Restarting a clock with a balance-wheel escapement that is shrouded in a box

I have a watch and a clock in this situation. I believe the answer is to use a solvent on the balance wheel bearings and re oil them

I lack the courage

Are escapements designed so that if the clock stops due to the mainspring winding down, the tension of the mainspring after winding, working "backwards" up the gearchain to the escapement, will always impart a kick to the balance wheel get get it over "top dead centre" where it has stopped - assuming sufficiently good lubrication of everything?

I lack the courage too - and it would mean taking the mechanism out of the case (and so removing the hands from the faceplate). There is also an intermittent problem with the chiming - it occasionally fails to chime a quarter or chimes the wrong one (quarter past rather than quarter to, and vice versa). The "occasional" thing is intriguing: you'd think it would be a permanent fault... So my local clock repairer (who got the clock going a few years ago after many years of not being used) may need to look at both problems at the same time.

Spring tension is enough to get balance wheels oscillating - unless the bearings are all gummed up.

Was thinking about soaking the watch in IPA for a few days....but do these things need oiling afterwards?

I don't have a solution, but is it stopped in a state with the balance-wheel spring wound or unwound? If it's wound, that would suggest that it's stuck and needs cleaning.

-- Richard

Interim before cleaning the mechanism. Can you gently rock the whole case in the plane of the balance wheel? Could you have overwound the main spring? enough so grime/rust binds the coils together sufficient to stop sliding over ,ie unwinding

That's what I was going to suggest. You usually give a clockwork wrist watch or alarm clock a good shake to get it going.

It's a bit more difficult with a clock that's in a 4-foot long case! I've tried rotating the case (and therefore the mechanism) about roughly the axis of rotation of the balance wheel, and rocking it from side to side in the plane of the wheel, but to no avail.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I managed to find a small hole in the glass case around the balance wheel, so I was able to insert a paperclip to press on the rim of the balance wheel and rotate it about 45 degrees. It sprang back, overshot and then returned to its rest position (ie the oscillations died out

The clock was fairly fully wound when I came to it, in agreement with my having last wound it on Monday and therefore run for a couple of days (*). I wound it carefully a couple of clicks on each of the three springs, feeling for increased resistance which indicates that it is getting close to fully wound. So there *should* be good mainspring tension without the leaves of the mainspring starting to "stick together".

The clock was last serviced about 4-5 years ago and has been kept in a normal centrally-heated house out of the heat of direct sunlight.

(*) My experience is that this clock needs to be wound twice a week, as if it only works when the mainspring tension is high: if it has ever stopped in the past, I have been surprised how little I can wind the spring before it starts to become more difficult to turn because the spring is almost fully wound.

Yes they do and not easy to do with the balance wheel in its own box like his is

You've got to be careful lubricating clocks. You can easily end up with a sticky mess. To do it properly, you have to take it all apart, clean the parts with an organic solvent - my dad used petrol - reassemble it an apply a *very* small amount of clock oil to the bearings.

That suggests to me that there is a fair amount of resistance to movement, so it probably does need cleaning and lubrication.