Has anyone else left their tube amp on while they were out of town for 14 days?

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jaylevine

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Just curious if beyond losing 300 plus hours of tube life there is anything else that I should worry about?

borism

No, maybe you should just give thanks on this day that you didn't burn down the house! :)

jaylevine

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JakeJ

If the amp was not playing music then tube life loss is probably less than the total time left on.  The tubes were not "working" so to speak.  If it is a preamp you have little worries, power amp is a bit more concerning because of the output tubes but really the biggest issue as borism mentions not having a fire.  Wow!  Very happy to hear you did not have a catastrophy to come home to.
 :thumb:

FullRangeMan

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This is a very robust amp, some power transformers cant stand six hours running without overheating. Curious what is this amp?

jaylevine

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Bob Latino VTA120

mick wolfe

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Bob Latino VTA120

Yep, that's a rugged amp. With that said however, I think you dodged a bullet.  "Maybe" fuses would have saved the day if something went awry, but you never know.  How does the amp sound now? Any signs of stress?

jaylevine

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Haven’t turned it back on yet. Will do so after holiday sit down and report back tomorrow.

I guess it is definitely broken in now :)

FullRangeMan

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Unfortunately fuses operate for short circuit not temperature.

RDavidson

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Yeah. I wouldn't recommend leaving a tube amp on if no one is home. You're dealing with high voltages and tubes can explode. It is rare, but the potential for a fire is real. Better safe than sorry.

john1970

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When I go out of town I turn off all AV equipment and unplug the surge protectors from the wall so even if there was a lightning strike everything is 100% isolated from the AC main.  I never leave amps (SS or tube) while I am out of the home.

DaveC113

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I've accidentally left mine on for a few days while I was gone, I was a little upset to find it on when I returned but no harm done, luckily.

poseidonsvoice

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When we leave for an extended time (more than 1 day), I reflexively turn off  the breaker to the main listening room, equipment room and all lighting since my audio room is a room within a room.

So absolutely nada stays on. We’ve done it for 6 years and the breakers work fine, no signs of wear & tear.

Best,
Anand.

jaylevine

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I always check and shut things down before I head out. Don’t really know how this happen, can only assume the switch stuck when I turned it off and it really didn’t fully dis-engage. Either way a hard lesson. I’m going to move the amp to a dedicated surge protector and just turn it on/ off going forward.

danabunner

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That's a brand new, or at least, very modern amp.  So your odds were much better with it than a vintage amp which has older parts.  I've never left a tube amp on overnight, but have had them on for 12-14 hours at a stretch.  When running in idle, they don't get that warm.  But there is always the risk of an output tube failing. 

jaylevine

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Well so far ok. Turned it on today and sounded fine. Will warm it up tomorrow to check bias ( quick check today looked low but I only had the amp on for 10 minutes and I usually wait an hour before checking bias).

FullRangeMan

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Well so far ok. Turned it on today and sounded fine. Will warm it up tomorrow to check bias ( quick check today looked low but I only had the amp on for 10 minutes and I usually wait an hour before checking bias).
You will cook the amp again, let an tube amp power on more than 4 hours is against the safety rules of thumb for tubes amps imo. For bias setting 1 hour warm-up is suffice.

jaylevine

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You will cook the amp again, let an tube amp power on more than 4 hours is against the safety rules of thumb for tubes amps imo. For bias setting 1 hour warm-up is suffice.


Not sure I get your point. I don’t normally leave the amp on more than the time I’m listening to it.