Leave tubes on all the time?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by audiorocks, Nov 17, 2014.

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  1. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    I often leave tube preamps on for days at a time but never tube power amps.
    -Bill
     
  2. Wasatch

    Wasatch Music Lover!

    Only on when it needs to be.
     
  3. fishcane

    fishcane Dirt Farmer

    Location:
    Finger Lakes,NY
    I would never..... I turn em on about a half hour before a listening session but thats the only "down time" they are on for
     
    raferx likes this.
  4. Wasatch

    Wasatch Music Lover!

    For me an hour.
     
    fishcane likes this.
  5. rbbert

    rbbert Forum Resident

    Location:
    Reno, NV, USA
    Yes.
     
  6. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Tubes get powered up about 30 mins before the needle drops, and shut down after the listening session. I would NEVER leave them on all the time.
     
    Nielsoe likes this.
  7. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    My only tube gear is a Herron Audio VTPH-2 phonostage. Keith Herron delivered it personally (we live very close to each other). I asked him about leaving it on all the time. He said the phonostage barely pushes the tubes and can be safely left on all the time, so that's what I do. I think the issue is more with tube power amps and other gear where the tubes are driven with higher voltages.
     
  8. donniewn

    donniewn Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    my 5881 sovtek russian tubes will last 4 or 5 years if the bias is checked regularly on my manley monoblocks.i DO NOT leave them on all the time that would ruin them much quicker.i've turned them on and off at least 2 hundred times and they still work great.
     
  9. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    On the issue of surge protection, I have not done much listening to determine how they affect the sound. In terms of actual protection, one of the problems with MOV protection is that the MOV is "sacrificial" which means that every time it actually works to block a surge, it is damaged and becomes less capable of blocking another surge. At some point the MOV stops working to block surges and one would not know that it is no longer working. There are much better alternatives for the job, such as the surge protector from Brickwall. These use a large inductor to store the surge energy, which is then slowly dissipated to the neutral connection; no sacrificial component is used.
     
  10. EasterEverywhere

    EasterEverywhere Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    OK.I have been plugging my tube amp in,like fifteen or twenty minutes before I power up the turntable,that isn't long enough?
     
  11. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    It depends upon the amp and how you picky you are. Some amps sound really good, rather quickly. Other amps can take a good 30+ minutes to start sounding good.
    - Bill
     
    raferx likes this.
  12. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    In the Transfer suite in the mid 60s we drove mag transports with valve amps
    Quad II for 16mm and Vortexions for 35mm
    1 volt 50Hz pilot from the Nagra was amplified and directly powered the sprocket drive
    The amps were hard driven ,the glowed blue and did not last long,the waste paper basket was full of em after weekly maintenence
    They were always left on
    Broadcast desks and tape machines were always valve driven ,hundreds of em,always on,the only fires I saw were valve amps under monitor LS ,mostly Leaks , ventilation was poor.
    Valves were very cheap then and quality high, their energy waste was massive.
     
  13. Linto

    Linto Mayor of Simpleton

    My Quad IIs have smoked many times, but no sparks yet.
    Mine eat rectifiers
     
  14. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    I find my amp is sweet around the 30-minute mark is all, like Bill said, the time seems amp dependent.
     
  15. Atmospheric

    Atmospheric Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eugene
    Maybe someone can answer this... Does any time a tube is lit count against it's useful life? Or does it need to be pulling current? Good tubes are so hard to come by, I tend to jealously guard every useful hour I can squeeze out of them.
     
  16. vinylkid58

    vinylkid58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Victoria, B.C.
    Rectifiers in those amps should last for years. Time to replace C6?

    Yes. Even at idle, a tube is passing current.

    Which one's are so hard to come by?

    jeff
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2014
  17. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    All the time that a tube is lit is a debit to its remaining life even if nothing is being played. As far as prolonging the life of tubes, the issue is at what point does the stress of turning on the tube shorten the life more than the wasted hours of just leaving a tube on. Put another way, how many times per day of turn on/turn off cycling would be more damaging than just leaving the tubes on all of the time. There is no clear answer to this because it depends a lot on the tube itself, the kind of protection of the tube (e.g., soft start) is built into the amp, and the conditions when the amp is idling. If one tends to have just a single listening session every day, it really is a no-brainer, turn the gear on for the session and then turn it off. If one has many short sessions per day, there may be a point where leaving the gear on all of the time (or buying solid state gear) makes sense.
     
    raferx and Wasatch like this.
  18. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Not only do I not run my tube amps when I am not home, I make sure I keep one of these tucked inside the closet door, about 10 feet from my amps. (Specifically, I keep the CO2 variety on hand, to minimize any potential damage to my other equipment.)

    [​IMG]
     
    EasterEverywhere and Wasatch like this.
  19. vinylkid58

    vinylkid58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Victoria, B.C.
    My Pete Millett DCPP amp sounds good right out of the gate, no warm-up required. The regulated B+ and screens might have something to do with this.

    jeff
     
  20. tubesandvinyl

    tubesandvinyl Forum Resident

    I turn my amps on and play music at low volume for the first 30 minutes or so. Like others said, tube amps sound better when warm.

    I ALWAYS power down after a listening session.
     
    timind and raferx like this.
  21. tubesandvinyl

    tubesandvinyl Forum Resident

    The amp's circuit has great impact on tube life. Some circuits run tubes really hard, with high plate voltages and bias currents, which can dramatically reduce tube life. Other circuits are easier on tubes, helping extend their life.
     
    Josquin des Prez and DaleH like this.
  22. DaleH

    DaleH Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeast
    I tend to run my tubes well below maximum dissipation so tube life isn't a big concern. Safety is a much bigger issue but I have been known to leave mine on for months at a time.:hide: Never leave any gear on unattended for safety reasons. (do as I say , not as I do):D
     
  23. Bueller

    Bueller Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC USA
    The Wavelength Brick is supposed to shut down when your computer is longer sending a signal via USB. So when your computer is in sleep, hibernate or off, the Brick should turn off.

    I know from experience that leaving the Brick on all of the time reduces tube life drastically. YMMV, but I had a nice NOS Brimar go bad in less than a year because my Mac was not sleeping due to a Bluetooth setting.

    If you use your computer is not a dedicated music server, I recommend pulling the power cord out of the Brick when not in use. If your computer goes in and out of sleep during the day, that will effectively turn the Brick off and on many times during the day.
     
  24. MrTim

    MrTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pacific North West
    Hope you have a good fire insurance policy if you leave it on 24/7, and no I am not joking.
     
    timind, bresna, Wasatch and 2 others like this.
  25. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    Lets face it valves are lovely archaic devices that require much TLC and consume huge ammounts of energy and cash
    The humble D amp seems so much more coherrent to 21st C life
     
    timind likes this.
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