Keefiedee writes:

Can someone shed any light on this as it is puzzling me? Looking on
eBay for "UK 3 Pin 24HR 24 Hour Timer Programmable Mains Wall Home
Socket Plug-IN Switch", these are generally rated at 3200 or 3000
watts - yet they all look the same, and the one with the 3200 rating
also includes a warning that it is not to be used for washing machines
- which is exactly what I do want it for. I haven't scrabbled round
the back of my washing machine to see what wattage it is, but I can't
see it being more than 3000 watts, so why should there be this
warning?

Motors represent a fairly inductive load so might cause a lot of
sparking, and that can cause the digital timer to do strange things.

I have two timers which work well with a washing machine, and another
of different make which resets itself in arbitrary ways when so used.

Might just be a dud timer, of course, but having arcing relay contacts
near to a CMOS clock circuit is always likely to be a bit tricky, as
anyone who has ever used an oscilloscope on such circuits will know.

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