PROPER PROCEDURE FOR TURNING ON AMP...

[3axes]

I HAVE A AD30HTC....CAN ANYONE TELL ME WAS IS THE PROPER PROCEDURE FOR TURNING ON THE AMP ....PUTTING IN STANDBY MODE....AND SHUTTING IT OFF... I SEEM TO BE HAVE DRAIN BAMAGE.....THE BOOK TELLS ME ONE THING AND THE ORANGE PEOPLE TELL ME SOMETHING ELSE...I SO CONFUSED ...I DONT WANT TO SEND THIS AMP BACK TO THE SHOP AGAIN.....PLEASE GIVE A DETAIL DESCRIPTION ON HOW TO DO THIS.....THANKS WAITING FOR YOUR ANSWERS......3 AXES.....

[bclaire]

You're not going to hurt "the amp" either way but it's not good for the tubes....

ON: amp on stand-by - turn power on - wait for a couple of minutes - take it off stand-by

OFF: put amp on stand-by - shut power off

[fiveightandten]

Short answer: If the amp is unmodified, there's nothing you can do to damage the amp or the tubes with by flipping the switches the "wrong" way. No need to worry.

Long answer: The GZ34 rectifier tube provide a "soft start" for the rest of the tubes, by ramping up the high voltage slowly. For this reason, you don't need to use the standby switch. In fact, using the standby switch actually causes a bigger voltage surge in the amp than you'd get without using it (leaving the switch ON all the time), but that won't hurt the amp either.

I've actually experienced better rectifier tube life by not using the standby switch (leaving it ON all the time). The way some amps wire the standby switch, it puts stress on the rectifier tube when in standby. I never saw the wiring of the AD30 standby switch in the schematic, and was never ambitious enough to trace it out in my amp. However, I have had a number of rectifier tube failures in my amp when using the standby switch, and I have not had one fail yet since I stopped using it. That may or may not be coincidence.

When using the standby switch to engage high voltage after the tubes heat up, you will see a small voltage surge for a split second, then see the voltage plateau almost immediately. When letting the amp warm up with the standby switch in the ON position, you will see the voltage take a minute or so to ramp up and plateau, and there is no voltage surge. Neither is really harmful for the amp or the tubes. Go with whatever practice makes you feel more comfortable.

-Nick

[Jondog]

Stand-by switches are all Fender's fault...

[Bensnake]

It seems like stand by-switches are a guitar amp thing. I've owned lots of valve hifi amps and none of them had one. I wonder why.

[3axes]

TO BCLAIRE--
THANKS A LOT ....IT'S NICE TO HAVE A GO TO GUY FOR INFO.....THANKS TO EVERYONE ELSE FOR CONTRABUTIONS TO THE POST......

[Jondog]

It seems like stand by-switches are a guitar amp thing. I've owned lots of valve hifi amps and none of them had one. I wonder why.

As I've heard, the stand-by switch is simply a servicing feature amp builders would use. Leo Fender installed it on his amps for that reason and everyone followed suit. They're apparently not really a good thing because they are on the DC side of power circuit and there's arcing across the switch which shortens the switch life. Also when the switch is turned on it's a straight shot of current to the tubes, as where if there was no standby switch the power would flow up to current from the power transformer. At least that's how I understood it.