Do NOt Touch the brass!!
Remember to always wear cotton gloves when touching any of the decorative brass pieces! Human skin is covered in acidic properties, which can leave fingerprints that will create black fingerprint tarnish marks on brass surfaces. These marks will not show up right away, but will show up in a few months if not wiped away.
Also, remember to never use any cleaning agents on or directly around your brass pieces. Only wipe the brass clean with cotton cloths. If you are cleaning glass on the inside of the clock, remember to spray your cloth with glass cleaner outside the clock cabinet! You do not want the mist of any glass cleaner or anything else getting on the brass. If something does get on the brass, make sure to rub it off with a soft, cotton cloth only.
Also, remember to never use any cleaning agents on or directly around your brass pieces. Only wipe the brass clean with cotton cloths. If you are cleaning glass on the inside of the clock, remember to spray your cloth with glass cleaner outside the clock cabinet! You do not want the mist of any glass cleaner or anything else getting on the brass. If something does get on the brass, make sure to rub it off with a soft, cotton cloth only.
Time Keeping
To adjust a grandfather clock's time keeping, you must turn the adjustment nut on the bottom of the pendulum. To do this, first stop the pendulum with a clean cotton cloth or glove. Then, find the nut on the bottom of the pendulum and decide which direction you need to turn the nut. Turning the nut to the left, lowers the pendulum disc and slows down the clock's running speed. Turning to the right, raises the pendulum disc and speeds up the clock's running speed. The general rule of thumb for calculating adjustments is, “one full turn of the pendulum nut changes about 30 seconds in a 24-hour span."
Setting the Time
First, do not move the hour hand! It won't damage the clock to move the hour hand, but it will force the hour's strike count to go out of sync with what the hour hand indicates. If you need to adjust the time, only move the minute hand and always move it clockwise. Immediately stop moving the minute hand at every quarter-hour mark if the clock chimes start playing. Do not continue to move the minute hand if the chimes are playing or you risk damaging the chimes!
If you need to adjust the time backwards (ex: daylight savings time), it is best to stop the pendulum and restart the clock later when the current time is close to the time shown on the clock. It is also best to wait to set the hands exactly to the correct time about a half hour after the clock's pendulum was restarted, because until then the clock will not be running at its normal speed.
If you need to adjust the time backwards (ex: daylight savings time), it is best to stop the pendulum and restart the clock later when the current time is close to the time shown on the clock. It is also best to wait to set the hands exactly to the correct time about a half hour after the clock's pendulum was restarted, because until then the clock will not be running at its normal speed.
Starting the clock
Sometimes your grandfather clock will stop working if the weights come down to the bottom; whether you are on vacation or missed the day you normally wind your clocks. And sometimes your clock will stop shortly after winding, because while you are winding the clock, you are temporarily removing its power source.
To start the clock, simply take the pendulum by the pendulum bob (with a cotton cloth or glove if the pendulum is brass) and move the pendulum to about 1 inch away from touching the inside of the clock cabinet and let it go. This causes 'over-swinging' but in most grandfather clocks this helps set the clock 'in-beat'. 'In-beat' is the term used to indicate the correct amount of time between each tick of a clocks' ticking.
To start the clock, simply take the pendulum by the pendulum bob (with a cotton cloth or glove if the pendulum is brass) and move the pendulum to about 1 inch away from touching the inside of the clock cabinet and let it go. This causes 'over-swinging' but in most grandfather clocks this helps set the clock 'in-beat'. 'In-beat' is the term used to indicate the correct amount of time between each tick of a clocks' ticking.
Setting the Moon Dial
The simplest way to set your moon phase dial is to wait till the night of a full moon. On that night, see if you can push the dial clockwise till the full moon's face is fully visible (centered below the 15th lunar day mark as seen in the image below).
Never move the moon dial backwards. If the moon dial does not seem to want to move at all, it may be momentarily locked and engaged on a set of moon phase advancing gears. Wait a few hours and try again. Most moon phase dials only move once a day, but some do move twice a day. The specific time in which the moon dial moves is different for every clock.
Also, the numbers 1 - 29.5 surrounding the moon dial do not represent the day of the month as commonly misinterpreted, but instead the current day on the 'lunar cycle'. A full moon takes place on the 15th day of the lunar cycle.
Never move the moon dial backwards. If the moon dial does not seem to want to move at all, it may be momentarily locked and engaged on a set of moon phase advancing gears. Wait a few hours and try again. Most moon phase dials only move once a day, but some do move twice a day. The specific time in which the moon dial moves is different for every clock.
Also, the numbers 1 - 29.5 surrounding the moon dial do not represent the day of the month as commonly misinterpreted, but instead the current day on the 'lunar cycle'. A full moon takes place on the 15th day of the lunar cycle.