diff --git a/Deployment/master.conf.template b/Deployment/master.conf.template
index fccd953..067abf8 100644
--- a/Deployment/master.conf.template
+++ b/Deployment/master.conf.template
@@ -533,7 +533,10 @@
     BW_LIMIT=12500                  # KB/s — 12500 ≈ 100Mbit
     RETRY_COUNT=3                   # retry attempts before giving up
     SLEEP=300                       # seconds between retry attempts
-    RSYNC_MAX_RUNTIME_HOURS=23      # cap per transfer attempt — pauses and resumes next scheduled run
+    RSYNC_MAX_RUNTIME_HOURS=19      # cap per transfer attempt — pauses and resumes next scheduled run
+                                    # lowered from 23 on 2026-07-16 — daily maintenance jobs alone now
+                                    # take ~4h; 19h cap leaves room for them to still run same-day
+                                    # before the next 1am fire even if a share hits the cap
     CRITICAL_CONTAINER_NAMES=()     # containers stopped on REMOTE before rsync — profiles override
     DELAYED_CONTAINERS=()           # containers needing delay before starting — profiles override
     CONTAINER_DELAY=5               # seconds before starting delayed containers