House of Clocks

Unpacking the Cuckoo Clock

1 Cuckoo Clock, 2a top piece with bird or 2b top piece with deer head and 2 antlers, 3 pendulum, 4 two weights for Cuckoo Clock or three weights for Cuckoo Clock with music. Some clocks eg. the Black Forest House or the Black Forest Mill have NO top pieces as mentioned in 2a and 2b.

Please check to see if small wood pieces from the clock (i.e. small carvings) have broken off during shipping and are laying in the carton. If this is the case, use wood glue to glue these parts back on the clock. Please be careful when unpacking!
Pick up the clock by the ROOF, and not on the carving section.

Removing the Shipping Security Objects

Carefully lay the clock face down on a soft surface.
To open the back of the clock, gently stick a screwdriver or pencil in the small hole (see 11) in the middle of the clock and pry the back open.
Attention: DO NOT put your finger or a tool in the bottom hole (see 12).

Very carefully remove the paper strip (5) that is lodged between the metal spiral on the back door of the clock, being sure not to bend or adjust the position of the spiral. Take out the U-formed clips (6) that are holding the cuckoo bellows together and put them in a safe place for later possible transport, along with all other packing materials.
Replace the back door of the clock and push the metal stay into place.
Careful: Please do not bend any other wires or clockwork pieces on the clockwork.

Attaching the Top Carving Piece

Slide the top piece of the carving (2a or 2b) into the screw holders on the clock "roof" and gently but firmly screw the top piece on tightly enough that it will not come loose.

For the deer head top piece, first screw the deer head on the top piece, and then screw the whole top piece on the clock. Stick the antlers into the deer head, the antler tips pointing toward the inside.

Hanging up the Clock

Place an upward-slanted nail or screw and dowel (13) into the wall approx two meters (6 ft) above the floor, leaving a thumbs-breadth sticking out of the wall.

Hang the upper opening on the back of the clock (9) onto the nail/screw. Then you may open the wire holding the cuckoo door shut (7) by turning it to the side so that it will no longer stop the door from opening.
Only when the clock is already hanging on the wall should you open the package with the chains (8) and let the chains slowly out of the package, carefully loosening any knots that may have developed. Then you can pull the security wire out from between the chains.
Please be careful that the clock isn’t laid down or turned upside down while the chains are loose like this—otherwise the chains could come away from the turning gears in the clockwork. Hang the pendulum (3) into the pendulum hanger (10).
Hang the weights on the chain hooks, and then your clock is ready to run.

Attention: Please use a big screw or a big nail!

Starting the Clock

With the clock hanging straight on the wall, gently nudge the pendulum to start it swinging. If the clock is hanging correctly and straight, the pendulum should not rub against the clock cabinet, should be swinging freely and the ticking of the clock should be even on both sides. Check the ticking of the clock, and adjust the straightness of the clock until the ticking on both sides is equal.

Setting and Regulating the Time

To set the clock time, turn the long hand to the left (counterclockwise) until you reach the correct time. The cuckoo call sets itself automatically. Please DO NOT turn the short hand or touch it.If you turn the long hand to the right (clockwise), then you must wait every hour and half-hour for the cuckoo to call before you turn any further, and if you have a cuckoo clock with music, then you must wait until the melody has finished playing before you can turn any further.

Your cuckoo clock has been regulated already, but you must fine-tune it by observing it for 24 hours to see if it is too fast or too slow. If the clock goes too fast, move the pendulum (3a) gently down (slows down pendulum swing). If the clock goes too slow, move the pendulum gently up (speeds up pendulum swing).

Night Switch-off

In most cases, the cuckoo call can be turned off manually using a switch on the side or underneath the cuckoo clock cabinet. If the switch for the manual switch-off is in the down position, in most cases the cuckoo will call day and night.

To turn off the cuckoo call, flip the switch up. It can be that some clocks have the opposite setup (down is off, and up is on).

On some of our cuckoo clock models with 8-day movement and music, there is a built-in night-switch off that you can activate. This automatic setting turns the cuckoo and music off from 10:00 p.m. until 7:15 a.m. Please follow the special instructions for setting the day and night time. These instructions are included with every clock with automatic switch-off.

Option: Automatic Night Switch-off

The on-off switch lever located on the side of the housing or the stick located on the bottom of the housing can be used to control the cuckoo call and the music as described below.

• Position I –

If the shut-off lever is in horizontal position (middle) or the bottom stick in the middle position the clock is in the fully automatic position.

In this position, the cuckoo call and the music is discontinued automatically from 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM. To guarantee the proper shut-off function make sure that the shut-off lever is in its proper position.

• Position II –

If the shut-off lever is in the bottom position (pointing down) or the stick on the bottom of the housing is pulled all the way down your clock is in the manual shut-off position. In this position, the cuckoo call and music it totally shut-off.

• Position III –

If the shut-off lever is moved all the way up (pointing upward) or the stick on the bottom of the housing is pushed all the way up your clock is in the operating stage.

Please do not operate the off-on lever/stick while the cuckoo call or music is operating!

Adjusting time

The hands are already synchronized at 12:00 o’clock noon. After you have positioned your clock on the wall please set hands at your correct local time as follows:
If your local time is 9:00 A.M. please turn the minute hand (the longer hand) backwards to 9:00 AM. If your local time is 4:00 P.M. please turn the minute hand clockwise to 4:00 P.M..

Installing the Clock Chains, Winding up the Cuckoo Clock

If a weight and chain fall down when you try to hang up a weight, the chain has come off of the clock gear. The chain can be reinstalled as follows:

Pull chain from other weight so that the weight is completely up, and then take off that weight. Secure this chain by putting the packing wire through the uppermost part of the chain so that it will not come off of the gear.
Turn the clock upside down, take the gear for the fallen chain, and attempt to wind the chain back around the gear. To get the gear to turn and pull the chain back through, pull the chain at one end to see if it turns. The chain gear will allow you to turn it in one direction, and the other direction will be blocked. Please try it to see which direction the gear wheel should be turned.
If necessary, hook for weight and the ring on the other end of the chain should be taken off and then put back on.

PLEASE DO NOT USE BRUTE FORCE - Treat your clock gently.

If you have a 24-hour clockwork, the clock weights should be pulled up once a day.

If you have a 8-day (1 week) clockwork, the clock weights should be pulled up once a week.

Attention: When pulling on the chain to pull a weight up, especially with heavy weights, you may push up on the weight very slightly to relieve the chain of the weight while you are pulling the chain, although the chain still needs to have a bit of tension from the weight in order to be pulled through the clockwork.

In order to keep from putting too much pressure on the clockwork, please pull the weights up slowly, evenly, and without a jerking motion.

The clock weights move steadily downward when all of the clock functions are operating. If you have turned the cuckoo call switch to OFF (or cuckoo/music), then the weights for those functions will not move, but stay where they were when you turned the switch off.

Slight Wood Defects

Wood is a natural product, and even with a great amount of caution and care, sometimes small wooden pieces from the clock get broken off during shipping. Please be cordial and use wood glue to fasten the pieces back onto the clock where they broke off.

In addition, if you notice that there is an inconsequental scratch on the stain of the wood, it is wise to use a brown wood felt-tip (found in hardware stores) to cover up the scratch.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Clock is running too fast.
  Pendulum is not yet fully regulated.
  Move pendulum down.
• Clock is running too slow.
  Pendulum is not yet fully regulated.
  Move pendulum up.
• Even though pendulum screw has been adjusted, the clock cannot be correctly regulated (only appliable to clocks with metal pendulum).
  Check to see if the screw has been turned in the wrong direction, or check to see if the pendulum disk is not moving.
  The spring in the pendulum disk is stuck, and therefore the disk does not move when the screw is adjusted. Move pendulum disk back and forth to loosen the spring.
• At the hour, the clock strikes too many or too few times.
  Hour hand (small hand) is displaced.
  Allow the clock to "strike" the hour, counting the number of times the clock strikes (calls). CAREFULLY move the hour hand (small hand) to the correct hour, and then push the hour hand at the base with both thumbs to make sure it is tightly in place. Move the minute hand (long hand) to the correct minute if needed.
• Cuckoo does not call.
  Shipping clips have not been removed. Night switch off is set to OFF. For clocks with automatic night switch off, the clockwork is set to the night phase (where the cuckoo/music doesn’t come).
  Remove shipping clips and gong paper. Turn night switch off setting to ON.
• Clock makes a slight noise (on a regular basis) about 5 minutes after the actual clock strike at the hour.
  A technical function in the clockwork is preparing the next clock striking function. This is a normal function and not a defect.
• Clock does not strike exactly on the hour/half-hour.
  The minute hand was not installed correctly on the clock face.
  Allow the clock to strike the hour and then stop the pendulum swing. Using flat-nosed pliers, loosen the screw on top of the hands, along with any other accompanying disklets, noting how they were assembled. If the minute hand (long hand) is not riveted to the square rod, adjust the minute hand, replace the screw, and test to see if the time is now correct. If the minute hand is riveted to the square rod, adjust the square rod with the flat-nosed pliers to adjust the minute hand, and then replace the screw, and test to check time. Repeat this step with PATIENCE, until the correct position is found.
• Clock stops running after a short running time or only runs if pendulum is not hung at angle on the wall.
  Intermediate clockwork part connection between the pendulum and the clockwork is not hooked up correctly.
  Slant the clock to the right or left on the wall to hear in which position the clock ticks evenly. Hang out the pendulum; gently bend the pendulum stick (where pendulum is hung up on) in the direction that the clock is hanging (clock hanging to the left, bend to the left, hanging right, to the right). Bend until you feel resistance and then gently bend just a bit more. Hang the clock back to its straight position, hang the pendulum up and check the ticking. Repeat this procedure until clock is running evenly.
• Gong sound is tinny.
  Not enough space between the gong spring and the hammer.
  Open the back of the clock and push the hammer head of the gong hammer back (in the direction of the clockwork) about 1 mm. If the gong spiral is laying too close to the back, carefully pull it out a small amount.