Please excuse the horological terms in the following. A nice brass and glass dome Horolovar type 400-day , at least 50 year old J Haller of Germany, torsion suspension clock. I've reset the pallets on the escapement so it is back in working order. These clocks are notorious for bad time keeping, bu tlook great, as no fusee or remontoire mechanism so the back torque from the main spring varies fully from fully wound to near unwound. Rotation escapement is 8 turns per minute or 7.5 seconds per cycle, exactly , in theory, but impossible to maintain even over a week let alone a year, summer and winter etc. Playing with a very basic 1.5V plastic quartz-timed clock mechanism with balance wheel escapement, about 0.8mA pulse every 3 seconds powering its escapement via a solenoid. If I brought out the solenoid to the steel "metronome" arm part of the escapement on this clock, any chance of it keeping time? Main motive power would still be the clockwork. So a pulse at end of swing at 0 seconds, pulses at 3,6,9,12 miss altogether, leaving just pulse at 15 seconds, so 4 per minute. If the arm arrives late the pulse pulling it closer and if the arm leaves early it is pulled back slightly, or am I missing something fundamental. Hopefully around the 7.5 second full cycle one, it would be too distant to be influenced by pulses at 6 or 9. Or would an astronomic type gravitational lock situation arise , with drift , and another synchronism would emerge?
- posted
6 years ago