If you have a grandfather clock, pendulum clock or another kind that needs winding to keep time, you may be concerned about overwinding, especially if your clock stopped on the day you wound it last. There are several reasons a clock may stop after winding, but overwinding is not considered one of them. Instead, the clock might just have stopped working on the day it was wound because of increased friction in the workings of the clock.
Winding Mechanisms
Most winding mechanisms have a key that is turned to wind the clock. Some clocks may have more than one winding mechanism. Some have a winding mechanism for the chimes, and others might have one for the pendulum and one for the clock spring. There are some timekeeper clocks that have two winding mechanisms for the spring. You cannot overwind the winding mechanism, as long as you are exerting normal hand pressure and not using some kind of tool to wind past the stop point. The spring will only wind so much before it breaks.
Broken Spring
Some people may think they overwound a clock because they keep winding a clock that has a broken spring. Over time, the spring may become fatigued. Often, people think they overwound their clock because the problem was more obvious on the day they wound it, but they actually need some sort of clock repair.
