Your Clocks Will Soon Show Different Times

I can handle the clocks being off. However, the last two daylight savings time changes knocked out my ISP for 2-3 days!

Have no idea why and they couldn't explain it - but apparently didn't learn from it the first time.

Sally, we use 60 Hz here as the frequency, in Europe they use 50 Hz as the frequency.

These are the cycles per second that determine that rate at which electrons flow back and forth. If you alter the frequency the motors that drive the clocks will operate at a different speed reletive to the frequency.


Old Chinese proverb...Man with one clock always sure what time it is. Man with two clocks never really sure what time it is.

I had the same problem with mine. I simply unplugged it and now it's the most stable timepiece I've ever had.

Patrician, (et al.) just a very few from the States, there are many different outlets, many used in commercial applications.

Besides just 120 and 240..



A few from around the world...

Steve,

If you smoke enough corporate dope it's easy to see that:

A) It will save the electric companies a fortune if the frequency is allowed to float.

B) It will create new opportunities for profitable businesses to sell the 'correcting devices'.

C) The burden of cost will be pushed to the demand side from the supply side.

D) You can show you're taking a proactive approach to cost savings that should show up in the quarterly reports.

What's not to love about this?

It PROBABLY won't affect you. When I heard about the tie to frequency around the 60s, I found it hard t fathom even THEN! Even THEN, MOST devices lowered the power, and changed it to DC. Computers were odd, since they used a switching power supply Switched-mode power supply - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Well, that article DOES say the frequency is important, it says that most consumer ones, like WE would use, "can handle the range". I put that LAST part in quotes, because they then INVALIDATE their statement in THIS case by saying "although a manual voltage range switch may be required". They don't make that clear if it is only for the input voltage. It USED to be that the US used 120 at 60, and almost everyone else used 240 at 50. SOME power supplies have a switch to select one of the two variants!

I never looked at the schematic for a switching power supply, so I don't know that much about this, but they make it sound like the frequency can affect the voltage. The frequency looks like only 20% difference. If it affected the output power that much, you would have 4-6 volts, on the 5 volt line, assuming it was supposed to put out exactly 5v and was NOT regulated.

TYPICALLY, in most circuits anyway, the input voltage is rated at least a volt or two higher so a device called a regulator can reduce it to precisely what is needed. Regulators are expected to generate some heat, can burn out, and should be before any device that needs stable power, so I imagine they are in the power supply.
I will say one thing though. The higher the input voltage in a regulator is, in comparison to what it is to put out, the hotter it will get and the more likely it is that it will burn out.

As for the current fluctuations, computers are SO susceptible to them that they typically put capacitors ALL OVER the motherboard. Hopefully they can ride it out. The clock, to the best of my knowledge doesn't require any special input frequency. In fact the power supply is supposed to only provide DC!

Still, I heard that power supply is a problem. If they say they will put out a stable frequency, they should tell people that they will change it in 20 years or so, and change it THEN.

Steve