[DIY & Creativity] Cuckoo Clock – Issue with Piece G13 Preventing Cuckoo to Get Out of the Nest

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Hi everyone,

I finished some time ago the Cuckoo Clock, but until this week I didn’t had time to actually testing it as a fully assembled model.

So, when I tried to see how it works, I had the big surprise to see that Cuckoo sing alright, but doesn’t get out of its nest. I spent a lot of time “debugging” and trying to figure out what is not working properly. In this respect I dissabmle some parts and I did separate testing.

In the first video (link below) we can see that I took the upper roof out and we can see that the cuckoo gets out of the nest and sing – as expected.

Then I reconstructed the upper roof and againg the cuckoo sings, but it didn’t get out from the nest.

Again, various testing and debugging and I noticed something very strange. Piece G13 (the upper from of the house was somehow preventing the cuckoo to get out (see the second video, link below).If the piece G13 is not pushed down to its place, the cuckoo might get out from the nest when singing. But if the piece G13 (which acts as a support for the upper roof) is pushed all the way to its place, something is happening and the cuckoo doesn’t come out at all. When removing piece G13 and resetting the position of the nest, cuckoo was coming out from the nest and sing.

In this second video we can see that there is a small gap between piece G6 (the part that supports the clock) and piece G13 (which supports the upper roof.

See the picture below which shows this gap. If there is this gap, then the cuckoo might get out at the first test, but for the subsequent test it doesn’t come out unless G13 is removed and things gets reset.

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Please note that all pieces were at their correct places.

To make it work eventually I decided to disconnect the rod K1 (on which the cuckoo sits) from the latch K3 (connected to the spring and the motor P25) and have the cuckoo sits all the time out and not go inside the nest – not expected behavior, but an work around only.

Does anyone have any idea and/or advice on what the issue could be and what could be done to make it work with cuckoo getting out from the nest at the hour or when testing?

Thanks in advance.

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Sory to hear about that. I hope everybody can help you. I don’t have this problem. Or you can contact @CustomerService

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They recently uploaded a post about this kit with all its problems and how to solve them.

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You’re a great trouble shooter. This answer will be helpful for this of us who haven’t built this yet.

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That sounds really frustrating, hope you find a proper fix soon! As Sasa mentioned, Robotime actually shared a post about this kit recently. I’ll drop you the link, it might help: [Robotime Mini Class] ROKR Cuckoo Clock (LC901C) Complete Build Guide - Proven Tips & Troubleshooting Insights

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I have build mine and have had issues at the beginning. And realising if the spring was not push at down then it can happen. The slot where it connect the bird’s tail need to Be slide in properly otherwise the bird won’t come out

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Hi,

Thanks all for jumping in and trying to help.

@Wenbare , the link you provided (thanks, BTW) is good and starts actually from a request I had here on the community asking for help because, at the first test – see page 10 of the manual, at Step 2 – the cuckoo sung, but didn’t went out from the nest. At the time, the issue was indeed related to a jam, but not exactly as explained by the authors of the article and no connection with the small metal pieces which connect the rod on which the cuckoo sits and the doors of the nest. That is, when needed to get out from the nest, the cuckoo had his head was obstructed by the upper part of the door opening. As I was explaining in my post, I fixed this issue by making more room for the cuckoo head to get out and sing. What I did actually was to take a cutter tool and slowly carve into the upper portion of the door oppening until the cuckoo was able to get out unobstracted and sing as it was supposed to do it.

@Tricia12 , the issue I had now is well beyond that initial test part (which is at the beginning of the construction – page 10, as I am explaining above. In connection to @Wenbare comment). The issue right now relates to something completely different, and that is that piece G13 (which supports the upper roof, seems to prevent the cuckoo from getting out of the nest. This is because if I am insering piece G13, but not all the way in, to its end place (see the picture attached), the cuckoo can get out of the nest.

I would appreciate very much any idea on what I could do to try making the cuckoo get out only when it sings.

Thanks a lot.

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Thanks for the detailed explanation, it really helps!

I’d double check if that piece is placed exactly as it should be, sometimes it can be slightly off or even flipped the wrong way and it affects the mechanism more than it seems. Also make sure it’s sitting in the correct position and not pushing anything out of alignment.

Hope @customerservice can take a closer look and help you identify the issue better, they’ll probably be able to guide you more precisely than me.

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Thanks.

The piece G13 (which supports the upper roof) is place correctly, as it should and all the way through with no gap to piece G6 (which supports the clock). But when it is in its “designed” position, G13 prevents the cuckoo for coming out from the nest.

When there is gap which between G13 and G6 (gap shown in the picture), then G13 is not fully in its “designed” position, but the cuckoo gets out from the nest to perform the singing.

But, in this second position, the piece G13 will sit in a position which is slightly above (few millimeters) from its counterpart piece G1 which as well supports the upper roof. This few millimeters makes the upper roof to look awkward and because G13 it is not all the way through in its place, the upper roof looks to me as being a bit instable.

This is why I opted for the work around to have the cuckoo completely out of the nest at all times, including when it is not singing - explanations are in the initial post.

Thanks all for the support and help!

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I had similar problems. Here’s the solutions. With regard to the cuckoo coming out. You have to get to the screw that holds to 2 little springs underneath the cuckoo and make sure it’s tight. As far as him going off 5 minutes early, that has to do with how you attached the hands. Mine goes off a minute to he hour, but I don’t want to mess with them because I might cause otther problems.

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Hello,

Could you please send the video link to our email address at service@rokronline.com and grant us access?
We will review the video to further identify the cause and find a solution.

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Hi @CustomerService ,

I send and email with the direct links to the mentioned email address.

Thanks for your support.

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Hi again,

Apparently there may be some slight confusions regarding the videos I shared – see links above to Google Drive. and the order in which i installed the Cuckoo Clock. Therefore I come up with few clarifications (see below).

These videos were shot during the “debugging” process when I tried to understand why the cuckoo is not working correctly.

When I built initially the Cuckoo Clock, I followed instructions in the manual in a step-by-step order, following the succession of steps from the manual:

- piece G13 was installed together with the upper roof (and not separately as it appears in the video shared)

- then I installed the balcony

- then the other final parts

- and then tested in operation

At that moment, after finishing everything, I noticed the bird didn’t come out. And, normally, I tried to see, step-by-step, what is not working. This is why, in the video you saw the balcony visible (actually it wasn’t pushed all the way through because initially I suspected the balcony might prevent the cuckoo from coming out).

Also, I installed G13 by itself ONLY during the process of figuring out what is not working. When I understand it is not the balcony fault, the next thing was exactly to see what actually is happening below thw roof - this is why I “temporarily” installed G13 by itself, without the full roof. With the roof installed I couldn’t see what is happening and what is preventing the cuckoo from coming out of the nest.

Again, installing different parts here and there was only part of the debugging process, not the normal building.

- After I figured out that part G13 was preventing the cuckoo from coming out- I used the workaround mentioned (that is disconnect the cuckoo’s rod (or rather plank?) so that the bird sits outside all the time if I chose so

- I reinstalled G13 with the roof, then the balcony, then the rest of the parts - so, again, I followed the correct succession of steps per manual

Thanks a lot.

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I hope you have luck fixing the problem. There are so many helpful people here that might have the solution you’re looking for. Good luck!