Tubes Asylum

Tube life same at idle vs with signal?

24.76.168.225

Jonesy

Would the life of say, signal 6dj8's, or power 6550 types, be dependent on whether something is actually playing or not, when equipment is on?
Cheers!
Jonesy

"I know just enough to get into trouble. But not enough to get out of it."

Edits: 03/31/16

Follow Ups:

If AB1 Power Stage... - Triode_Kingdom 05:35:04 04/01/16 (0)
Tubes operating in Class AB1 and B dissipate more power as signal levels increase. Running such amplifiers at high output levels continuously can definitely shorten the life of the tubes.

--------------------------
Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
Also, the heater doesn't care about signal and will burn out like a lightbulb - Chip647 05:07:41 04/01/16 (0)
Though not like the 10 hour chinese bulbs designed to eliminate incandescence as a light source.
It depends - Michael Samra 21:09:13 03/31/16 (0)
In Mac tube amp,the output tubes draw very little at idle and that's why they typically last so long so in the that case,the 6550 output tubes will last a LONNGG Time when signal isn't applied..
The driver and voltage amp stages operate in class A and draw the same amount of current so tube wear for those isn't really affected that much.
Amps like the Berning EA230 which operate in class B in the output stage are also easy on the output tubes at idle with no signal.

A friend you get for nothing,an enemy has to be bought

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