Pulling the powerplug

dainbramage

dainbramage

New member
Simple but important question:

Is it harmful to my AC4C1 (4 watts tube amp) just turning the power strip it is connected to off instead of actually switching the amp off? The amp doesn't have a standby switch. Does just disconnecting the power do anything else than the on/off switch does? If it is harmful, does that only hurt the tubes or can the whole thing die?

I have put it and a 57 in a wooden box with sheets, carpets and a sleeping bag (whatever I could find) over it to at least mildly attenuate the sound, so it is a hassle to rip everything apart every time I'm going to use this amp.

Planning to build a little box for this thing but I don't have the material yet (it's on its way).
 
I have this thing about ALWAYS turning the volume off before turning on/off any amplified device with speakers hooked to it ... but that's just me. :listeningmusic: (no loud pops)
 
mjbphotos said:
I have this thing about ALWAYS turning the volume off before turning on/off any amplified device with speakers hooked to it ... but that's just me. :listeningmusic: (no loud pops)
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I think, (It has been a long time since I've studied electronics, so I might be wrong) but that is general good practice for just about anything to avoid any surges, but amps and speakers (since they are usually connected) especially. I do it as well, just learned it that way and do it now. I turn down the volume on everything before I turn it on.
 
Me too. Turning on the PAs when someone had jacked the levels all the way up taught me that in just one lesson.
 
This amp will stay at very low volumes. I use it close-miked to be able to play through headphones without using an amp/cab-sim, and crank the mic preamp. Of course it is not ideal, but it sounds and feels much better than those crappy amp-sims. Can't believe I didn't think of this before.
 
I have my whole basement practice setup wired to one main power bar. I flip the switch off and everything has survived this for years.
 
It will (should!) do it no harm at all.

I quite understand the comment about pops and bangs that can occur when gear is powered up or down with faders up . It might be an issue in a large studio* or a kW PA rig but for general equipment it should not matter and even if the "big" stuff protested I still think it should be designed not to be damaged.

I tend to get a bit angry when people talk of mollycoddling $$$k audio kit! I know the lengths the company I worked for went to make modest guitar amps as bombproof as possible, stuff costing 100times the price should be even better!

All the gear in my modest "studio" is fired up by just two switches on a 13amp double, not had a problem this seven years!

*Surely it is not beyond the wit of man to make flying faders go to zero when a supply is sensed falling?

Dave.
 
I second the notion to allow the amp to stay cool. Even at 4 watts the heaters in the tubes get hot. Sleeping bags, blankets and other flammable stuff scare me when they cover electronic gear. Hell, I don't even place my laptop on the carpet or bed without a piece of wood underneath.

ecc83 said:
I know the lengths the company I worked for went to make modest guitar amps as bombproof as possible,
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What kind of amps did you make? You probably mentioned it before and I missed it.
 
Chili said:
I second the notion to allow the amp to stay cool. Even at 4 watts the heaters in the tubes get hot. Sleeping bags, blankets and other flammable stuff scare me when they cover electronic gear. Hell, I don't even place my laptop on the carpet or bed without a piece of wood underneath.
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The amp is inside a wooden box (one of the sides missing) with carpets and that over the box. Are you saying it's still a fire hazard? I check underneath from time to time and there doesn't seem to be much heat built up. It is also not totally isolated. But I know next to nothing about this kind of stuff.
 
dainbramage said:
I check underneath from time to time and there doesn't seem to be much heat built up. It is also not totally isolated.
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Nope, probably not a fire hazard if you're checking on it from time to time. I had this image of a sleeping bag draped over top of the amp. ha ha ha. Sorry, don't mean to be an alarmist!! :o
 
It really depends on the kit's response to being switched off. I have a combo amp that if you just kill the supply, goes pop, quite loudly, when switching the power switch on the panel does't go pop. it just goes off. Other items quietly go off. I've got an old compressor that if power is pulled goes to full volume for a second or to, and another amp that makes a whistling sound. The two bits of kit that make annoying sounds, I switch off at the panel first - the ones that turn off quietly I ignore. The pop noise isn't loud enough to damage anything, but makes me jump!

Electrically, much depends on how the switch is wired. My view is that any piece of professional kit should not object to losing power - it's hardly uncommon when people trip over cables, or one of those annoying volume devices kills the power. If having the power cut damaged the kit, it's not very good kit!
 
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