All About Dual-Chime Clock Movement
While clocks are slowly becoming something of the past, few of us are desperately trying to hold on to a piece of nostalgic relevance! Thanks to the concept of “vintage” and “throwbacks” it looks like clocks won’t go completely extinct, even though its primary purpose seems somewhat defeated (what with the rise of cell phones!) However, those of us still interested in the traditional ways of telling time is finding different varieties in clocks to keep things up and running. Even though a dual chime quartz clock isn’t a new concept, it has always intrigued people.
What Makes It Desirable?
Electronic dual-chime clock movement is a type of clock movement that has a speaker on the case but can be mounted on the movement itself. With various melodies playing to remind you of the time at quarter-hours and hours, it serves its purpose of telling time while entertaining you! With volume control settings, you can set it at the desired sound level; the night silencer controller allows you sleep through the night without getting disturbed, as the switch automatically mutes the chimes during sleep hours. A convenient time setting is extended by a rear set-knob! If you want to throw it back a few more years, the dual chime quartz clock comes with a pendulum as well!
How to Operate It?
There’s nothing too complicated about it, but there are a certain number of steps you should follow (preferably in the order listed). Fret not if you’ve never done this before because you’ll find everything you need to know in the next couple of steps. Happy operating!
1. If you’ve got a dual chime quartz clock movement with a pendulum, you have to take special care. Start off by releasing the pendulum guide by giving it a gentle nudge sideways from the transport locking pin. This will let the guide hang freely, after which you must attach the pendulum on the pendulum guide.
2. Now that that’s out of the way, move on to the speaker. If it has been mounted already directly on the quartz movement, you will need to remove it temporarily to put in the batteries. Don’t worry about removing the speakers if you’ve never done it before: but make sure not to apply too much pressure while doing so. Grasp the speaker’s outer edges slightly and pull. Pay attention to the center of the speaker, as it can get easily damaged. Once the batteries have been placed, you can now replace them. Next up, install the chime melody.
Setting the Chime Melody & Volume
This is one of the easier steps while installing your dual chime quartz clock movement. There are 3 switches you’ll see dedicated for chime melody settings, namely Off, West & Melody2. Put off to silent in order for the melodies to be activated and move on to the next step, adjusting their volumes. Nothing to this step: there’s a volume control knob that can be used to adjust the volume according to your wish.
Setting the Time
This is considered one of the more tricky steps while installing the dual chime quartz clock movement! Set the time using the time setting knob, or even the minute hand (but not the hour hand). Also, ensure that you are using the minute hand to adjust the time only after the batteries have been installed (which is why following this order of events is crucial). This will help the hands rotate in the clockwise direction. When you’re adjusting the time settings, the clock shall not chime at the quarter-hour positions (that is every quarter, half, and three-quarters of an hour).
When you’re setting the time manually by moving the minute hand, the clock might chime out of order (sometimes a few minutes before or after the hour when it’s supposed to), but don’t worry about this. It will be automatically corrected during the first hour of its use. So during this time period, do not be bothered by the out-of-sequence chiming you may notice. Give it an hour (or at max, two) for the chiming sequence to get into sync and function effectively. Remember that the quartz movement is very accurate and need not be given a second thought.
Shutting off Chime During Sleep Hours
The volume shut-offs (or reducing volume) can be set for a period of 8 hours during the night. This feature will repeat itself every 24 hours. Just look for the night-time shutoff position symbols and adjust them according to your convenience.