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Why replace an American Clock Movement?

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Replace an American clock movement?

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Why replace an American clock movement?



Sometimes an American clock movement made 80 to 100 years ago is just too worn out. Replacing an American clock movement is your best option. We offer these units as replacements for when the old unit is worn beyond reason. It will make a clock that has not run in a very long time work as it did before. The clock would lose any antique value but it may have had no value as a broken clock anyway. This is not uncommon to have clock damage that is beyond reason and the parts are not available.

Evidence of wear



The oil becomes a solid instead of a liquid and creates wear over time. When clock oil gets old, it gets solid and turns into an abrasive. Solid or semi-solid oil creates wear and is evident in the movement’s outer brass plate pivot holes. Overall the clock has too much resistance in the movement to function under the power of the mainsprings. At the same time the pivots that spin in these holes get worn and oblong. If a pivot is worn beyond reason, it requires re-pivoting which is costly and time consuming.

Mainspring trouble



When a mainspring breaks, it can cause the teeth on the gears to break from the impact. The mainsprings can also get stuck in a coil position from being wound up for many years. In the clockmaker world we call this being "SET". The spring sets because of being wound up all the way and left in that position for 10 to 20 years.

Replacing an American Clock Movement In the end



The movements we offer on this page are made in India. These are sold as replacement units for the American movements that are too worn out to keep chasing. These movements last 10-15 years. Unfortunately this is not as long a life as the old antique movements. The new movement from India is economical so swapping it out after a decade or two is advisable instead of considering a repair.

The content of this website is copyright by Clockworks and written by James Stoudenmire in year 2020

Last Updated: 2 months ago in

Updated on: 05/08/2022

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