Resetable hour meter

Try this Eaton site for resetable hour meters you can find these at Grainger or McMaster Carr for around $50 bucks......

http://www.eaton.com/ecm/groups/public/@pub/@electrical/documents/content/vol09_tab03.pdf

Only problem I see with those is none of the analog types have a reset feature. Be handy to be able to zero it out when you change tubes ...

I found these on da bay ...



Nice size, simple inline hookup to the AC, but once again no zero reset. I emailed the guy and got back a note that they usually have what I want in stock, and I should check back in a couple weeks ... same case and overall appearance.

What I should do is fire up an elapsed timer widget on the HTPC ... that goes on anytime I'm listening. Found this without looking too hard.



http://www.ninevectors.com/downloads

Couple problems I see right off the bat - be nice if I could set specific tasks to start when the computer boots up, and also, the artsy fartsy popup window that doesn't completely cover the underlying window. You can see I did the screen grab while posting this. Freeware though ... I like that ...

Any other ideas are welcome.

PS ... I got the timer for the KT120's running now. I'll add the app to windoHs! startup and see if it resumes the count next time I boot up and if it's smart enough to not count the hours the computer is off. If that works, I can add timers for the different rectifiers and drivers too, as well as a total run time for the amp itself. Total warm up time, listening time, time spent on specific genres, time I spend scratching my butt ... the possibilities are endless!

Stay tuned ...

Yes the Eaton hour meters I refer to are solid state and easily resetable.

I must admit i find the need for "reset" on an hour meter strange ...
Building an amp and attaching an hour meter starts at some point close to zero. ¨This is noted in the amps log. Whenever something significant happens ( tubechange, explosion etc) this is noted in the log together with date and hourmeter value. A reset of the hourmeter would make the log difficult to follow.

My reasoning was that the only component that really needs tracking is the power tubes. Those are the most problematic, and also tend to be quite expensive, so keeping an eye on how many hours you get off a set before they need replacing seems a reasonable objective. I expect everything else will be either broken in or broke before the first power tube replacement is required.

Then again, do you change tube brands if you don't feel you're getting the bang for the buck, or is it more a sound preference ... and if you decide to stick with what you like, how will you know whether you could be doing better? The debate rages on ...