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Tube Warm up


stewblack
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Some folk would say 5-10 minutes. 

Myself, once I turn on my Trace V6 on I give it about 90 seconds or so before I hit standby. That is the case though if the amp is sitting in the same place and isn't being moved between use.

If the amp has been in transit and I had just taken the amp from a very cold environment (from a car in the middle of December to a venue), I would probably let the amp sit for 5-10 minutes before I would even turn the amp on at all. 

 

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1 minute ago, thodrik said:

Some folk would say 5-10 minutes. 

Myself, once I turn on my Trace V6 on I give it about 90 seconds or so before I hit standby. That is the case though if the amp is sitting in the same place and isn't being moved between use.

If the amp has been in transit and I had just taken the amp from a very cold environment (from a car in the middle of December to a venue), I would probably let the amp sit for 5-10 minutes before I would even turn the amp on at all. 

 

Cheers! 

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There's no need to wait. the amp just won't work until they're warm. The only reason for standby mode is so you can shut down the amp on a break without having to touch the volume, and not have to wait for the tubes to heat again when break is over. Many amps don't even have a standby mode and they're none the worse for wear for the lack of it.

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4 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

There's no need to wait. the amp just won't work until they're warm. The only reason for standby mode is so you can shut down the amp on a break without having to touch the volume, and not have to wait for the tubes to heat again when break is over. Many amps don't even have a standby mode and they're none the worse for wear for the lack of it.

Thanks for that Bill. I'd not heard this before. I was under the impression i had to warm them before I could risk turning on hence the 'pre-heat' button

 

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12 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

There's no need to wait. the amp just won't work until they're warm. The only reason for standby mode is so you can shut down the amp on a break without having to touch the volume, and not have to wait for the tubes to heat again when break is over. Many amps don't even have a standby mode and they're none the worse for wear for the lack of it.

That is actually good to know. Thanks!

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Seriously that article should bve required reading for all us valve users:

 

" Don’t use it as a “beer break” switch. For short breaks, simply turn down the volume control (or mute switch if you have one) and don’t use the standby switch, so there is not that nasty pop in the house sound system that could damage speaker drivers. If the time between sound check and performing is longer than 20 minutes, turn the amplifier completely off. You only need 5 minutes at the most to completely warm up a tube amplifier. "

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As far as I'm concerned that article is a myth. My first amp was a '65 Fender Bassman that I bought new. In the US everyone who could afford them played Fender, everyone turned on both the power and the standby switches at the same time after setting up, and everyone used the standby switch for beer, or other substances, breaks. I also never heard a pop from using the switch, or saw a driver or power supply cap damaged as a result.

Quoted from a '60s Fender Concert Amp manual:

Standby Switch: This switch turns the amplifier on and off. In the Standby position the amplifier is off; however, the tube filaments are left on as to eliminate warm up time, provided that the main Power Switch is on. Use of this feature during short breaks versus using the Power Switch will increase tube life.

Edited by Bill Fitzmaurice
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On 08/07/2019 at 12:58, thodrik said:

Some folk would say 5-10 minutes. 

Myself, once I turn on my Trace V6 on I give it about 90 seconds or so before I hit standby. That is the case though if the amp is sitting in the same place and isn't being moved between use.

If the amp has been in transit and I had just taken the amp from a very cold environment (from a car in the middle of December to a venue), I would probably let the amp sit for 5-10 minutes before I would even turn the amp on at all. 

 

 

On 08/07/2019 at 16:52, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

As far as I'm concerned that article is a myth. My first amp was a '65 Fender Bassman that I bought new. In the US everyone who could afford them played Fender, everyone turned on both the power and the standby switches at the same time after setting up, and everyone used the standby switch for beer, or other substances, breaks. I also never heard a pop from using the switch, or saw a driver or power supply cap damaged as a result.

Quoted from a '60s Fender Concert Amp manual:

Standby Switch: This switch turns the amplifier on and off. In the Standby position the amplifier is off; however, the tube filaments are left on as to eliminate warm up time, provided that the main Power Switch is on. Use of this feature during short breaks versus using the Power Switch will increase tube life.

 

Gotta agree. If it's been cold and in transit, yeah, let it sit in the room for a bit to warm to room temperature before plugging in and turning on. I generally give around 30s as a minimum, on a gig I'll turn on and then I'll set up the pedals etc. I have heard of tubes blowing up from the sudden temp swing during extremely cold winters. 

The using standby vs. tube life depends on the amp, the last time I read about it. Some amps make no difference to tube life, some will. I can guarantee unless your amp is in standby mode for days on end you won't see or hear the difference made to the tube life.

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