CARELESSNESS

[ezstep]

What's worse is doing a chore and forgetting to unplug the cable from an "active" bass overnight. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Pbassmanca]

I was doing a little bit of practicing when I had to go take care of a problem. I left the music room and took care of the chore. I forgot I had left my amp on. It stayed on for 24 hrs. Before I remembered it. What kind of damage can I expect for being so careless?

Frankly, I would expect zero damage for being so careless. Seeing as how the amplifier was drawing very little current while it sat there relaxing, thinking about what the meaning of life is for an amplifier, pondering how it could help create a thick, fat tone that would be suitable for some classic country music, it's quite likely that it's circuits remain happily virginal in their capacity to fulfill their duties when called upon. Your amp should be fine brother....

 

[ofajen]

I'm curious. Is this actually true? I didn't think that a solid state amp that wasn't passing any signal would have a dead draw, but now I'm not so sure.

Even solid state amps have a quiescent power draw. The amps I happen to know the specs on are my old Hafler DH-100s. Stereo MOSFET solid state hi-fi amps, 100W per channel at rated power. Quiescent, they draw 100W; at rated power, both channels, they draw 470W.

I have two, and have used them for over 35 years. Regarding the effect of running for an extended period, on occasion they've been left on for weeks at a time. They still exceed their original specs and work perfectly.

Otto

 

[vvvmmm]

Just be sure, next time you're gonna forget to turn it off, that you put it on "standby", first.

 

[Philonius]

Well, you've seriously underpowered your speakers. That's almost a sure-fore recipe for speaker damage. 'Could be trouble.

 

[AcridSaint]

I'm curious. Is this actually true? I didn't think that a solid state amp that wasn't passing any signal would have a dead draw, but now I'm not so sure.

Depending on the operation class of the amp, it will draw more or less power at idle, but they all draw power when idling. Not even to mention lights and fans.

 

[Munjibunga]

If it didn't burn down your house, you're golden.

 

[agedhorse]

My amp that powers my shop and design lab has been on for almost 5 years straight (minus a couple of power outages), with no ill effects. It happens to be a bass amp too.

 

[Pbassmanca]

My amp that powers my shop and design lab has been on for almost 5 years straight (minus a couple of power outages), with no ill effects. It happens to be a bass amp too.

From the horses mouth....

 

[leonard]

Are you mixing cabs? Any problems with the drummer?

 

[agedhorse]

Are you mixing cabs? Any problems with the drummer?

Always mix cabinets, especially when testing!

My shop is a drummer free zone, better for drummers AND me

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Obviously non issue. My buddies leave all the amps in their studio and shop (music) on 24/7/365 days a year. They shut them down occasionally to service. About 8 1000-3500 watt SS rackmount units. They have thousands of hours. TV and radio broadcast stations have always done this. It's less stress on the gear than cycling on and off. IIRC.

 

[perch]

This is a historical moment. We have the first recorded case of a Peavey combo bass amp meeting an early demise.

Surely it was newer one made in China. Not the older ones from Mississippi.

 

[bassbenj]

Just be sure, next time you're gonna forget to turn it off, that you put it on "standby", first.

Good plan. Even better plan, unplug cable from bass to keep running active battery down if you have one.

Story: I'm practicing put bass in stand (G&L L2500 set to passive mode) in front of amp. I go outside to do some things. I come in the front door and there is this ENORMOUS "tone" going on throughout the house! What the... I think? Then I figure it out. There was a gigantic feedback that developed as bass picked up speaker in amp. Note this was a 1000 watt rig! We are talking a LOUD note.

I can see where if the feedback got loud enough it could actually damage an amp, especially a solid state one. (Tubes tend to take more abuse better) I've had it do this a couple of more times with me around and the interesting thing is that it takes a while for the feedback tone to build up so you could possibly just put the bass there and there'd be no hint the amp was on but after you left the amp could be humming away at max power for 24 hours!

 

[DocTT]

Wait, you're supposed to turn it off?

 

[Jeshua]

There will be a small bump in your electric bill. This is repairable by making your bill payment

Did you say, "bump?"

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

You killed the genie inside!!

 

[whero]

It depends. Were you playing country or metal when you stopped playing?

Hmm, that's a good point. What's the best amp for not playing metal?

 

[jamro217]

The mutations will become noticeable soon.
First, there is dizziness and moderate nausea.
Then, the antlers and a third eye will erupt from your forehead and you will sprout a prehensile tail.
Your temperament will change from meek to homicidal as you grow to the height of a 3-story building.
Soon, all Mankind will prostrate themselves at your feet in abject, quivering terror.

Other than that, no problem...

If I had known that I'd have left my amp on decades ago!

 

[Omega Monkey]

Your electric bill might take a hit for about 50 cents.

Of course amps have idle current draw. That should go without saying. Like someone mentioned, lights, fans, capacitors, etc... all suck electrons out of the wall and mostly turn them into heat. Which is why if you turn your amp on and come back in 30 minutes it will probably be at least a little warm.

If it didn't burn down your house, you're golden.

And if it did burn down your house, you're golden brown!

Obviously non issue. My buddies leave all the amps in their studio and shop (music) on 24/7/365 days a year. They shut them down occasionally to service. About 8 1000-3500 watt SS rackmount units. They have thousands of hours. TV and radio broadcast stations have always done this. It's less stress on the gear than cycling on and off. IIRC.

People blow this concept way out of proportion. Surely, you don't want to flip your stuff on and off every 5 minutes, but if you use something for an hour and then don't touch it for a week, you're much better off turning it off for that week. The whole concept doesn't even really make sense. "Electrical current causes wear and tear on my gear. So lets expose it to electrical current ALL THE TIME WITH NO BREAKS FOR YEARS even though I use the thing once a month." I think it's probably wise to be prudent with power cycling gear and not doing it more than reasonably necessary. But when you're done for the night/week/month is a perfectly fine time to shut down. But what do I know, I'm just a guy with a 30 year old digital synth that works perfectly that has been switched off and on probably several THOUSAND times.

Besides that, it's a lot cheaper NOT to have a bunch of unused stuff running for no reason AND it's better for this thing called "the environment" (he says, on a near 90 degree day in the DC area... IN MID OCTOBER) that is slightly more important than if a capacitor wears out after 50 years or "only" 40. I mean what do you guys do with your class D amps? Carry around a generator so they never have to power down?