Tube amp = on/off protocol

Hi

I'm new to tube amps and I have what will probably seem like a silly question so please bear with me and give me the facts:

is it better to leave it on at all times or to turn it off and back on?

 

Firing it on and off puts stress on the tubes, but you also don't want to unnecessarily 'waste' the tubes.

Leave it on if you're planning to use it again within the hour, otherwise turn it off. They do tend to sound better the longer they're left on.

 

Keep in mind the life of most tubes is on the order of 2000-5000 hours. So unless you feel like spending a few hundred bucks at least once a year to re-tube.... That's ignore the significant fire hazard, as well. Tubes give off a lot of heat. Some amps (mostly guitar amps, not hifi stuff though) have a stand-by switch that will keep the tubes 'lit' but not apply any extra voltage. Probably the best of both worlds. Still wouldn't leave 'em on overnight.

 

There are few silly questions, welcome from the dark side (SS) and into the light. I'm sure you will enjoy your stay.

Some small signal tubes offer upwards of 10k hour lifetimes. My OTL power tubes 6AS7G/6H13C last some seven years.

+1 on action pact's post.

Happy Listening!

 

There was a thread on this topic just last week.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/leave-tubes-on-all-the-time.394223/

 

My personal protocol is first lower or mute the volume and then to turn the amp (tube or solid state) off first and to turn it on last. The potential of a "thump" from turning off other electronic gear is eliminated from possibly causing some harm via a signal spike or surge. My tube pre-amp when turned on ramps the volume up slowly from a lower volume to the last volume setting used. The pre-amp keeps the tubes on at a very low level when turned off to extend tube life. The manufacturer recommends to power the unit off completely which is done be powering down the pre-amp's power supply if it is not being used for an extended time. If your unit does not have this feature I suggest detaching the power cord for longer periods if it has similar standby mode.
I turn my tube power amp off if I am not going to listen to it within a two to three hour period.

 

Want to make this my sig here,but don't know how.

 

If you look at the upper right of a page you will see your name - by upper right I mean near the title bar.

Click your name then select "Signature".

That option has a tool to create and modify a signature - it has an button you can use to import/attach a graphic.

 

thanks a lot

 

Turn them off when you are done playing music for the "session". It saves tube life as well as energy.

 

Don't turn tube amps on and off rapidly. But don't leave 'em on all the time --they're hugely inefficient and will waste a lot of energy, you'll shorten you're tube life and most of all the risk of fire or other problems is real. Having used hifi and guitar tube amps regularly for more than 30 years, and having see all kinds of things like resistors going bad out of the blue, tubes just start red plating out of the blue, new production rectifiers all but exploding, I'd never leave tube amps switched on an unattended for great lengths of time. Let the gear warm up long enough to come to thermal stability, maybe 20 minutes, before you do any serious listening, then switch the gear off when you're listening session is over.

 

How about tube rolling? I know it's best to listen to tubes for a while before swapping, however, is there a minimum you should leave tubes on before swapping in terms of not hurting the tubes?
I like to swap the 12au7 tube in my decware zp3 phono stage. It really impacts the sounds. I'm always nervous I'm killing the tubes by doing this. I also only put it into standby mode and turn the volume down when I swap... Flame away, I'm a tube noob.

 

I really don't think that tubes are as fragile as some seem to think...

 

Not at all, but most of the good ones are headed towards the endangered species list, so it behooves us to make sure as much life is extracted from them as practical.

 

Hot swapping tubes? I dunno. People seem to do it with preamp tubes in standby. I'm not sure I would. I let tubes cool down before swapping and don't swap powered up -- there are lethal voltages in tube amps. But never try hot swapping power tubes, or, rectifiers.

 

Many tube amps,do not have a dedicated on/off switch,so the only way to shut them off is to unplug them.

 

thanks for the wisdom

 

Really? Many? Which ones? Seems like a crazy design idea. I know some pres of that sort, phono pres in particular do. And I've never encountered any of the kind of potential hazards I've encounter with power amps with small signal tube circuits. Personally, I still wouldn't leave everything on all the time.