Tubes effected by weather??

[iceblinko]

hey all! i recently bought an ampeg svt cl all tube amp. i'm about to go on tour with my band; so i'm wondering if i leave it in the van every night, is the cold weather going to **** with it? any feedback is greatly appreciated! thanks everyone.
xo tom

 

[throbbinnut]

Well, the old saying is don't leave your tube amp anywhere you wouldn't want to sleep, but I think it should be alright in the van. If the amp is really cold, you may want to let it warm up to room temp before turning it on just to prevent any condensation from from shorting out anything internally, but that goes for solid state amps too.

One thing you'll definitely want to do is get a spare set of tubes and pack them safely away in the van just in case any go bad while you're on the road.

Chris

 

[metron]

I second what the throbbing nut said. Your tubes might crack if you turn on the amp while they are too cold.

 

[dave_clark69]

If it experiences big differences in temperature e.g going from a pub gig to an ice cold car, every day. It may cause certain parts to crack. It should have a note saying operating temperatures 3~38 or something along those lines

 

[Dan Loader]

If you're really worried about the effect of cold or frost, then some frost-resistant celophane (sp?) insultor that's usually for gardeners might be worth a try, it insultes from cold and water.

 

[throbbinnut]

Originally posted by Dan Loader
If you're really worried about the effect of cold or frost, then some frost-resistant celophane (sp?) insultor that's usually for gardeners might be worth a try, it insultes from cold and water.

Naw man, you have to have a source of heat for any kind of insulation to keep something warm on the inside. If the amp's not turned on, then it will approach the surrounding ambient temp. Insulation just makes it take a longer time to get there, but it will still eventually equalize with the surrounding temp.

Chris

 

[Joe_Atlanta]

When I was traveling, my guitarist had a rule about his nice old twin: first in, last out. He would let it sit for at least 30 minutes before and after a gig.

 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

The cold will do much more damage to the wiring and solder connections than to the tubes themselves. They've got a big 6.3 volt heater filament and undergo temp changes in the HUNDREDS of degrees every time they are turned on regardless of ambient temperature. I'll second what throbbinut said; let the amp warm up and cool down while it's turned completely off before you go chucking it into a car. That goes for ANY kind of amp.

 

[Petebass]

Originally posted by Psycho Bass Guy
let the amp warm up and cool down while it's turned completely off before you go chucking it into a car. That goes for ANY kind of amp.

I agree, even SS amps. I remember one gig at the Snow fields, setting everything up in a hurry because we were running late, only to find EVERY single amp had developed dry solder joints. PA amps, guitar and bass amps, everything. We made the mistake of firing them up when they were still ice cold.