On Apr 22, 12:35*pm, jeff_wisnia
wrote:
*From my "I can't believe they'd make it this way" list.

Last year I purchased a new Westinghouse Model WST-3501 microwave oven
for our office lunchroom.

It heats and cooks things fine, but has one lousy feature which I can't
avoid noticing and which irks me very time I see it.

The TOD, which is displayed whenever the unit is on standby, loses about
two minutes a day, and has to be reset every few days to keep from
falling ridiculously behind.

I'm shocked, shocked, that the clock isn't synced to the 120 volt 60 Hz
power the unit runs on, like every other line powered appliance with a
digital TOD display I own.

The only reason I can guess for the poor timekeeping is that the
circuitry/board running the clock is used on their 220 volt 50 Hz
versions without modification, so the makers decided not to use line
sync for the clock, and probably didn't want to spring for a crystal
oscillator either, so used an RC one instead.

I tried emailing Westinghouse about this and they fobbed me off to a
subsidiary who couldn't even bother to respond to an email.

Thanks for reading. Anyone got any other ideas about why the stupid
clock in this microwave loses time?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

Why not donate the SOB and get a new one for $40 and STFU!