The 62-year-old also explained how the clock keeps its time during the year despite the forces of gravity on the minute hand.
“I was told the weight of gravity makes it faster for the first 30 seconds but then gravity makes it slower on the way back up so it equals out,” he said.
The last time the clock broke down was for more than a month in the summer of 2020 during the Covid lockdown.
He now always looks up at it in the morning from his tram journey to work to make sure it is still working.
The clock tower, which was designed by William Hamilton Beattie, rises 190ft (58m) into the capital’s skyline.
The original mechanism, although not used any more, is still in the clock tower.
Brian said he hopes one day to have it moved into a more public area of the hotel so visitors can see it.
“It’s a massive operation to take it out of the clock tower due to its sheer weight. It’s made of steel and weighs at least half a ton.”
