Originally Posted by
Kev Williams
I bought the wife a big Ridgeway grandfather clock in 1993, about 9 years ago the timing of the chimes started getting longer and longer, until they just stopped. The gears were just dirty enough that the weights couldn't overcome the friction from the guck. The big heavy pendulum wasn't affected, so the clock ran fine. Back then I found a can of CRC silicone spray, and after stuffing rags where I could to catch the overspray, I pretty much drowned the entire movement with the spray. The stuff seemed to evaporate almost as fast as I sprayed it. The clock has run perfectly since then, UNTIL the middle of this summer, when the chimes started slowing down again. So I bought another can of CRC silicone spray...
Only this time, it didn't seem to evaporate at all, and unlike the first time, this was almost like spray glue. The can says HEAVY DUTY SILICONE, which I'm assuming is the problem. So now the movement is a mess. They have a DRY silicone spray, which is probably what I used the first time.
I know what will definitely clean the guck all out--- CRC "Brak-Kleen" brake parts spray cleaner. In the old days brake cleaner was predominately trichloroethane, which California banned (I think) and can attack some paints and plastics. There's 2 types of Brak-kleen, one is in a green can and is 'non-chlorinated'. The other is in a red can. The paradox is, the red can's main ingredient iis Tetrachloroethylene, which is essentially dry cleaning fluid, and should be pretty safe. The non-chlorinated's main ingredients are Acetone, Toluene and Methanol, ALL of which can attack plastics! So, I'll be getting the red can! And a can of dry silicone spray, and just lightly dust it afterwards.
That all said, if the movement in your clock is 'in the open' or the rest of the clock can be protected from overspray, consider giving it the same treatment... :)