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AC Frequency (not voltage) Issue
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Back in the Good Ole US of A
Status:
Offline
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Here in the east coast of the Dominican Republic we are lucky to have a private electricity company that provides reliable power 24/7. Much of the country is not so lucky and deals with daily outages up to 8 hours. My issue is that the clocks on my microwave, stove, and coffee maker all use the power line frequency to regulate the clock. It would seem my frequency is a little higher than 60Hz because the clocks run fast. I'm trying to find some sort of regulator I can plug into the electrical outlets but all of my google searches are leading me to voltage regulators which seem to be overkill and I'm not even sure those regulate frequency as well.
I thought I'd check here since you guys seem to be experts in all sorts of things. Any ideas? Oh, almost forgot, we have the same power standard and plug types as the US.
As far as size/format, I'm think of something like these plug extenders that don't take up much space:
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Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status:
Online
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Sorry to tell you, frequency can be controlled only when you generate the AC. You need to convert to DC, then have an inverter recreate clean AC at 60Hz. A UPS might do it. But most (all?) either pass through the incoming frequency while charging, or run off internal battery and not charge. I don't know of any that will charge off incoming line while outputting from battery.
I think you need a charger + (deep cycle) battery + sine-wave inverter to do what you want. You'll need a good-sized one to run a microwave and coffee maker. If your stove is electric (not gas) you'll need a more expensive 240v inverter, and a much beefier charger. To exceed the wattage rating of the connected devices.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Back in the Good Ole US of A
Status:
Offline
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Hmm.... looks like I'll just have to continue my routine of resetting the clocks every day or so. Sometimes they can be off by 10 minutes or more in just a couple of days.
I'm just thankful I don't have to keep a utility room full of batteries and an inverter to deal with daily outages. Resetting my clocks every so often is a price I'm willing to pay to have reliable electricity.
Thanks for the info!
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Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status:
Online
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You could put some accurate battery clocks around the house, and simply ignore (or tape over) the inaccurate AC clocks.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Status:
Offline
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A double conversion (or true online or whatever they're calling them now) UPS would do it, but running any of those appliances would require a very large (high power) UPS.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
Status:
Offline
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Crystal based clocks are such old hat it seems odd that all your appliances would rely on AC frequency to tell time. Oh well.
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status:
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+1 for what mduell said. They do make UPSes where the output is always off the battery, but one which can run 10-15A would be gigantic, in both size and expense.
Also, constantly running fans.
But, you do get this gorgeously clean power from them.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Washington state
Status:
Offline
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You can buy an inverter that plugs into a car cigarette lighter that supplies 115 vac at some frequency to run a small appliance. Provide the 12 vdc yourself. I do not know how good the frequency is.
Sam
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