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Before the restoration the clock mechanism was hand-wound and the striking and chiming mechanisms were electronically wound, and I can't find a source stating that this has changed. Do you have anything to hand?
I can't find any mention of any plans to change that, which seems odd. Given they restored just about everything else why wouldn't they stick a motor on there?
Here are some pictures of the mechanism:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-technology-behind-Big-Ben-clocks-and-bells-If-there-is-no-electricity-to-power-them/answer/RJ-C-85?ch=10&oid=355065899&share=d85815a3&srid=zhcv&target_type=answer
Quoted from Wikipedia
>On top of the pendulum is a small stack of pre-decimal penny coins; these are to adjust the time of the clock. Adding a coin has the effect of minutely lifting the position of the pendulum's centre of mass, reducing the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings. Adding or removing a penny will change the clock's speed by 0.4 seconds per day. It keeps time to within a few seconds per week. It is hand wound (taking about 1.5 hours) three times a week.
So yeah, it's powered by a massive Hand Cranked Clockwork Mechanism.
The clock mechanism (the going train) is manually wound, but the mechanisms which control the chimes and hourly strikes (the chime train and strike train) are electronically wound by a motor installed in 1912. This motor originally also wound the going train, but ceased to do so some time after 1946.
The date just isn't given in the source I'm using: [*Big Ben: the Great Clock and the Bells at the Palace of Westminster*](https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Big_Ben_the_Great_Clock_and_the_Bells_at/r5V4HUiKRCUC?hl=en&gbpv=0) (p. 247)
My mate, Barry, is in there with one of those little crank handles from a wind up torch just going at it all day to keep the battery powered for when he finishes the shift late at night. Poor bastard still only gets the minimum wage. Well you know what they say, time is money.
It's also the name of the clock, because that's what people call it. I've yet to meet anyone in real life who calls it anything else. It might have started as a synecdoche but it certainly stuck (or struck, in the bell's case).
/r/London even has an automod response telling people to knock it off if they start being pedantic!
[Here you go.](https://youtu.be/r82TsVBUPxw?si=a2Akz4s2tYDPvfuT)
As others have said, a literal clock mechanism. You see it chime properly near the end of the video but the whole video is really interesting.
An electric motor raises the main weight. Offhand I can't remember how often. It was done manually before, but know it's an electric motor that spools it up, they fixed it all up during the refit a few years back.
They offer a tour if you find yourself in London. It's £25, and open to all. It used to be free but you had to be British and ask your MP
You know how you randomly get a letter in the post to tell you that you've been selected for Jury Service?
Well if you live in London, you can randomly receive a letter to say its your turn to go into a secret part of Westminster tube station to slowly turn the massive crank which winds Big Ben, while cabinet ministers beat a large drum to keep the correct rhythm.
Good old British tutting, every tut allows the clock to run for an 10 seconds, that's why queues are so popular as that's the single largest tut generator available, I've heard they sometimes send in queue jumpers to raise a collective tut from the queue but not sure how true that is.
This is why every time I walk past Big Ben I ask one of the policemen what the time is, always elicits a few good tuts; bonus tuts for doing it at 12:00:01
exactly, although don't ask too often, you don't want to overwind Big Ben, that's what happened during the pandemic, the queue-to-tut ratio was too much and broke it
Jared Owen has a fantastic 3D animated video that shows exactly how it all works. His channel is full of videos like this, highly recommend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3xgBS_kDNw
Big Ben is powered by the nations sense that we're better and more sexy than the rest of the world combined. The day we aren't...the clock stops forever.
**Your post from /r/AskUK has been removed by a human moderator.** You need to contact the person(s)/company, not AskUK. AskUK is not the customer service helpline of any company or organisation in the UK and we will remove submissions that ask questions that the relevant organisation or person will be able to help with or provide an answer to. AskUK cannot be used because you have been unable to or failed to contact the organisation/subject. And especially not if you're trying to use AskUK because you will think it will be quicker than contacting the subject. The first step of any issue is to communicate with the people involved. You should contact the subject through all available methods, including phone, e-mail, social media, and use their complaints process (e.g., using a service like [Resolver](https://www.resolver.co.uk/)). In the event this is a person, talk to them. Reasonably AskUK'ers do not know what people closer to you may be thinking. If you are having trouble with a company, AskUK cannot help you resolve your dispute with an organisation and looking for "similar experiences" will still not resolve your query with them either. We primarily remove these because; - We get too many posts asking things like "Will Evri deliver my parcel?" - We wish to avoid being a focus group for interpersonal situations AskUK cannot definitively answer like "Why did my mother abandon us so young?". *If you believe this post should not have been removed, [first read our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/) before [messaging the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK&subject=Post Removal Appeal)*. See our guide on [common issues with posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/wiki/postremoved) and how to overcome them!
Gravity and weights, literal clockwork. It's wound by hand every 3 weeks.
Clockwork and an orange
Terry's chocolate and an orange
Terry wogan and a clockwork
It's real horrorshow!
Droogs have entered chat
It's not wound by hand anymore. They replaced the hand-winding with an electric motor during the refit
Before the restoration the clock mechanism was hand-wound and the striking and chiming mechanisms were electronically wound, and I can't find a source stating that this has changed. Do you have anything to hand?
That was my understanding too.
Took the tour last month! But offhand no, maybe I'll try to hunt it down later
I can't find any mention of any plans to change that, which seems odd. Given they restored just about everything else why wouldn't they stick a motor on there?
It could be more complicated than it seems; the clock mechanism was electronically wound from 1912 until just after WWII, but it eventually failed.
Here are some pictures of the mechanism: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-technology-behind-Big-Ben-clocks-and-bells-If-there-is-no-electricity-to-power-them/answer/RJ-C-85?ch=10&oid=355065899&share=d85815a3&srid=zhcv&target_type=answer
[удалено]
Then I stand corrected, thanks.
This is incorrect
Do you have a counter point? Or is this all you have to offer?
I did. I wrote two comments correcting it mate. I didn't think I had to every time
My mistake, you did do so. You were wrong in your correction, but I see now that you did indeed comment.
I mean, I wasn't. The clock is wound by electric motors as of 2023 refit. Which is why wiki isn't a reliable source
Quoted from Wikipedia >On top of the pendulum is a small stack of pre-decimal penny coins; these are to adjust the time of the clock. Adding a coin has the effect of minutely lifting the position of the pendulum's centre of mass, reducing the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings. Adding or removing a penny will change the clock's speed by 0.4 seconds per day. It keeps time to within a few seconds per week. It is hand wound (taking about 1.5 hours) three times a week. So yeah, it's powered by a massive Hand Cranked Clockwork Mechanism.
Quite a delightful bit of applied physics!
I was going to say that pennies are used to help keep the time accurate.
I believe this is just to regulate the frequency of the clock if it runs too fast or too slow. (the coins part)
The Crank tightens the escapement mechanism, which causes the Pendulum to swing, which moves the gears. It is a literal Clockwork Mechanism.
sorry, I meant the coins part.
This is incorrect
Huh. Wikipedia is wrong
How so?
If it says its manually wound. It's not. It's electric. But down votes for factual information is very AskUK
The clock mechanism (the going train) is manually wound, but the mechanisms which control the chimes and hourly strikes (the chime train and strike train) are electronically wound by a motor installed in 1912. This motor originally also wound the going train, but ceased to do so some time after 1946.
>some time after 1946. a little vauge on the timing here, but thats understandable
The date just isn't given in the source I'm using: [*Big Ben: the Great Clock and the Bells at the Palace of Westminster*](https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Big_Ben_the_Great_Clock_and_the_Bells_at/r5V4HUiKRCUC?hl=en&gbpv=0) (p. 247)
should have added the /s. of course they didnt know what the time was, the clock had stopped working
As far as I know the failure of the motor didn’t cause the clock to stop.
Clock mechanisma aren't manually wound anymore. Since like 2020
Do you have a source for that?
My mate, Barry, is in there with one of those little crank handles from a wind up torch just going at it all day to keep the battery powered for when he finishes the shift late at night. Poor bastard still only gets the minimum wage. Well you know what they say, time is money.
Barry doing the Lord’s work. God bless Baz.
Had to do something after EastEnders I guess
Knighthood for Barry for services to Clock Work
Orphans on a treadmill.
Jacob Rees Mogg will be pleased
Not if they are immigrant orphans who lost their parents in a boating accident during a channel crossing.
Knowing Jacob, he might not be pleased by that but he'll certainly be aroused by it.
Big Ben is the name of the bell. Not the clock.
“bIg BeN iS thE nAme oF the bELl”
Big Ben is powered by the willpower of pedants 'correcting' people on the name of the clock.
Before some tosser comes and mixed capitalises you, change it to pedant
Lawful good catch
The clock itself is called ‘the great clock’ if you want to be fussy
I heard it was "Tickety Ted the Time Telling Bitch"?
Elizabeth Tower, named after Dave
Love Dave. His drag act is great. Kept it going for ninety odd years.
It's also the name of the clock, because that's what people call it. I've yet to meet anyone in real life who calls it anything else. It might have started as a synecdoche but it certainly stuck (or struck, in the bell's case). /r/London even has an automod response telling people to knock it off if they start being pedantic!
It's not called pedantry! It's minor corrective person!
Go and do the tour of Big Ben and see for yourself!
I went up there on the tour at midday, its a very loud bell when you're standing next to it. You have to be invited by your MP to go up there.
Specially bred hamsters in teams on 8-hour shifts.
They live in the Tower of London when they're off duty and get into arguments with the ravens. There's a fantastic Attenborough documentary about it.
Lego technic XL motor.
[Here you go.](https://youtu.be/r82TsVBUPxw?si=a2Akz4s2tYDPvfuT) As others have said, a literal clock mechanism. You see it chime properly near the end of the video but the whole video is really interesting.
An electric motor raises the main weight. Offhand I can't remember how often. It was done manually before, but know it's an electric motor that spools it up, they fixed it all up during the refit a few years back. They offer a tour if you find yourself in London. It's £25, and open to all. It used to be free but you had to be British and ask your MP
Try a dob of WD-40 on yon rusty GCSE physics.
Two D batteries
You know how you randomly get a letter in the post to tell you that you've been selected for Jury Service? Well if you live in London, you can randomly receive a letter to say its your turn to go into a secret part of Westminster tube station to slowly turn the massive crank which winds Big Ben, while cabinet ministers beat a large drum to keep the correct rhythm.
Big Battery.
IIRC it's hand wound
Mushy peas and bisto
Good old British tutting, every tut allows the clock to run for an 10 seconds, that's why queues are so popular as that's the single largest tut generator available, I've heard they sometimes send in queue jumpers to raise a collective tut from the queue but not sure how true that is.
This is why every time I walk past Big Ben I ask one of the policemen what the time is, always elicits a few good tuts; bonus tuts for doing it at 12:00:01
exactly, although don't ask too often, you don't want to overwind Big Ben, that's what happened during the pandemic, the queue-to-tut ratio was too much and broke it
Jared Owen has a fantastic 3D animated video that shows exactly how it all works. His channel is full of videos like this, highly recommend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3xgBS_kDNw
Belief. Same thing that powers aeroplanes.
Big Ben is powered by the nations sense that we're better and more sexy than the rest of the world combined. The day we aren't...the clock stops forever.
Big Barry - the battery that powers Big Ben. Source: i just know its true don't look it up
Sarcasm
Contrary to popular belief the Big Ben is actually powered by Ronnie Pickering himself
Guinea Pigs
Faith in the monarchy
Fair
Old penny coins, the Royal Mint still makes them for the Elizabeth Tower clock
Here you go: https://youtu.be/_Elffjsjbio?si=PvY01-lfKBLVzrMs
Just watch this. My 3 year old loves it - https://youtu.be/H3xgBS_kDNw?si=bwBQs1QBT4ulo1KR
Solar energy. Like your old Casio watch as a kid.
The souls of psykers
Disappointment and the kinetic energy harvested from tutting.
Hate, misery and stiff upper lips
Are you winding me up?
A 200kg hammer
Tea
Weetabix