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Registered Member #190
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567
When I lost power due to Sandy my backup generator turned on. I noticed that my digital bedroom clock (it's from 1980) and microwave clock all ran fast. By the end of the day they were ahead about an hour. I measured my voltage and it was 125vac and about 63hz.
I would think that the clocks rectify the voltage and use a voltage regulator, but this does not seem so. Is it the higher voltage that is causing the circuits to run faster? Could it be noise spikes from the generator?
I'm running the generator right in the range specified in the manual (62-63hz, 123-126vac).
Registered Member #1792
Joined: Fri Oct 31 2008, 08:12PM
Location: University of California
Posts: 527
Some clocks derive their time from the power line frequency, 60 cycles per second. The frequency from the utility company is regulated so that even if the clock runs slightly fast they make sure to slow it down so that on average a clock that runs off of this should be quite accurate.
If your generator is putting out 63 Hz then it will cause your clocks to run 5% faster than usual (if they do use the line frequency), which works out to about an hour per day.
Registered Member #2099
Joined: Wed Apr 29 2009, 12:22AM
Location: Los Altos, California
Posts: 1716
For long term cumulative accuracy, counting power line cycles beats any inexpensive crystal oscillator reference. In fact it is as good as an "atomic clock" that receives time signals from a government broadcasting station. And even for short periods, the tolerable frequency deviaton is less than 0.1% IIRC (easy to look up on internet).
The above is not necessarily true in developing countries.
Registered Member #2887
Joined: Sat May 29 2010, 11:10PM
Location: Panama City, Panama
Posts: 107
Yep, its the line freq, not the line voltage. Many clocks use the line freq instead of a quartz crystal as it is more dependable; the power company regulates it so that on average, it is exactly 60hz.
Registered Member #816
Joined: Sun Jun 03 2007, 07:29PM
Location:
Posts: 156
Possibly the manual says to run at a slightly higher frequency, to allow for the Rpm to drop a bit under load.
What about a phase lock loop circuit to keep the genny locked to an Xtal reference, assuming there was some form of electronic actuator of the throttle position. Would that work or not? How do the power company’s archive such accurate frequency control, unlikely it’s still done by manually watching the freq.
last time I lost power it was fun to see how much the freq fluctuates using a kill-a-watt. $20 well spent for any geek there are now small gens that use inverters. which of course would bring up the criticisms of cheap inverters. We're glad you are still alive and have electricity.
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house clocks and back up generators
