Pendulum Clocks

Posted on August 4, 2012 | By clockde

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There are two basic categories of pendulum clocks which are ” Keywound Pendulum Clocks” and “Quartz Pendulum Clocks” Both feature the romantic swing of the traditional pendulum which adds movement and life to the wall where it hangs. Pendulum clocks add life to the wall where they hang and accent the that area with a choice of styles and finishes to match your decor.

Learn about Pendulum Wall Clocks Below:

Keywound Pendulum Clocks

These Pendulum Clocks are built with a movement that is powered by a series of two or three springs wound tightly in a barrel(s) inside the movement. The release of the tension of the springs creates the energy to power the clock. Some will use a weight which starts near

Keywound Pendulum Clock Adjustment

the top of the Pendulum Clock and travels toward the bottom over the course of a week to power the clock instead of a spring. The pendulum swinging back and forth dictates how fast or how slow the time is indicated on the dial. The longer the pendulum, the slower the clock will run and the shorter the length, the faster the clock will run. The length is adjusted by a small nut on the bottom of the round parts of the Pendulum Clock called the ‘bob”. When the nut is turned to the right on it’s threaded rod, the bob travels upward making the clock run faster as you have shortened the length of the pendulum. Moving the nut to the left will lengthen the pendulum making the clock run slower. Usually a full turn at any point equals about one minute per day, but this may be different from pendulum clock to pendulum clock.

You will find this type of pendulum on:

Pendulum Grandfather Clocks
Pendulum Wall Clocks (keywound)
A very few pendulum mantel clocks (keywound)

Mechanical Keywound pendulum clocks will never keep as good of time as a modern quartz clock, but if one is willing to spend some time adjusting the pendulum nut, you can achieve very good results in the accuracy of the clock. Setting the clock to an accurate time source like a cell phone, set the pendulum clock exactly to the correct time when it advances to the next minute. Look again 24 hours later and determine how much time has been lost or gained and move the pendulum clock nut accordingly. You probably do not want to move it more than a 1/2 turn at a time…then reset the hand on your clock to the correct time and try it again and this time, move the nut less than the previous day. Repeat this for a few days and your clock may be amazingly accurate for a mechanical pendulum clock.

Keywound pendulum clocks usually need to be wound once per week to keep the clock running. This is done by inserting the key into the clock in the holes in the dial (winding arbors). These may turn clockwise or counterclockwise to wind depending on the model. Wind until tight and don’t be too afraid to wind until fully tight. It is just about impossible to over wind a modern day key wound pendulum clock.

The Key-wind pendulum clock will also tick with each swing of the pendulum. Many love to hearing the calming sound of the ticking clock, but may annoy others. If you wish for your clock not to tick, you might wish to consider a Quartz pendulum clock.

The length of good service from your keywound pendulum clock depends on how you have it serviced. Having your clock properly oiled with special lubricates specifically made for clocks will greatly lengthen the life of the clock. This should be done at least every five years or so.

Quartz Pendulum Clocks

Quartz pendulum clocks are those that have a movement inside that is battery powered. A fresh set of Duracell batteries will power most of these clocks for up to 3 years at a time. Most of the quartz pendulum clocks have a chiming feature where the chimes are digital recordings played through a speaker. Most of them sound impressive. The Quartz pendulum clocks keep better time than a key-wind clock and they cost significantly less than a key-wind clock and require no maintenance or winding. This type of clock is certainly more practical than the key-wind clocks and they do not need to be wound once a week.

The Quartz pendulum clocks use a quartz oscillator to regulate the time which is super accurate. The pendulum swings in a back and forth motion and is there for asthetics as the pendulum has nothing to do with the time keeping. Some Quartz pendulum clocks will also have a nut on the bottom of the pendulum, but has no effect on accuracy as the clock is always going to be correct as long as the batteries are good. We estimate the life of these movements to be about 15 – 20 years. These cannot be rebuilt, but you can plug in a new one for under 85.00 at this time and maybe go another 15 – 20 years. That is about half of the cost of a single oiling a key-wind clock. The quartz pendulum clocks tick, but very softly. You probably will not ever hear one unless you are in a very quiet room and you ear is very close to the back of the movement as these are not designed to be ticking clocks.
The pendulums are silent and also do not tick. The hanger of the Quartz Pendulum Clocks (where you hang the pendulum) pivots on the top and has a permanent magnet in a square cavity near the bottom which swings under the movement. The bottom of the movement has an electro-magnet powered by one of the batteries which is a different polarity than the permanent magnet that swings below. Everytime the arm with the permanent magnet swings across the field of the electro-magnet it is pushed away creating the swing over and over again. This design is trouble free and silent. The speed is dictated only by the length of the pendulum.
Quartz pendulum clocks can also provide many features like a volume control for the chimes, a night-time volume reduction or a night-time silence for the chime. You may also be able to switch from one chime melody to another like the traditional Westminster, Bim-Bam, Ave Maria and others. Most of the Quartz pendulum clocks also offer quarter hour chimes as well as the hour count. Some will also have a switch where you may have the clock play the melody and count the hour only on the hour.

The Clock Depot offers pendulum clocks shipped Free anywhere in the cont. United States at the lowest prices our manufacturers allow. You can purchase your new clock from experts at the same or even lower price than catalog stores.