When Does Daylight Savings Time End in 2012?

Your 7:30 a.m. commute is going to get darker before it gets lighter. Officially, Daylight Savings Time doesn’t end for another week—at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012.

Remember, you’ll “fall back” that night and set your clocks back one hour. Many electronic devices automatically adjust when Daylight Savings Time begins or ends.

For those with more-traditional clocks, Blackstone Manor Clock Repair Owner Mark Purdy offered these tips:

Turning your clock hands backwards is OK for some clocks. 

• A general rule is If it has two weights or two springs to wind through the holes in the face, DO NOT move your minute hand backwards past the 6 or the 12. If the hour hand does NOT match the number the clock strikes, move ONLY the hour hand to point to whatever the clock strikes. Then use the minute hand going clockwise stopping to let it strike the hour and half hour. Continue this procedure until the clock is set to the correct time.
• If your clock is post WW2 and has three weights or three springs to wind through the face, it is MOST likely preferable to move the minute hand counterclockwise.

If you set the clock counter clockwise, you do NOT have to stop and let it chime and strike. If you advance the minute hand clockwise, it is BEST to stop every fifteen minutes and let the clock complete the chime sequence and then complete the hour strike.

The manufacturers of cuckoo clocks say it is preferred to move the minute hand BACKWARDS when setting to time. You can also remove the weights and then advance the minute hand clockwise without stopping to let it cuckoo and play music IF equipped. 

People frequently get the chiming and striking mixed up.

• Clocks CHIME a portion of a song every 15 minutes. 
• Clocks STRIKE the hour.

Some people refer to the Striking as BONGING and the quarter hour chiming as striking. These two features get misconstrued and make it difficult to trouble shoot problems.

When you change your clocks in the fall and spring, it’s also a good time to change smoke detector batteries and check that the devices are in working order.

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