SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

You may what to have your AC power frequency checked (Hertz). The US operates on a 60 cycle frequency. That is how electronic clocks in the US keep track of time, so <b>ANY</b> variaton in that frequency <b>WILL</b> cause the loss of accurate time. I'm pretty sure that a mechanical timer would use voltage not Hz, which will have more of a tolerance to varing voltage than the electronic one would have on a varing frequency, because it operates a small motor to turn a series of gears in order to kept accurate time. I suggest a starting point be to have the Hz checked, and if you think it's possible that it is encountering interference by other appliances, check it while running those appliances. Most of your upper end digital VOM meters are eqipped with a Hz scale. I know that Fluke meters have that feature.[8D]

It is possible to be within the 10-15% acceptable range on voltage while out of tolerance on the frequency. Just ask anyone who has a Auto-matic standby generator installed on their home if their electronic clocks don't either gain or loss time when operating on the standby system for several hours. Most of the time their clocks will speed up.[]