Original Question from Pat on Thursday, July 09, 2009 8:52 AM

Hello nice to meet you..I have a old cuckoo clock from Germany 1969-1970. It was in a closet for years and I have it working but the music wont play the dancers do go around. The only noise from the clock is a ticking nosie from the music box. This clock is my Mothers and a Black Forest, back 30 years ago the clock broke and the repair man took advantage of her. He removed the music box and put in a cheap one. It never played right and did not play the song "Some where my love" Is there a way to fix it without taking it to a repair shop? Seem that it is turning inside just wont play music

Dear Pat,

Thank you for your question. It sounds like you have a great clock. Most likely the release wires to the music box are bent. When the clock finishes cuckooing the music box is then released and the music box turns the dancers in most cases. I'm going to cut and paste below a pre-written answer I keep for just this question. If you are fairly handy and understand how they work you just may get it running. I would definitely try it before I took it in for repair. Just don't bend any of the wires until you understand how the releases function and you should be fine. If after this it doesn't work, you will more than likely need professional help. Best wishes and have a good weekend.


I'm going to try to tell you how the music box works. It may not be exactly what you have, but all are similar and will give your somewhere to start. There should be 2 connections from the movement to the music box. On some movements both wires come from the same spot. On others there is a flat strip of metal coming off the right hand corner of the clock and a straight wire coming off the back center of the clock. The flat strip of metal is hooked to a linkage that pulls a locking pin out of the music box at the top of the hour. The music box tries to play but the fan is immediately stopped by the straight wire coming off the back of the clock. That wire will move back and forth as the clock cuckoos and when it finishes it is supposed to drop away just enough to let the fan rotate freely and the music will play and will lock itself back down. That is how it is supposed to work. Getting it to do that is extremely tricky, but if you are persistent you may well succeed. Last year I had 2 gentlemen and 1 lady succeed in doing just that. There have been at least 75 or more who didn't. Normally I advise people to stay away from that, but some are handier than others. I sometimes spend as much as a whole day on adjusting one music box. Others may take me 10 minutes. There is only one sweet spot where everything will work.

Pat, I hope this helps and at least gives you a good understanding of how it should work. If the fellow who originally worked on it didn't install it properly and the adjustment of the releases aren't the problem then you may need professional help.
Best wishes and have a nice weekend.

Sincerely,

John "Papa" Barnette
Cuckoo Clock Repairs by Mail
www.cuckooclockdoctor.com