Can you run your amp too long?

[Spectrum]

I've accidentally left my Vox tube head on overnight in standby mode with no ill effects.

 

[tubedude]

I'm fortunate that my neighbors are deaf, so is one of my roommates and the other couldn't care less.

I'm jealous, can I move in?

 

[nashvillebill]

.
So there's no QC control? Apple just crosses their fingers and hopes their iPads work once they leave the factory without turning them on at least once? the testing period may not be long but I would imagine any company producing mid to high level electronics has a testing period of some kind.

100% powered-up testing for QC control has gone the way of the dodo for mass-produced appliances. Automation is monitored, and sensors are put in place to detect proper insertion and soldering, some things may even be checked automatically for every item (for example there could be an external gizmo which comes down across a circuit board to check continuity, then retracts until the next board enters the machine). However, QC now depends on samples being taken at regular intervals. It's called Statistical Process Control and has been the fundamental principle for high-volume manufacturing since the 70's.

 

[Joedog]

Yeah, 60 years might be pushing it a bit.

 

[SirMjac28]

100% powered-up testing for QC control has gone the way of the dodo for mass-produced appliances. Automation is monitored, and sensors are put in place to detect proper insertion and soldering, some things may even be checked automatically for every item (for example there could be an external gizmo which comes down across a circuit board to check continuity, then retracts until the next board enters the machine). However, QC now depends on samples being taken at regular intervals. It's called Statistical Process Control and has been the fundamental principle for high-volume manufacturing since the 70's.

I was going on the comment you made "Not true by any means. TV's, cell phones, whatever, they are made on an assembly line and put directly in the box, never powered on." maybe the Chinese labor is so obscenely low they can afford to power up more than just a few samples. I also didn't see a lot of robots.

skip to around 5:50


skip to 1:19



skip to 3:26




skip to 1:28

 

[OldCityBassman]

Not the same as putting a load on an amp but I have left my svt-7pro a few times on standby for a couple days, it mattered none to the amp.

 

[Hot Rats]

I have gone for vacation and left my Shuttle 6.0 on for 4 days. A couple of times. It was just fine and still is. On but idle. Don't know about playing it for 4 days straight, but I think you are using your amp exactly as it was designed.

 

[agedhorse]

I have gone for vacation and left my Shuttle 6.0 on for 4 days. A couple of times. It was just fine and still is. On but idle. Don't know about playing it for 4 days straight, but I think you are using your amp exactly as it was designed.

Won't matter, 4 days is nothing... playing or not.

 

[GregT]

Some PA systems are turned on once and left on until they are replaced. We have one where I work at my regular job. Good equipment is meant to be used and it holds up. If it doesn't hold up under heavy use, or there are too many failures with a certain model, I don't consider it to be good equipment. I want to have faith in my music gear.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

If you do, get another one. Keep it up.

 

[Michedelic]

Think about the muzak/announcement systems in retail establishments/grocery stores/transportation hubs.
Granted, not heavy-duty use, but they're on the better part of the day, if not 24/7, with constant program running through them.

 

[sprag]

Of course, that's 10,000 to 20,000 hours

so if i just hook one of these babies up after the power switch I'll know its time to start saving when it gets to 8000-9000? (depending how fast i rack up hours vs how fast i save)

 

[agedhorse]

so if i just hook one of these babies up after the power switch I'll know its time to start saving when it gets to 8000-9000? (depending how fast i rack up hours vs how fast i save)
View attachment 758526

Yup. I once considered adding a Hobbs meter to an amp just for fun. Some of the newest computer based pro audio amps include elapsed time logging, along with event fault logging.

 

[Slevage]

.
So there's no QC control? Apple just crosses their fingers and hopes their iPads work once they leave the factory without turning them on at least once? the testing period may not be long but I would imagine any company producing mid to high level electronics has a testing period of some kind.

Testing and burn in are different.
It also depends on the industry involved. Things that are critical to human life and devices that fly ie planes are tested to a different standard than consumer electronics.

 

[aaronious]

I'm jealous, can I move in?

Sorry pal, no more room. lol

 

[SirMjac28]

Testing and burn in are different.
It also depends on the industry involved. Things that are critical to human life and devices that fly ie planes are tested to a different standard than consumer electronics.

I agree I just had an issue with this statement "TV's, cell phones, whatever, they are made on an assembly line and put directly in the box, never powered on." I think that theory may apply to the manufacturing of parts but no way is Samsung going to take one of their 4k Curved Screened televisions right off the line and put it in a box without at least powering it on? the labor is so cheap in China they can more than afford to run as many tests as they like because it's a lot cheaper to fix it at the factory than run it through a service center here in the States.

 

[B-string]

With component parts a sample lot is pretty standard, assemblies it is common to run basic tests on each module. PCB's mount on a pin jig and automated basic functions are run. Completed units also get a power on. I have never seen anyone want to absorb the costs of shipping, handling and added labor on "hopes" it will power up. Unless I have missed some "genus" move, houses still have test and QC departments "effective" or not. It is just bad business to ship on "hopes".

 

[agedhorse]

These days, much of the better product undergoes fairly automated testing, from bare PCBs all the way through finished assembly. Gone are the days of hand measuring and hand testing everything, but that does not mean that everything is thoroughly tested. Information from the design phase is used to generate test sequences with acceptable values returned by the test.

Also, designs are better these days, assembly methods such as auto-insert and wave solder, automated wire harness fabrication (and testing) all bring with them advances in reliability.

 

[Slevage]

These days, much of the better product undergoes fairly automated testing, from bare PCBs all the way through finished assembly. Gone are the days of hand measuring and hand testing everything, but that does not mean that everything is thoroughly tested. Information from the design phase is used to generate test sequences with acceptable values returned by the test.

Also, designs are better these days, assembly methods such as auto-insert and wave solder, automated wire harness fabrication (and testing) all bring with them advances in reliability.

All very true. It is all volume dependent. I'm the last guy to touch a product
( QC) before its shipped- power it up, measure the old way with meters and oscopes. If it doesn't meet spec- fix it. We currently make less than 500 units per year of a niche product. Fun job.

 

[Bodeeni]

probably not very green, but major recording studios never use to turn anything off to have everything warmed up, stable, and ready to go. I guess this was a hold over from when most of the gear was analog and or had tubes.