The stand alone weight for tower clock

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Ahh, The weight moves inside the cylinder. I hadn’t realised that.
Looks vey well made.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

No I think he meant that the whole monkey cylinder and all descends until it senses the chain looping back up at the bottom and that is what sets it climbing again. So if a 5m chain it can drop about 2.3m before it has to climb again.

 microswitch mounted on the weight and activated by the lower radius of the chain

[dk0Participant @dk0]

Yes, the whole monkey cylinder has a small arm at the bottom connected to a microswitch that intercepts the curve of the ascending chain.The roller chain forms a closed loop, Jason’s statement is correct: chain length 5 meters, stroke 2.3 meters.

The solution with a descent timer is much more practical and used.

[Clive SteerParticipant @clivesteer55943]

In the example show the weight is acting on the normal cable drum. I believe  a similar method of powering the train can use the next shaft up the train which would require less weight but the monkey would have to climb more often.

Clive S

[Clive Steer]

On Clive Steer Said:

In the example show the weight is acting on the normal cable drum. I believe  a similar method of powering the train can use the next shaft up the train which would require less weight but the monkey would have to climb more often.

Clive S

With this solution the weight is sized to make the pendulum and escapement work while the height is used to give more hours of operation.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Only problem with using the second shaft is that the arbor is usually a smaller dia so more prone to wear. When I did mywilding clock I fitted roller bearings to the winding drum (shock horror) and no issues so far (running since 2018). Electrically wound via endless chain and weight operate tilt switch.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

No I think he meant that the whole monkey cylinder and all descends until it senses the chain looping back up at the bottom and that is what sets it climbing again. So if a 5m chain it can drop about 2.3m before it has to climb again.

 microswitch mounted on the weight and activated by the lower radius of the chain

I’d already guessed the the bottom could be sensed by the chain loop but there is no obvious top sensor. Time was one option.

[dk0Participant @dk0]

The Timer is a good option because it easily adapts to any winding drum diameter and height. The application of the crown around the drum must be more meticulous. I chose to cut it in two parts because it is easier to assemble.

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

Nice idea. Have you ever used it to similarly power chime and strike trains?

The tower clock I wind (Smiths of Derby three train flat bed) would be OK with a 12-15kg weight on the time train, but the strike would need about 40kg (actually 120kg compounded 3 times) and the chime would need over 65Kg (actually 190Kg compounded 3 times).

I think I would like the trigger to start climbing some way above the bottom, to provide contingency for a power failure just before it got there. The current time drum unwinds about 10cm/hour so triggering the climb at the half way point would give the capacity for a 12 hour power outage  at worst.

[dk0Participant @dk0]

Yes, I use this charging system on both the time train and the strike train, obviously with different weight settings.

To answer your question, could you tell me how much space you have under the clock and the distance between the three drums?

A photo would also be very helpful.

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