Standby switch

On my tube guitar amps, there are standby switches that allow B+ to be removed from plates but leave filaments heated.

Often, I use my M-125s throughout the day and evening, and thought this may be a good way to extend tube life without turning amps on and off.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Bill

audiobill wrote:On my tube guitar amps, there are standby switches that allow B+ to be removed from plates but leave filaments heated.

Often, I use my M-125s throughout the day and evening, and thought this may be a good way to extend tube life without turning amps on and off.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Bill

don't use this type of standby switches, they will poison your tubes. Turn down volume and leave the amps on
unless you leave the facilities or dont use them for 4 hours or more.

http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/standby.html

I've heard both - standby can extend tube life, or it can kill them early.
Take your pick, I guess.

For what it's worth, it's fairly common to add standby to some of the old time ham equipment, especially if the tubes are no longer available. I've got a couple amps that use 8950 drivers that are difficult to find and pricey - those both have standby added.

Give it a try, have a fire extinguisher handy, and be sure to post back with the results.

PS ... turning the amps on and off isn't a big deal. I like to give mine about five minutes warmup time to stabilize, then let er rip. Only real concern for me was forgetting and leaving the tube gear on - I solved that by parking a guitar in front of one of the speakers, and moving that to an easy sight line in the main room as a reminder.

I've also got a little toy sprinkler that I put on the kitchen counter when watering the lawn, and put the laundry detergent where it's easy to spot to remind me stuff's in the dryer. More and more of those little tricks (Huh? Wha? Keyboard in lap - I must be posting) as the years go on ...

sKiZo wrote:I've heard both - standby can extend tube life, or it can kill them early.
Take your pick, I guess.

For what it's worth, it's fairly common to add standby to some of the old time ham equipment, especially if the tubes are no longer available. I've got a couple amps that use 8950 drivers that are difficult to find and pricey - those both have standby added.

Give it a try, have a fire extinguisher handy, and be sure to post back with the results.

PS ... turning the amps on and off isn't a big deal. I like to give mine about five minutes warmup time to stabilize, then let er rip. Only real concern for me was forgetting and leaving the tube gear on - I solved that by parking a guitar in front of one of the speakers, and moving that to an easy sight line in the main room as a reminder.

I've also got a little toy sprinkler that I put on the kitchen counter when watering the lawn, and put the laundry detergent where it's easy to spot to remind me stuff's in the dryer. More and more of those little tricks (Huh? Wha? Keyboard in lap - I must be posting) as the years go on ...

Standby was used on tube ham gear to keep the frequency steady. Even the Collins S-line, when it was emerging from a cold start, both RCVR and XMTR would wander around for quite awhile (~30 minutes) before settling down, and had nothing to do with tube life. AM gear was even more skittish. Of course, tubes were cheap back then: new RCA 6146As could be had for $10 or less so we weren't thinking about tube life. You'd bias the 6146As when you put them in new, then never thought about them after that.

sKiZo, you have described dotage and senility perfectly. I do the same in the kitchen. If you ever lose your day job you could be a writer.