Eskom blamed for bad tech?

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 05 Nov 2007

Eskom`s ongoing power supply troubles seem to be spawning a new generation of unlikely stories, says computer and urban legend guru Arthur Goldstuck.

He was commenting on a recent letter to the Financial Mail and anecdotal water-cooler-talk that linked mains-powered clocks losing time with possible frequency fluctuations in Eskom-provided power.

Eskom provides power at 50-Hertz (Hz) and CCII CEO and electronics engineer Richard Young says this "free" frequency reference may have been used in past decades in the place of oscillating crystals to keep electric clocks accurate. However, the advent of cheap mass production in the Far East means that only truly old clocks would use mains power frequency to keep time.

"Frequency fluctuations are more likely to affect electrical things than electronic," Young says. He adds that Eskom has never guaranteed power at exactly 50Hz and likely has a leeway of a few Hz in either direction, as is the case with the voltage it provides.

Young says substantial fluctuations may damage motors and items fitted with compressors, such as refrigerators, but probably not small-current electronics such as computers, because these run off batteries or power supply units that convert Eskom alternating current to direct current, rendering frequency questions moot.

Goldstuck says the story "has a ring of an urban legend to it". He says electronic clocks are notoriously poorly calibrated during the manufacturing process and computer clocks are no better.

"The public`s appetite for urban legends is insatiable. The public`s appetite for swallowing urban legends is equally insatiable," he says. "In fact, I get enough material to update a blog I keep on urban legends daily.

"Microwave oven clocks normally lose time because of manufacturing defect or incorrect calibration. Manufacturing flaws in electronic clocks are a pervasive problem worldwide," he says, adding this is generally not known or not considered by the public at large.

"It is very easy then to lay the blame at Eskom`s door," he says. "While it is easy to point fingers at Eskom, we should only do so when the concern is valid. This seems spurious."

Turning to desktops and laptop timekeeping, he adds these PCs lose time "regardless" because of "battery issues".

"The battery degrades over time," he says, noting that computer time is regulated by battery and not mains power.