|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
131.111.18.172
In Reply to: RE: Hot swapping tubes posted by lokie on May 12, 2017 at 05:55:04
When I read your question I interpreted "hot swapping" as meaning swapping while the equipment is powered up. Is that what you mean?If so, one situation where it is likely to be an especially bad idea is in a DC-coupled circuit, where taking one tube out can drastically alter the biasing of another that is left plugged in. For instance, I have an OTL amplifier where, if an EF86 driver were to be unplugged, a 6C33C output tube would receive full anode voltage on its grid, which would at best blow an output fuse, and at worst blow the tube and the speaker.
If by hot swapping you just mean swapping while the equipment is switched off but the tubes are still thermally hot from having recently been powered up, then that is a much less tricky matter, and the main risk is just from getting burned fingers.
I am guessing, though, that you probably mean swapping while the equipment is powered up. I have certainly done that quite often in lower-powered stages like in a pre-amp, provided I'm sure it won't be influencing the biasing of other stages. I wouldn't ever do it in an output stage, since there would be inductive voltage surges when the quiescent current passing through an output transformer primary is interrupted.
Hot (powered-up) swapping is probably never recommended by the purists, but it can sometimes save a bit of time and if done with care and thought, it needn't do any harm.
I remember long ago, in my early teens, I would also sometimes do soldering on live (powered up) equipment, including AC/DC direct mains connected radios and TVs. I guess that's not something that is generally recommended either!!!!
Chris
Edits: 05/12/17Follow Ups:
I mean swapping tubes while still powered up.
I would never do it- Pre or Power-
Happy Listening
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: