Will a electric clock 110v work on most ships??

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Will a electric clock 110v work on most ships? We had a hard time with it on the Maasdam it kept going fast about 10 min per hour.

[catl331]

The ship's power is 50 Hz, so a plug-in clock with a motor designed for 60 Hz will not keep accurate time. Best to use a cheap battery-powered one.

Edited August 3, 2014 by catl331

[Fouremco]

The ship's power is 50 Hz, so a plug-in clock with a motor designed for 60 Hz will not keep accurate time. Best to use a cheap battery-powered one.

Or use your laptop/tablet/smartphone.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Or just buy a clock in Europe 220volt/ 50 cycles We are on a ship about 120 days a year .. :) I like at night to see what time it is ..

Edited August 3, 2014 by we're sailing away....

[jtl513]

deleted

Edited August 3, 2014 by jtl513

[Krazy Kruizers]

I take 2 travel alarm clocks -- one for each side of the bed.

Press on top of it and it lights up.

[Skipchew]

Yes,

 

It will work. Just plug it into the right outlet.

[Mary Ellen]

Will a electric clock 110v work on most ships? We had a hard time with it on the Maasdam it kept going fast about 10 min per hour.

The ship generates its own power and' date=' as you found out, it isn't as consistent as what we have on shore. From what I've been told this is one of the reasons (most) passenger cabins don't have clocks. It is too labor intensive to have the cabin stewards resetting them constantly. [/size']

[catl331]

Yes, It will work. Just plug it into the right outlet.

The question really was "will it keep accurate time", and the answer is NO, if it has a motor designed for 60 Hz.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

But if I buy it in Europe it will be 50hz. What I can't figure out why did it only happen on the Massdam, We have been on at least 30 different ships and never had such a big {time difference }..

[jtl513]

But if I buy it in Europe it will be 50hz. What I can't figure out why did it only happen on the Massdam' date=' We have been on at least 30 different ships and never had such a big {time difference }..[/quote']What I can't figure out is why did it gain time. A motor designed for 60 Hz should lose 17% at 50 Hz. And if it was electronic (no motor) it shouldn't have been affected at all. :)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Could it be that on a ship it could change in the evening hours up to 65hz

[Typhoon1]

Do yourself a favor. Pick up a battery powered travel clock, you won't have to worry about it not being accurate.

[jaspersmycat]

The power is definitely inconsistent. On my recent Ryndam cruise, when we were in port my electric curling iron did not heat up as much as it did at sea.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Could a ship go over 60 hz??

[jtl513]

Could a ship go over 60 hz??

My guess would be yes' date=' if they ran the engine driving the generator a little faster then normal.[/size']

[igraf]

I assume that you want to use a plug-in alarm clock so that the time display remains on all the time. In this case, you need to use a clock that accepts both 50Hz and 60Hz so that it will not be sensitive to fluctuating power frequencies.

 

This typically will be a clock that runs off of a DC input with a separate AC to DC converter. You will have to look around for such a clock, or use a smartphone or tablet app for this purpose.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will a electric clock 110v work on most ships? We had a hard time with it on the Maasdam it kept going fast about 10 min per hour.

[AACJ]

What I can't figure out is why did it gain time. A motor designed for 60 Hz should lose 17% at 50 Hz. And if it was electronic (no motor) it shouldn't have been affected at all. :)

 

This is correct. A clock designed to run on 60hz would lose time at 50hz or any frequency below 60hz. My thought it the ship frequency is really at 60hz and they were running the motor fast. Not sure though, I'd really like to get into their control room to see how they chase frequency and/or ace, if at all.

[cb at sea]

Call the desk for wakeup calls! Or, bring a wind-up or battery clock.

[BruceMuzz]

Older, smaller ships typically have much more power fluctuation than newer and bigger ships.

Edited October 28, 2014 by BruceMuzz

[chengkp75]

The generators are not capable of maintaining exactly 50 or 60 Hz. There is a dead band in the governor that will allow some frequency variation (speed of the engine), usually within 0.2Hz. Also, with multiple generators online, there is the problem of equal load sharing between generators. Where frequency is not an issue, the governors are set to "droop", or vary speed at every power setting. Where frequency matters (like a cruise ship), the governors are set to be "isochronous", which means they will share load and remain at a constant frequency regardless of load. However, as with all things, this is not perfect, and there will always be some load shifting between generators. As load is added or dropped from an engine, it takes some time (from milliseconds to seconds depending on the load change) for the mass of the mechanical engine to change to meet the instantaneous load change of the electrical system. This will cause fluctuations in the frequency. When there are large load changes (speeding up or slowing down the propulsion, starting/stopping thrusters, starting/stopping A/C chillers), the swings in frequency can be significant, but of short duration.

 

This whole load vs. frequency thing is not a problem ashore since the "grid" is so large compared to the load shifts that changes are absorbed without any significant frequency change.

 

Even the ship's clocks, those on the wall in public spaces, and in some cabins on some lines/ships, tend to drift due to the frequency not being exact. The deck officers will adjust the clocks using the master clock on the bridge every night, as required.

 

Gaining 10 minutes a day is equivalent to running a 60Hz plant at 60.4Hz or a 50Hz ship at 50.3Hz.

 

Just reread the OP, and I cannot explain a 10 minute/hour change unless it was a 50Hz clock and the ship was actually 60Hz, in which case it would gain about 12 minutes/hour.

 

In 39 years at sea, I have never used a plug in clock due to the variations in ship's power. Battery clocks always.

Edited October 28, 2014 by chengkp75

[Jim Avery]

Yes, ships power is engine/generator produced. Yes, running the generator motor a bit faster will raise the cycles a bit over 60 if the Engineer chooses to do so. When I ran ships, my Chief Engineer preferred to run the AC electrics a bit above 60 cycles. Most electrical items operated nicely at that level and it allowed for the slight power drops when other large items come on line. I have also encountered power on ships a bit under 60 cycles. The 50hz 220v Euro standard power would probably melt your clock but then, the plug format is different which usually prevents you from making this mistake. I have managed to get around this and nicely melt my DW's hair dryer by mis-using an adapter set. 110v/6ohz stuff most definitely does not like 220v/50hz power. Live and learn.:D

[navybankerteacher]

Yes,

 

It will work. Just plug it into the right outlet.

 

Which one? Ship's power is generally 50 cycles vs US standard 60.

[chengkp75]

Which one? Ship's power is generally 50 cycles vs US standard 60.

 

I think most ships are 60Hz, even though they are 220v. I think that HAL ships (and I'm not sure all of them), possibly Cunard (not sure), and almost definitely P&O are the exceptions that run 50Hz. Most motors are not adversely affected by the speed difference between the two frequencies, but clocks will be problematic.

 

He is technically correct. If you use the proper voltage, the clock will "work", but it might not keep good time. :p

Edited October 28, 2014 by chengkp75

[MishelleMcc]

Yes, ships power is engine/generator produced. Yes, running the generator motor a bit faster will raise the cycles a bit over 60 if the Engineer chooses to do so. When I ran ships, my Chief Engineer preferred to run the AC electrics a bit above 60 cycles. Most electrical items operated nicely at that level and it allowed for the slight power drops when other large items come on line. I have also encountered power on ships a bit under 60 cycles. The 50hz 220v Euro standard power would probably melt your clock but then, the plug format is different which usually prevents you from making this mistake. I have managed to get around this and nicely melt my DW's hair dryer by mis-using an adapter set. 110v/6ohz stuff most definitely does not like 220v/50hz power. Live and learn.:D

 

Hmmm... wonder how many fires my ignorance of this fact might have caused when forcing plugs in China hotels last year. OOPS! Thank you for this education! I will NOT do this again!:eek: