Cuckoo Clock Tips

Like any fine mechanical clock, cuckoo clocks can be very sensitive and it can make the difference whether or not your clock will run with reliability.  

We’ve listed some tips and advice below:

• ALWAYS REMOVE THE PENDULUM or WEIGHTS BEFORE MOVING YOUR CLOCK.
  Remove them before moving, transporting or storing your clock.  The extra weight(s) can damage the movement.
• HANGING YOUR CLOCK: Once your clock has been serviced and is running properly, hanging your clock correctly is an important next step. A clock that is not level will not stay running. Often, it’s not easy to tell if the clock is perfectly level or not.  Even if the case is level on the wall, the movement of the clock it might not be perfectly level inside the case. If we have serviced your clock, we have already done our best to adjust the clock so it runs when level or close to it.  Your results may vary, so here’s how to adjust your clock. 
  • Start by hanging your clock on the wall and get it as close as you can to level. Hang the pendulum on its wire hanger and gently put the weights on the clock. Gently give the pendulum a push until the pendulum continuously moves on its own.
  • Next, you want to get the clock “in beat,” which means an even timing of the ticks. Listen carefully. You want to achieve an “even” beat. If you push the bottom of the clock gradually to the left and listen, you will notice that it sounds more uneven as you move it. Now, push the bottom of the clock gradually to the right and listen. Notice the beat becomes uneven this way as well. Move your clock back to a center point where the beat is even.
  • When you find this perfect spot, you can put a small mark on the wall if you’d like at the bottom on both sides of the case. Sometimes, when winding the clock by pulling up the weights, the case will move a bit, taking the clock out of beat.

• TIMING: Once the clock is in beat, you will want to keep track of its accuracy. Notice over several hours or a day or two if your clock is running a little fast or slow.  We’ve adjusted your clock in the shop to be pretty accurate, but, this can change a little bit from the clock being moved to its new location.

 

If the clock is running fast, the leaf on the pendulum will need to be lowered.  If the clock is running slow, the leaf will need to be raised. You only need to raise or lower this just a little – an ⅛” or less sometimes is all that is needed. Make sure to adjust your minute hand to the correct time and check again in several hours or a couple days. You can make a mark on the back of the pendulum in pencil if you’d like, just in case the clock needs to be moved sometime later.

• WINDING: Your clock will need to be wound everyday if it is a 30 hour clock, once a week if it is an 8 day movement.  Pull the weight chains up slowly, leaving about a ½” between the bottom of the case and weight hooks. You can steady your hand on the clock so it does not move, or even lightly hold on to the weights as you do this. You might want to set a time each day to wind your clock!

 

It is better to stop your clock if you are not going to be around to wind your clock on a particular day.  If the weight(s) hit the floor, the clock will stop running and/or striking (cuckoo-ing). If you let the clock wind down, it is possible the number of strikes will be off when rewound.  If you are going out of town, it’s better to just stop your clock by lightly touching the pendulum until it is still and restarting it when you return.

NOTE: Please do not wind your cuckoo clock, or make adjustments to the pendulum or level the clock when is striking (or near the top or bottom of the hour.)  If the clock is striking and the weights, pendulum and/or clock is being moved, this may cause the strike train of the clock to malfunction and need professional adjustment.

• ADJUSTING YOUR CLOCK FOR DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME:

 

To spring forward one hour, you can gently move the minute hand forward until you reach the correct new time.  Be sure to pause and let the strike train operate before continuing to adjust the time. To fall backward one hour, it’s best to simply stop your clock by lightly touching the pendulum until it is still and restarting it one hour later at the correct new time.

NOTE: DO NOT turn the hands of your clock backward more than five minutes and never past the top or bottom of the hour.  Doing this will result in your clock chiming an incorrect number of times.

• HELP! The cuckoo / strike is not the same number of times as the hour!
  If this happens, you can gently move the hour hand (it is put on simply with friction) to the correct time that matches the strike train.

Any questions?  Send us a note: