How to adjust the alarm mechanism on an American time & strike movement

 Adjusting the mechanism on a time and strike movement

To set the alarm, rotate the set disk clockwise only. The disk will turn counter clockwise but the release lever will get bent and be out of adjustment if it is forced past the notch in the cam.

There is a misconception that the numbers on the alarm disk corresponds to the numbers on the dial.  The reality is that those numbers on the dial are to tell how long to wait before the alarm is sounded.

Unlike the modern alarm clocks once the alarm goes off, you cannot turn it off until the alarm spring is completely unwound.  Another anti-feature is that there is no snooze alarm.

The adjustment is very simple:

1)  The disk numbers indicate how many hours will the clock run before the alarm is activated.

2)  The adjustment position is set at the 12:00 O'clock position.  

3)  If the alarm is set to go off in 2 hours, set the disk position at the 12 o’clock position to 2 as seen in the image below:

Note: The disk is set at 2 positioned at the 12:00 position.  The alarm will actuate at 9:00 given the clock hands show 7:00.

4)  Next wind the alarm mechanism.

5)   Testing the adjustment is done by moving the hour hand, stopping at each ½ hour and let the strike complete.  Our example, the alarm will activate in 2 hours.  Follow this link for a video of the process or copy and paste this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuOk03LFr04