# Downtown clock tower is broken **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308 "2003-10-19T04:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308/1 "2003-10-19T04:13:23Z")
This is a big clock tower in downtown that chimes every hour. It works fine until midnight. At 3, it will chime 3 times, 7, 7 times etc. At 12:00 a.m. it will chime over 45 times. What is wrong with the clock and how can it be fixed? ---
**Author:** ![Church\_Key\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Church\_Key\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Church_Key_Kid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308/2 "2003-10-19T04:19:17Z")
Are you sure it’s not playing “Ave Maria”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308/3 "2003-10-19T05:01:34Z")
Got some bad news…you’re gonna need to get a DeLorean and go back to 1955… ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308/4 "2003-10-19T08:12:10Z")
You’re going to need a 3/4" socket wrench, ten meters of 16 gauge copper wire, a signed 19-stroke-5b work order and a set of jewler’s calipers. 😛 This is the type of question that would be better posed of, say, the building owner, or better yet maintenance guy. If you _are_ said maintanence guy, mentioning where you purchased this clock and what you’ve done to it lately might help. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308/5 "2003-10-19T09:36:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jplacer \* > \*\*This is a big clock tower in downtown that chimes every hour. It works fine until midnight. At 3, it will chime 3 times, 7, 7 times etc. > > At 12:00 a.m. it will chime over 45 times. What is wrong with the clock and how can it be fixed? \*\* **Jplacer** , when you’ve found out how to fix _your_ clock, you might want to offer your services to [Christ Church, Oxford](http://www.dotkitten.net/oxford/1.html). The bell there tolls 101 times at 9:05pm every evening, and has done so for hundreds of years. [Intentionally, of course, in their case.] Maybe you could make up some cute local history as to why your clock chimes as it does, and make it a tourist attraction? As a matter of interest, which “big clock tower in downtown” is the OP referring to? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308/6 "2003-10-19T13:09:13Z")
Here are a few people that service tower clocks [STEVENSON SERVICES](http://www.wwwebsite.com/ss/text.htm) [John Smith and Sons](http://www.smithofderby.com/products/index.htm) [Frost Bros](http://www.frostbros.com/contract.html) Some neat pics ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308/7 "2003-10-19T13:14:17Z")
Wait, is this a real clock with a problem, or just some brain-teaser? ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-clock-tower-is-broken/208308/8 "2003-10-19T18:49:40Z")
I don’t own the clock or work on it at all. I work at a night at newspaper that is located across the street from the clock tower. We go have to go outside to smoke and my co-workers and I have avoided going out at midnight, because the chime is so damn annoying. We were just curious what was wrong.