What is a 341 - 340 Hermle Clock Movement?
Knowledge Base
Hermle 340-341 clock movement notes
Hermle clock 340-341 movement is such a popular little movement, so many sold, and for good reasons. It is compact and versatile, hard working and cost efficient. Also, the movement will work 20 or 30 years night and day without much complaint.
Can fit into tight places, it can come in either a pendulum version or a balance wheel instead. The advantage of a balance wheel is there is no pendulum to put in beat, you can move it without readjusting the beat. Also with a balance wheel you never have to care if its level or not. The pendulum unit advantage is that louder tick tock sound. If the pendulum is visible through the glass it is a nice hypnotic thing to look at and listen to.
A size 8 key winds up both the 340 and 341 clock movements, a single wind lasts 8 days. In addition, it will be ready for installation upon arrival. The 340 and 341 Hermle clock movement series comes with an application of oil on it and is ready to go. Sold as the movement itself with its hand nut and hammers. If a pendulum unit, it will come with its suspension spring and leader. Already oiled Hermle 340-341 clock movement comes ready for installation.
Westminster progressively playing each quarter hour, and the full song on the top of the hour. The striking out of the hours follows this. The hammer location on these units are on the bottom, with 5 hammer heads that strike chime rods. This aspect does not vary on these units, they are all consistent with the 5 hammer below attribute on all 340 and 341 movements.
If the clock has an on and off switch now, remove it by taking out the one screw and putting it on the new movement. The new movement does not have this chime on / off switch. The location of this is sometimes on the right side of the front plate.
The old style balance units such as the 340-020 had a spiral spring vertical up the balance. The improvements on the new style will be a horizontal spring and the F / S adjustment is by a set screw. The timing will already be done at the factory anyways so setting the time will only be slight. It might not need it at all. This change is a big improvement so the life expectancy of this new unit should surpass the old one. Everything will fit the same.
The 340 and 341 Hermle clock movement series went through a change in the hammer wires. The hammer heads used to be on wires now they are made on flat bars. This is dealt with in the same way as above, it is just not as easy to bend. The hammer head is on the skinny end of the bar, the bar gets wider as it goes back toward the roll pin. The point to bend this bar is at the place where it goes from skinny to wide with needle nose pliers. The overall assembly will be higher from the chime block slightly. That is if swapping out the movement with the wire hammer head rod older style. It is an option to raise the entire chimeblock with a shim underneath it to help with this. It is not an absolute requirement, bending the hammer arms are usually sufficient.
The older 341 and 340 series clock movements had the chime hammer head on wires instead of flat bars. The new style being sent will have the flat bars with the hammer heads on the end. It makes no difference to fitting the movement into the case, but it may make a difference as far as bending the rods to meet the chime rods. Bending of the chime hammers to be 1/8 inch away from the rod at rest is the goal.
This is what was done when the case was built and the original movement was put in. However, the older wire style could be bent in a more extreme manner than the new style. What could previously be bent an inch with ease is now not as easily done with the flat bars. In some rare cases it would be best to put a shim under the chime block to make up for the gap.
A fraction of the price of an overhaul
Should last 25-30 years, an overhaul would not
Instructions and expert support
Hermle Clock Movement of Germany
The content of this website is copyright by Clockworks and written by James Stoudenmire in year 2020
Last Updated: 2 months ago in
Hermle 340-341 clock movement notes
Article sections
Hermle clock 341 - 340 movement
Hermle clock 340-341 movement is such a popular little movement, so many sold, and for good reasons. It is compact and versatile, hard working and cost efficient. Also, the movement will work 20 or 30 years night and day without much complaint.
Can fit into tight places, it can come in either a pendulum version or a balance wheel instead. The advantage of a balance wheel is there is no pendulum to put in beat, you can move it without readjusting the beat. Also with a balance wheel you never have to care if its level or not. The pendulum unit advantage is that louder tick tock sound. If the pendulum is visible through the glass it is a nice hypnotic thing to look at and listen to.
The Movement
A size 8 key winds up both the 340 and 341 clock movements, a single wind lasts 8 days. In addition, it will be ready for installation upon arrival. The 340 and 341 Hermle clock movement series comes with an application of oil on it and is ready to go. Sold as the movement itself with its hand nut and hammers. If a pendulum unit, it will come with its suspension spring and leader. Already oiled Hermle 340-341 clock movement comes ready for installation.
The Chime
Westminster progressively playing each quarter hour, and the full song on the top of the hour. The striking out of the hours follows this. The hammer location on these units are on the bottom, with 5 hammer heads that strike chime rods. This aspect does not vary on these units, they are all consistent with the 5 hammer below attribute on all 340 and 341 movements.
Does not include Chime On / Off switch
If the clock has an on and off switch now, remove it by taking out the one screw and putting it on the new movement. The new movement does not have this chime on / off switch. The location of this is sometimes on the right side of the front plate.
Improved Balance on Hermle 340 clock movement series
The old style balance units such as the 340-020 had a spiral spring vertical up the balance. The improvements on the new style will be a horizontal spring and the F / S adjustment is by a set screw. The timing will already be done at the factory anyways so setting the time will only be slight. It might not need it at all. This change is a big improvement so the life expectancy of this new unit should surpass the old one. Everything will fit the same.
Hammer Positioning the 340 / 341 series
The 340 and 341 Hermle clock movement series went through a change in the hammer wires. The hammer heads used to be on wires now they are made on flat bars. This is dealt with in the same way as above, it is just not as easy to bend. The hammer head is on the skinny end of the bar, the bar gets wider as it goes back toward the roll pin. The point to bend this bar is at the place where it goes from skinny to wide with needle nose pliers. The overall assembly will be higher from the chime block slightly. That is if swapping out the movement with the wire hammer head rod older style. It is an option to raise the entire chimeblock with a shim underneath it to help with this. It is not an absolute requirement, bending the hammer arms are usually sufficient.
Different Hammer Head Wires
The older 341 and 340 series clock movements had the chime hammer head on wires instead of flat bars. The new style being sent will have the flat bars with the hammer heads on the end. It makes no difference to fitting the movement into the case, but it may make a difference as far as bending the rods to meet the chime rods. Bending of the chime hammers to be 1/8 inch away from the rod at rest is the goal.
This is what was done when the case was built and the original movement was put in. However, the older wire style could be bent in a more extreme manner than the new style. What could previously be bent an inch with ease is now not as easily done with the flat bars. In some rare cases it would be best to put a shim under the chime block to make up for the gap.
A fraction of the price of an overhaul
Should last 25-30 years, an overhaul would not
Instructions and expert support
Hermle Clock Movement of Germany
The content of this website is copyright by Clockworks and written by James Stoudenmire in year 2020
Last Updated: 2 months ago in
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Updated on: 05/08/2022
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