlock's Premium Quality Clock Oil

clockrepairservice don’t see the link for where to get it?

www.clockpartsplus.com/store/p111/Horace_Whitlock%27s_Premium_Quality_Clock_Oil_Kit.html Sorry for the delay.

It may sound crazy, put the ultimate goal to oiling a movement is to put just the correct amount of oil in each pivot hole. When you put it on with the paintbrush, I would assume you put on to much, but when you wipe it off with a paper towel, you have no idea how much, If any oil is left in the pivot hole. The correct viscosity of the oil is the most important thing to consider when oiling a clock, however how much you put on is as equally as important. The tip of the gear floats on the oil in the pivot hole. Too thick of an oil or too much of an oil will not allow this to happen. If the tip of the gear sits on the bottom side of the pivot hole, you might as well run the clock dry. The pivot hole will become oblong and the clock will eventually stop.

Yes we do, there is allot of junk out there.