JLC Atmos finally spot on....

Wryfox
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Two things affect markings: date of manufacture, and location of original purchase.

Various company decisions, regulations, export rules etc come into play.

You can look up JLC history on the web for specifics.
 
Evitzee
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Anybody buying a used Atmos clock has to be very, very careful. I would say MOST have been messed up over their lives by people who think it is just another clock......it is not, they are a specialized instrument that has to be treated differently than a normal brass movement clock. It may sound like a bargain to get one for a few hundred bucks.......but expect to pay at least $1,000 to properly get it repaired by one of the relatively few qualified repairmen around who has access to Atmos parts outside of the expensive, authorized JLC service network.. Repairers that had an account as of 2005 are grandfathered in, the later ones have to scrounge around for parts. This is why Atmos clocks bring such lousy prices, they are hard, and expensive, to repair and most people don't want to spend the money.
 
Wryfox
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Just an update to my test on season change...from August 2nd to today (Jan 2)...summer to fall to winter.

5 months...lost 22 seconds TOTAL.

That's an avg of ~0.15 seconds/day.

(I think I'll leave things just the way they are)
 
Wryfox
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Update 10/12/2020:

Atmos over past 2 months(Aug/Sept) is 1/2sec/day(-0.563). Still fantastic.

Of note is a new AC system installed in June, which is far more efficient (electric bills dropped 60%!) but also controls humidity. Has Wifi, a control app, yada yada yada. Works great. As a result, the atmos steady 0.1-0.2 s/d shifted to about 1/2sec.

Here in Florida, humidity is quite high and before the new system it would hang around 62% indoors, but with the new system it is about 50%.

It took about 3 weeks to dry the house from 62% to 50% at the same temp, which meant moisture coming out of everything, including walls and mouldings, etc. We actually had a few hairline cracks show up at joints and corners around the house. So my theory is the house overall shifted just a hair, leading to a slight change in position of the clock on its JLC wall mount. Can't prove it, but trying to account for the slight accuracy change, and the AC is all I can think of.
 
Evitzee
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More likely the accuracy has drifted due to slight changes in the clock itself. You don't know the state of your mainspring, is it more/less wound than before? Oils changing a bit, wear, other things all will effect the time keeping rate. Humidity may have had some effect, but the main driver for an Atmos is temperature change and stability. I can tell a rate difference between summer and winter temps in the house. Anyway, your rate is stellar, I just don't worry about it, I just want the clock to keep running. I reset mine when we changed to DST in the spring, and haven't touched it since. I'm about five minutes fast now. I'll stop it for an hour when we change to regular time.
 
Wryfox
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Evitzee Evitzee
More likely the accuracy has drifted due to slight changes in the clock itself. You don't know the state of your mainspring, is it more/less wound than before? Oils changing a bit, wear, other things all will effect the time keeping rate. Humidity may have had some effect, but the main driver for an Atmos is temperature change and stability. I can tell a rate difference between summer and winter temps in the house. Anyway, your rate is stellar, I just don't worry about it, I just want the clock to keep running. I reset mine when we changed to DST in the spring, and haven't touched it since. I'm about five minutes fast now. I'll stop it for an hour when we change to regular time.

Stopping an Atmos is bad juju. It could take weeks to stabilize again once you start it up again. I was talking to the foremost expert on Atmos here in the US(the one who solved my problem, the story is told if you look at my long thread on the issue of using a different BAD watchmaker).

Adjusting time is quite simple, as the old fashioned instructions were written for the habits of the time, namely grandfather and mantle clocks that you to be careful with as the chimes were tied to hand position(I have an old german cuckoo clock like this). Well there aren't any chimes on an Atmos, but the instructions were written as if for a chimed clock, because that was what people were familiar with, and JLC wanted people to feel familiar with the atmos, as unusual as it was. So you can move the hands any way you like, just not at the time of a beat. That's really the only hard rule so you don't hold tension on the clockwork when its transitioning.
 
Wryfox
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Update 03/15/21: Last time I checked accuracy on 12/15/2020 it was running -0.12 Secs/Day for the prior two months

Today I checked it again. ZERO change from last check on 12/15. Like....ZERO. Quite literally 0.0 Secs/Day. Exactly the same time, to the second, as it was in December

I believe I am finished adjusting this clock.......😎
 
imfagent449
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Each day I seem to discover more threads. I always wanted an ATMOS and looked for a while but I don't have anywhere to place it where it might not get accidentally knocked or touched.

Is it easy to move one if you need to? - I remember reading that there was a procedure but that it was possible to accidentally do something that required another service.
 
Evitzee
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imfagent449 imfagent449
Each day I seem to discover more threads. I always wanted an ATMOS and looked for a while but I don't have anywhere to place it where it might not get accidentally knocked or touched.

Is it easy to move one if you need to? - I remember reading that there was a procedure but that it was possible to accidentally do something that required another service.
They are easy to move if you lock the rotating mass, but they do not like being bumped or jarred while running. If you don't have a rock solid place to put it you are probably better off passing on ownership.
 
UncleBuck
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imfagent449 imfagent449
Is it easy to move one if you need to?
They either come with or have available a multi-stage packing box with an inner foam liner that is recommended for transport. Ebay has these occasionally.

JLC is great with instructions but I get my Atmos scoop from @gatorcpa!
He's not really that busy with tax season here in the US, so ask away!
Just kidding, please do not disturb until late April.

I know little about mine, it's a future project but I find they are mesmorizing.

248005-5324f2433dbbe2129ede89ebae728a34.jpg
 
gatorcpa
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The one thing I was told about Atmos clocks is that they do not like to be in museums, where the temperature is kept constant to preserve other artifacts.

I used to have mine on top of an entertainment unit in my living room, where it was exposed to an outside window and got some sunshine through the window. That caused the temperature inside the clock to vary by several degrees each day.

Had the clock there for 9 years and it never stopped. Then I bought a big screen TV that went in that space. I moved the Atmos to the master bedroom, but far away from any windows.

The clock is level and runs very well, but without the temperature variations, I have to get it manually wound by a clockmaker every two years. Since I now work at home full time, I don’t even have the programmable thermostat raising and lowering temperature during the day anymore.

I doubt I will get two years out of this wind.
gatorcpa
 
dsio
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
The one thing I was told about Atmos clocks is that they do not like to be in museums, where the temperature is kept constant to preserve other artifacts.

I used to have mine on top of an entertainment unit in my living room, where it was exposed to an outside window and got some sunshine through the window. That caused the temperature inside the clock to vary by several degrees each day.

Had the clock there for 9 years and it never stopped. Then I bought a big screen TV that went in that space. I moved the Atmos to the master bedroom, but far away from any windows.

The clock is level and runs very well, but without the temperature variations, I have to get it manually wound by a clockmaker every two years. Since I now work at home full time, I don’t even have the programmable thermostat raising and lowering temperature during the day anymore.

I doubt I will get two years out of this wind.
gatorcpa
Maybe some halogen down lights or something would do the trick, I’m guessing some localized warmth from time to time would probably get it there as well as the room heating and cooling.
 
UncleBuck
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dsio dsio
localized warmth from time to time would probably get it there

A little "localized warmth" can only help in my book!
 
imfagent449
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Evitzee Evitzee
They are easy to move if you lock the rotating mass, but they do not like being bumped or jarred while running. If you don't have a rock solid place to put it you are probably better off passing on ownership.

Yes - I think that makes sense. More and more, I am present to the cost of ownership.
 
Evitzee
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
The one thing I was told about Atmos clocks is that they do not like to be in museums, where the temperature is kept constant to preserve other artifacts.

I used to have mine on top of an entertainment unit in my living room, where it was exposed to an outside window and got some sunshine through the window. That caused the temperature inside the clock to vary by several degrees each day.

Had the clock there for 9 years and it never stopped. Then I bought a big screen TV that went in that space. I moved the Atmos to the master bedroom, but far away from any windows.

The clock is level and runs very well, but without the temperature variations, I have to get it manually wound by a clockmaker every two years. Since I now work at home full time, I don’t even have the programmable thermostat raising and lowering temperature during the day anymore.

I doubt I will get two years out of this wind.
gatorcpa
It really doesn't take too much variation in temperature to keep a properly operating ATMOS going, something like 2 deg F per day variation will do it. Very few home systems have that kind of steady temperature year round, usually a house is warmer in the winter (heating), cooler in the summer (a/c), with daily variations. If you are now having to get it wound manually every two years the clock is not being rewound as it should. A manual rewind will keep it running for about a year even if the bellows is non-functional. It's probably not the temperature change being insufficient but most likely the bellows isn't up to spec due to age. It's just not efficient enough to wind the mainspring as it should. If its been over 10 years since it was last overhauled it may be due for one, these clocks tolerate very little friction to keep running properly, oils age and dry out, bellows age and often leak, an ATMOS will not run forever. They aren't perpetual motion machines.
 
dsio
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UncleBuck UncleBuck
A little "localized warmth" can only help in my book!
A cat would probably do the trick too, I can just imagine given how fragile and susceptible to shocks and drops the Atmos is, cats must be drawn to them like moths to a flame. I can just see a Siamese sitting on top of one right now keeping it running with the heat of its arse.
 
UncleBuck
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dsio dsio
I can just see a Siamese sitting on top of one right now keeping it running with the heat of its arse.
Would probably solve your winding problem, just change cats every 10 years or so.....
 
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