Left my amp on too long

[wooldl]

We wrapped up rehearsal, I flipped my standby switch, unplugged my guitar, wrapped cables, cased my guitar and left............now, two weeks later, my amp is still on. I couldn't believe it. I plugged in and it worked, but then I hit a chord a little harder and it sounded like it was farting out. Is this probably a power tube issue? BTW - it's a Hot Rod Deluxe.
Thanks,
Dale

p.s. - go ahead, ridicule me, you know you want to.

 

[phsyconoodler]

When you leave an amp on that long in standby,the filaments are lit and it causes what they call 'cathode poisoning'.You can sometimes get it to reverse itself by playing the amp really loud for a wile and hope the coating burns itsef off the plates.If not you will need new tubes.

 

[wooldl]

When you leave an amp on that long in standby,the filaments are lit and it causes what they call 'cathode poisoning'.You can sometimes get it to reverse itself by playing the amp really loud for a wile and hope the coating burns itsef off the plates.If not you will need new tubes.

Thanks for the idea. I gave it a shot but wound up replacing the power tubes. It seems to be functioning normally again.

Dale

 

[plexistack]

We wrapped up rehearsal, I flipped my standby switch, unplugged my guitar, wrapped cables, cased my guitar and left............now, two weeks later, my amp is still on. I couldn't believe it. I plugged in and it worked, but then I hit a chord a little harder and it sounded like it was farting out. Is this probably a power tube issue? BTW - it's a Hot Rod Deluxe.
Thanks,
Dale

p.s. - go ahead, ridicule me, you know you want to.

You took 2 weeks off of rehearsal? How *COULD* you??

 

[OliverGuitars]

I have left the prized amp on over night a few times, but never for more than 12 hours or so. How bad is that to leave an amp on for 12 hours. I think it was on standby, but if it wasnt, would that be worse for it? Sorry to highjack the old thread. But I have been plagued with Forgetampitis a few times too. I didnt ever notice tone loss though. My amp was a Port City Dual 50.

Fortunately I think I only did it twice.......

 

[donnyjaguar]

FWIW, I left one amplifier in standby for 7 days by mistake. After I fired it up and played for a while I checked the bias and all was well. It used EL34 tubes.

 

[traviswalk]

Man, I though I was bad when I left on an amp overnight, two weeks is crazy! Glad to hear everything is fine with some new power tubes.

 

[wooldl]

Yeah, yeah....I know. It got lucky really.

Had it been at my house this wouldn't have happened, but it was in our other guitar players's basement and he didn't notice it either.

 

[Goober]

My excuse: i went to Ga for my mom's memorial. Just realized it tonight, my Vox AC4TV, and i just added the Celestion speaker cabinet. So i just turned it off and crawled back to my hovel. I'll give it a go tomorrow. Do all tubes need replacement?

 

[yomama]

When you leave an amp on that long in standby,the filaments are lit and it causes what they call 'cathode poisoning'.You can sometimes get it to reverse itself by playing the amp really loud for a wile and hope the coating burns itsef off the plates.If not you will need new tubes.

thats good info!! thanks!!

 

[CyberFerret]

When I saw the date on the first post in the thread, I thought the OP was resurrecting this thread to say "Hey, I one upped myself and left my amp on for TWO YEARS"...

When you leave an amp on that long in standby,the filaments are lit and it causes what they call 'cathode poisoning'.You can sometimes get it to reverse itself by playing the amp really loud for a wile and hope the coating burns itsef off the plates.If not you will need new tubes.

But seriously - this is good info, and I never knew about this phenomenon. My longest bout of ampforgetitis is about 2 hours so far...

 

[Roach]

When you leave an amp on that long in standby,the filaments are lit and it causes what they call 'cathode poisoning'.You can sometimes get it to reverse itself by playing the amp really loud for a wile and hope the coating burns itsef off the plates.If not you will need new tubes.

That one is new to me...thanks! I'll file that away as I'm sure I'll do the same "left it in stand by for a week" in the future.

 

[21stcenturykid]

I'm glad none of my amps have standby switches after reading this thread! On or off. nice and simple.

 

[StringSkunk]

This strikes up an idea:

Someone with an extra amp who uses money for toilet paper should get some new tubes, put them in the amp and leave it on standby until one of the tubes blows. They could like update the thread every week or so with the progress.

By the way, don't look at me though, I'm on a typical college budget.

Also I am hereby not responsible for anyone trying this and burning their house down.

 

[StringSkunk]

This strikes up an idea:

Someone with an extra amp who uses money for toilet paper should get some new tubes, put them in the amp and leave it on standby until one of the tubes blows. They could like update the thread every week or so with the progress.

By the way, don't look at me though, I'm on a typical college budget.

Also I am hereby not responsible for anyone trying this and burning their house down.

Or maybe one of the trannies would frizzle fry first, idk. What would be first to go in a new amp with new tubes in this situation?

 

[Cyg_1963]

I run amps nonstop 40 to 50 hours non stop to burn them in.

Some tube equipment (military, broadcasting) never got turned
off except for servicing.
Should be OK, just the tubes...and may be stripping as was mentioned.

In my experience once the power transformer achieves maximum temp it never goes any higher unless there is a flaw.