How to Standardize Timers
Timers can be used in the lab for determining flow speeds, monitoring strain rates and establishing drying intervals, according to AMRL. Standardizing your timer ensures the timer is accurate and meets national or international standards. You can standardize your timer using a traceable timer or stopwatch. Traceable timers "...record time values that can be related to stated references, usually national or international standards, through an unbroken chain of coordinated universal time scale comparisons," adds NIST Traceability Website.
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Instructions
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Purchase a traceable timer or stopwatch from your local retail store. The calibrated timer is used for comparison purposes when standardizing your timer.
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Adjust your timer to synchronize with the time on the traceable timer or stopwatch. Use the hour, minute, and seconds' buttons on your timer to set the hour, minute and seconds time to correspond with the hour, minute and seconds time on the traceable timer/stopwatch. Refer to your timer/stopwatch manual for detailed instructions on how to adjust the time settings on the timer model you have.
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Standardize your timer regularly, at least once every six months, to ensure you maintain the accuracy of your timer. Regularly standardized timers are more reliable than timers that are not standardized on a regular basis.
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Tips & Warnings
NIST is the organization responsible for developing, assessing and maintaining the measurement standards and measurement uncertainties associated with values assigned to measuring instruments, serving as a national standard for frequency, time interval and time-of-day, according to NIST Traceability Website. Purchase a timer that is traceable to defined national or international standards to ensure standardization of your timer meets NIST's standards.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit timer image by Lombok from Fotolia.com
