American Time Blog

Daylight saving time (DST) changes were formally established in most of the United States almost 60 years ago, but the biannual changes continue to be a hassle for maintenance teams, facility managers, IT staff and anyone else in charge of keeping a building running smoothly.

Here are some tips for preparing your clocks for DST and troubleshooting if things don’t go as planned.

Follow the tips below to ensure your clocks and clock systems are ready for the time change.

Routinely check your clocks leading up to Daylight Saving Time

The beginning and end of Daylight Saving Time serve as natural reminders to make sure your facility's clocks are reliably keeping everyone on schedule.

To ensure that a wired system clock is syncing correctly, unplug it, wait at least 10 seconds, and plug it back in. The clock should be receiving synchronization signals from the master controller and display the correct time within 24 hours.

You can take a similar approach to your wireless system battery-operated clocks. Take the battery out, assuring the clock hands come to a complete stop, and reinstall it.

This is a good time to check the life of your batteries, too. If a battery is supplying 1.5 volts or more, it should be good to go. The clock will automatically be on time within 12 hours or sooner.

Your buildings lights, locks, bells and more can be controlled by a Master Clock.

American Time Master Clocks/Controllers can be used for more than keeping your wired or wireless clocks or bells on track; they can help improve other efficiencies throughout your building or facility.

Maximize your master clock investment by using it for….

• Turning lights on/off
• Locking/Unlocking doors
• Turning other equipment on/off

How to Control Devices with a Master Clock

Controlling other devices can be done by using the signal circuits on the American Time Master Clock to trigger devices or external relays, which can control virtually any electronic device.

In rare cases, clocks that are supposed to display precise time and synchronize with each other may fall out of time. Here are a few quick and easy ways to troubleshoot and keep them ticking on the right time.

How much time do you spend making coffee in the morning, making the bed, brushing your teeth – heck, how about putting on your socks? Wait, don't answer that question; it's best not to think about how many hours of your life are consumed with mundane tasks.

The reality is that while we pursue meaningful lives, so much of our days are used up by chores that we would automate if we could, freeing up more time for the things we actually care about. This translates to work, too.

For facility managers, there are few aspects of routine maintenance that can be put on autopilot, but adjusting the clocks is one of those. Here, we'll calculate just how much time you have to spend making sure your clocks are on pace, time that you could get back with a synchronized clock system.

Often in life, your decisions come down to two options. White or wheat toast. Grilled or fried chicken. Take the blue pill or the red pill — any Matrix fans out there?

You have a similar choice when choosing the display format for your facility’s synchronized time system — digital or analog.

While analog clocks have their place, there are times when digital is clearly the better choice. Here, we'll explore the advantages you'll enjoy with digital clocks and what you'll need to consider.

Clocks and protective guards go hand in hand. It's like buying a screen protector for your cellphone. Installing a synchronized time system is an investment that most organizations will expect to see a return on. The best way to ensure this is to buy guards to protect your clocks. This will make sure your organization always stays on time. 

There are two primary types of guards: metal and polycarbonate. Metal is the traditional wire guard with steel rods. Polycarbonate is a clear and hard material that can either cover the entire clock, or be open on the sides. Which ever one you choose, there are many situations where a protective guard is necessary. 

A student is called to the office but the PA system disrupts the entire school to make the announcement. A student has a medical emergency in a hallway but there’s no way to communicate with nearby classrooms. Instructions for fire, lockdown and tornado drills aren’t clear or specific to each area of a building.

No single emergency notification system can cover every scenario and communicate in every way possible, as explained in a recent survey and report by Campus Safety: “… several mass notification systems should be deployed so that the weaknesses of one solution can be compensated for by other so­lutions.” In fact, most K-12 and higher ed survey respondents use multiple systems to ensure that emergency communication is clear, redundant and reliable.

Sometimes life throws you a curveball and things break. It could be the radiator in your car or your cellphone falling on the floor and cracking the screen. Similarly, all mechanical clocks may eventually break down.

What makes a mechanical clock “mechanical” is the type of movement inside the clock. Mechanical clocks have a mechanical movement which means metal gears powered by a motor work together to advance the hands forward. These clocks are commonly found in schools as part of a legacy wired clock system.

Often, it’s the motor in these clocks that go bad. The most common call we get about broken mechanical clocks is about replacing the Synchron® motor in Simplex® clocks. There are over 400 Synchron motors found in various mechanical clocks. Not sure what type of Synchron motor your clocks have? We have a blog for that.

There's a reason you don't swat a fly with a sledge hammer. That kind of power would lay waste to more than just the fly.

The same mindset applies to electrical systems. Applying high voltage to a device that can't handle it, results in fried circuits and a potential fire hazard. That's why it's important to consider clock voltage when making a purchase for your facility, whether you're buying a few replacements or installing an entirely new synchronized time system.