Instructions for Hermle Mechanical Ship’s Bell Clock
Posted on June 3, 2015 | By clockde | 2 responses
Instructions for Hermle Mechanical Ships Bell Clock
8-Day Key Wind
1) Unpack the clock
Take clock and key carefully out of carton.
2) Transportation securing device
Open the back of the clock (either remove the round plastic cover or open the sliding door). Carefully remove the rubber band holding the hammer. Close the back of the clock.
Open the font of the clock and remove tissue paper (if any) from the hands.
3) Winding the clock
Please wind your clock fully every 7 days for optimum performance (the clock may actually run about 8 – 9 days on one winding). To wind the clock use the enclosed key. Turn key clockwise until it stops. The right winder is for the time, and the left one is for the striking of the bell.
4) Setting the clock
The minute hand (long hand) may be moved clockwise or counterclockwise to set the clock to the correct time. Never turn the hour (short) hand, it moves automatically.
6) Regulating the clock
This clock will keep time to within about 2 – 4 minutes per week. If it is off more than that:
First, make sure both winders are being fully wound every 7 days.
To regulate the clock: Use the lever with the + and – symbols on the upper right side of the dial. Move it to + to speed it up, and towards – to slow it down. make only a very small adjustment each time, and then set the clock and test it for several days.
7) Silencing the bells
The striking may be turned off by moving the lever on the upper left side of the dial to the “no bell” position.
8) The ship’s bell code
Ship’s bell strike is based on “watches” onboard ship of 4 hours each. A new watch starts at noon, 4 p.m., 8 p.m., midnight, 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. The end of a “watch” and start of a new watch is marked by the bell being struck 8 times. A half hour later, the bell is struck once, with an additional strike each half hour until the end of the watch. Then the cycle starts again. The bells are struck in pairs, that is, the first two bells are struck close together followed by a pause, then the next two, etc. The table below shows the pattern of the bells.
Ship’s Watch Bell Strike Sequence
4:00 8 Bells xx xx xx xx
4:30 1 Bell x
5:00 2 Bells xx
5:30 3 Bells xx x
6:00 4 Bells xx xx
6:30 5 Bells xx xx x
7:00 6 Bells xx xx xx
7:30 7 Bells xx xx xx x
8:00 8 Bells xx xx xx xx
8:30 1 Bell x
9:00 2 Bells xx
9:30 3 Bells xx x
10:00 4 Bells xx xx
10:30 5 Bells xx xx x
11:00 6 Bells xx xx xx
11:30 7 Bells xx xx xx x
12:00 8 Bells xx xx xx xx
12:30 1 Bell x
1:00 2 Bells xx
1:30 3 Bells xx x
2:00 4 Bells xx xx
2:30 5 Bells xx xx x
3:00 6 Bells xx xx xx
3:30 7 Bells xx xx xx x
4:00 8 Bells xx xx xx xx
The bell on my clock chimes on 10 minutes past the hour and 20 minutes to the hour. This situation developed after cleaning and oil maintenance. Please advise to correct. The ship’s bell clock is an 8 day mechanical winding clock.
Hi Edward..You may take off the minute hand by removing the nut in front of the hand and look at the back of the hand. If your clock is like most, you will see a small brass insert on the hand. You may hold the nut tightly with pliers and move the hand to where it needs to be. It may take a few tries to get this right. If you look at the following page and video, you can see how this is done.
https://www.theclockdepot.com/clocks-blog/grandfather-clock-chimes-wrong-quarter-hour/
This is being done on a grandfather clock, but the procedure is the same for mast mechanical clocks.
Good Luck,
Robert