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Leaving amp on (asking for a friend)
So I have a... friend... who apparently has a bad habit of forgetting to turn his amp off after playing. I errr ... HE has a Fender tube amp. Should he be worried about long term issues? This has happened 3-4 times. We are talking 24 hours not just a little while. He apparently is a bit embarrassed so he wanted me to ask on his behalf.
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#3
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Well electronic components generally don't like heat, and leaving the amp on keeps the amp warm (and boosts your electricity bill) and wears out items like capacitors a little more quickly. Power to the tubes means at least some current flows, and inevitably that removes some cathode material, so your tubes will wear out a little more quickly. So if it's an occasional thing it's not a big deal, but if it's like every day then maybe find some way to remind yourself not to leave it on?
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'17 Tonedevil S-18 harp guitar '16 Tonedevil S-12 harp guitar '79 Fender Stratocaster hardtail with righteous new Warmoth neck '82 Fender Musicmaster bass '15 Breedlove Premier OF mandolin Marshall JVM210c amp plus a bunch of stompboxes and misc. gear |
#4
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jeffrey is spot on.
if you are just taking a break, flip the standby(assuming there is one). when finished, turn it off. you are just wasting your tubes and components depending upon how old the amp and components already are. and, once off, don't move the amp for a while and let the tubes cool off. play music!
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#5
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Suggest to your friend to purchase a timer device to go online with the amp and it’s power source.
Just be sure to her one that will handle the amperage the amp pulls. Problem solved and the timer will be paid for with the first tube he would have had to replace
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#6
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Probably the thing that kills tubes the quickest is turning them on and off. IMHO, that is why they put standby switches on amps. Tubes are a lot like incandescent light bulbs. If you leave them on all the time, they will last for years. It's the cold/hot/cold/hot cycles that kill them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longes...ng_light_bulbs Religiously turning your tube amp after each time you play it is actually shortening the tubes life. In the days of vacuum tube computers, what they did is if tubes were good, they never turned them off because when they powered back up, there would always be some tubes that failed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC#Components Your friend has nothing to worry about unless something shorts out, catches fire and burns his house down. Damage to resistors, capacitors etc from normal idle heat or standby mode is a non issue. Last edited by Seagull S6; 09-09-2018 at 01:29 AM. |
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Good question and good info.
Hope this is not a thread hijack, but along the same lines, what is the safest (high) temperature that vintage and/or modern tube amps can be stored in a dry but temperature uncontrolled enclosure ( eg metal building, storage facility etc). For years I’ve kept them all indoors in heated and cooled space. Informed thoughts and experience appreciated! |
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http://www.nutshellhifi.com/library/MostVacuumTubes.pdf
http://www.fryette.com/blog/how-to-e...ube-amplifier/ https://carvinaudio.com/blogs/guitar...your-amplifier http://www.tubefreak.com/tubefaq.htm Note, tubes aren't light bulbs, and wearing out isn't usually a matter of a filament breaking.
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'17 Tonedevil S-18 harp guitar '16 Tonedevil S-12 harp guitar '79 Fender Stratocaster hardtail with righteous new Warmoth neck '82 Fender Musicmaster bass '15 Breedlove Premier OF mandolin Marshall JVM210c amp plus a bunch of stompboxes and misc. gear |
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JeffreyAK, thanks for the very interesting links
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#10
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Have a Scott hifi amp that stayed on for years, no problem. I do not like standby switches, the sudden inrush of current is not your friend. Much better to turn down the volume control.
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Fred |
#11
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With tube amps developing 300 to 400+ Volts, probably the best reason to not leave an amp on and unattended is that if something in it shorted out and caught fire, it could burn your house down and really, safety should always trump any other argument. Last edited by Seagull S6; 09-11-2018 at 11:34 AM. |
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#13
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History
When the first transatlantic phone cables were laid there were booster amplifiers along the way, powered in series. Those tubes were never powered down and lasted for many years.
On the other extreme early juke boxes were shut down after the record (78's) stopped. In order to have the amp up and running when the needle hit the record. The filaments were hit with line voltage (120 volts), as soon as the plate current came up a relay would switch it over to filament voltage.
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