How to transport a wheel barometer safely?

Always move them upright. The mercury inside the glass tube will spill or create air bubbles if the case is tilted or laid flat. Some dealers use a cork to plug the open end of the siphon tube before moving. This requires opening the back panel and handling the glass carefully. If air does get into the column, a specialist will need to extract it. It pays to keep the instrument vertical at all times.

I have an old wheel barometer with a broken string behind the dial, so the main hand doesn't move when the weather changes. Can this mechanism be fixed easily?

Restringing the pulley is a standard repair. The mechanism relies on a thin silk or nylon thread connecting the float, the central arbor and a counterweight. A horologist or barometer specialist can open the front and reattach a new line. They will also recalibrate the hand to ensure it matches current atmospheric pressure.

What does the setting hand do?

You move the brass setting hand manually to align with the main steel pointer. The next day, the gap between the two hands shows if the pressure has risen or fallen.

The silver dial on my grandfather's barometer is very hard to read because the black writing has faded and the metal looks dull grey. Is cleaning it a bad idea?

Wiping a tarnished dial with modern metal polish will strip the remaining silvering. The silver layer is very thin and fragile. Specialists restore these by cleaning the brass plate, applying a traditional silver chloride paste and re-waxing the engraved letters. This brings back the original contrast without damaging the antique wheel barometer.

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Antique Wheel Barometers from the 19th Century

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Antique wheel barometers are wall-mounted instruments featuring a large dial and often a thermometer above it, designed to measure atmospheric pressure and predict incoming weather changes.