sitelights
08-27-2007, 11:16 PM
After installing over 1,000 Grasslin Digi 42s since they were introduced about 20 years ago I was very gratified by the addition of DST compensation in mid-1995. Then changes in DST dates last year trashed our no-maintenance control concept; the automatic DST time changes Spring and Fall were the keystone of our advertised spec stating that the timer never had to be adjusted. It was true.
The Grasslin is DST pre-programmed until the year 2079 but it is no longer accurate; the dates are all about two weeks off and there is no fix for the problem with the USA spec timer (cHA code in the set up mode) but the Euro mode (AU) is still accurate in Europe. However the Euro code setting does not correct the problem because the Common Market DST dates do not match either the old or the new USA DST changeovers. In 2007 the USA vs Common Market dates are 03.11/11.04 and 03.25/10.28 so changing to the AU code is pointless.
Grasslin is not going to adopt the new DST settings until after the date changes become official; the current DST dates are going to be "trial" dates for the first five years. If I was manufacturing digital timers with DST compensation I would ignore the differences until the new dates become "law". USA DST is not compulsory and a few states and/or jurisdictions ignore DST entirely.
There is no way that we could or would retro-fit new "correct" Grasslins since "correct" devices are not available and it is highly unlikely that any correction will take place until the new DST dates become official. We could purchase a fleet of all new vehicles with the amount of investment we would have to make for a complete change-out; so for the tme being we are just going to ignore it too.
In 1995 the Grasslin rep arranged to supply me with the new DST models in exchange for the already installed non-DST items but the offer was strictly limited to the period when Grasslin had first advertised the DST compensation feature and its actual availbility. Since we do hardly any new installs before mid-March the Grasslin-supplied upgraded Digi 42s numbered only about a dozen before the deal expired. This deal was purely initiated by the rep; it was not Grasslin's idea.
As it stands we do manual corrections for clients that ask but most of them, when informed, shrug it off as being unimportant to be off-time for a few weeks a year.
The Grasslin is DST pre-programmed until the year 2079 but it is no longer accurate; the dates are all about two weeks off and there is no fix for the problem with the USA spec timer (cHA code in the set up mode) but the Euro mode (AU) is still accurate in Europe. However the Euro code setting does not correct the problem because the Common Market DST dates do not match either the old or the new USA DST changeovers. In 2007 the USA vs Common Market dates are 03.11/11.04 and 03.25/10.28 so changing to the AU code is pointless.
Grasslin is not going to adopt the new DST settings until after the date changes become official; the current DST dates are going to be "trial" dates for the first five years. If I was manufacturing digital timers with DST compensation I would ignore the differences until the new dates become "law". USA DST is not compulsory and a few states and/or jurisdictions ignore DST entirely.
There is no way that we could or would retro-fit new "correct" Grasslins since "correct" devices are not available and it is highly unlikely that any correction will take place until the new DST dates become official. We could purchase a fleet of all new vehicles with the amount of investment we would have to make for a complete change-out; so for the tme being we are just going to ignore it too.
In 1995 the Grasslin rep arranged to supply me with the new DST models in exchange for the already installed non-DST items but the offer was strictly limited to the period when Grasslin had first advertised the DST compensation feature and its actual availbility. Since we do hardly any new installs before mid-March the Grasslin-supplied upgraded Digi 42s numbered only about a dozen before the deal expired. This deal was purely initiated by the rep; it was not Grasslin's idea.
As it stands we do manual corrections for clients that ask but most of them, when informed, shrug it off as being unimportant to be off-time for a few weeks a year.