How do I fix the Strike on a Mechanical Clock?

This has to do with the mechanical components behind the dial. You would remove the dial and take note of the saw tooth rack, it looks like you could saw something with it. It falls down on a snail looking thing that is on the same tube as the hour hand. This set up is called a rack and snail count system. There are 12 saw looking teeth on the rack, one tooth per hour. As it falls on the graduated portions of the snail, it moves up one notch at a time, each tooth being one strike sound. If there is any error in the quantity of strikes a clock plays, the issue is in this area. Best to make it strike over and over as you look at these components in action. There are usually no parts to buy to fix this, usually it's just a matter of tweaking something. Something to note that if it strikes ONE and TWELVE ok, then the snail is on correctly and the rest will be ok. Each hump on the snail lets the rack drop down a certain distance therefore counting out that hour. The deeper the hump on the snail, the more the rack drops, and counts out more hours. So the deepest hump on the snail is 12.

Updated on: 05/08/2022