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Amp and accesories run through power strip question.

brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,686
in Musicians and Gearheads
OK electronics majors, got a question for you. I have an old Montgomery Ward Airline tube amp- a simple but sweet little amp that is so basic it doesn't even have an on/off light indicator. I run my guitar through an old Chandler Industries Tube Driver then in turn run it into the Airline. My thought is to plug them both into a good quality Master Electrician lighted power strip and use that to power everything on and off with a flick of it's power switch. I haven't actually done this, opting instead to unplug the Tube Drive (the only way to turn it fully off) and use the Airline power switch to turn the amp off because I don't know if using the power strip as a master on/off switch is harmful to the amp or Tube Driver or their vacuum tubes. Yes, I baby the crap out of these oldies so any solid, experienced advice here is much appreciated!

Thanks!
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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    2-feign-reluctance2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,141
    paging @exhausted @xtremehardy388 @mccreadyisgod
    www.cluthelee.com
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    brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,686
    2-feign-reluctance said:

    paging @exhausted @xtremehardy388 @mccreadyisgod

    :plus_one:
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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    mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    I am really uncomfortable with this, and I wouldn't do this to my own equipment.

    That being said, I don't have a great technical reason why this is bad. I'd be concerned that the capacitors would have a proper opportunity to drain power, and I'd also be concerned that the Chandler would power down before the amp, causing "pops" in the system. Other than that, it doesn't seem like a huge problem... I still don't think I would do it myself.

    Does the amp have a "standby" switch?
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
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    brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,686
    mccreadyisgod said:

    I am really uncomfortable with this, and I wouldn't do this to my own equipment.

    That being said, I don't have a great technical reason why this is bad. I'd be concerned that the capacitors would have a proper opportunity to drain power, and I'd also be concerned that the Chandler would power down before the amp, causing "pops" in the system. Other than that, it doesn't seem like a huge problem... I still don't think I would do it myself.

    Does the amp have a "standby" switch?

    The amp has no stand by switch. It's almost as simple as they come- unlighted on/off switch, volume, tone, two inputs- that's it. And the Tube Driver has no power switch- the only way to turn it on and off is plugging it in and unplugging which is a hassle getting to with my bad back.

    I feel a bit uncomfortable with my power switch idea as well- for the same reason as you, it just doesn't feel right. I guess for now I'll just keep doing the plugging and unplugging routine until I'm certain about using the power switch.

    Thanks for checking in here!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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    mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    To be clear, I was more concerned about the amp than the Chandler. I think you could probably use a power strip to control the on/off of the Chandler without any side effects. Just be sure your amp is last on/first off, so you don't get any pops when other things (like the Chandler) power on or off.

    Funny enough, someone on my local Craigslist page is selling a Chandler right now. It's a pretty cool piece, and you don't see very many out there.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
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    brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,686
    mccreadyisgod said:

    To be clear, I was more concerned about the amp than the Chandler. I think you could probably use a power strip to control the on/off of the Chandler without any side effects. Just be sure your amp is last on/first off, so you don't get any pops when other things (like the Chandler) power on or off.

    Funny enough, someone on my local Craigslist page is selling a Chandler right now. It's a pretty cool piece, and you don't see very many out there.

    It's a great sounding device. The one I have was cutting in and out but I was fortunate to have a local guitar tech who did some quick little fix (replaced the tube, I believe) a while back and it works great. Purrs like a big fat mountain lion. Maybe worth checking out if the price is right!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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    xtremehardy388xtremehardy388 Posts: 2,759
    Holy moly! I didn't know you could tag people in these things! That's awesome!!

    Anyway,

    I wouldn't recommend this, at all. You're HIGHLY likely to damage something, at some point, especially with the "pop" when you shut stuff off (that can also damage the speaker). I would shut everything off using the on/off switch and unplugging the driver. Then, for extra care, turn the power strip off, and then unplug it. The reason why I say this is because of power surges. Yes, even though there may be a surge protector, nothing is TOTALLY protected (especially with electricity---oddly enough, we just talked about this at our drill for the fire dept.). This is especially important if you're babying everything. It doesn't take much to fry the stuff in any electronics (especially older equipment).

    Furthermore, that "pop" doesn't always happen so you're basically playing Russian Roulette. It may not harm anything 100 times (even with the "pop") but that 101st time, you can damage the speaker and blow a tube.

    Speaking from experience, it's very possible to blow a tube driver, too. Forgetting to turn it off, when you power everything off, it's a possibility. By turning it on, you risk the tube driver automatically turning on with a surge of power. The amp drawing power AND the driver drawing power, suddenly at once, can overpower the current and fry things. I've got a massive board and have done the power strip. There were times where I'd flip the powerstrip off (when I had to leave in a hurry---the joys of being an "on-call" firefighter) and forgot everything was on when I flipped the switch. When I came back to play, I flipped the switch and was meant with a surge of power the almost blew the tube and speaker in my amp. The effects going all at once AND the amp turning on (in the drive channel) literally shook the amp and the reverb tank.

    Sorry for the long post but I hope this helps.
    Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
    JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
    "Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
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    brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,686
    Wow! Excellent information, xtremehardy! I'll play it safe and switch things off the way you described. One question: how important is it to unplug the power strip? It's very hard to get to at this point (runs behind stacks of LP shelving!). It's a very good quality power strip- no cheapo, for sure- with nice hefty cable. Hopefully I won't be risking too much leaving it plugged in (but will turn it off after unplugging amp and driver).

    Thanks again for superb info!

    Brian
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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    xtremehardy388xtremehardy388 Posts: 2,759
    brianlux said:

    Wow! Excellent information, xtremehardy! I'll play it safe and switch things off the way you described. One question: how important is it to unplug the power strip? It's very hard to get to at this point (runs behind stacks of LP shelving!). It's a very good quality power strip- no cheapo, for sure- with nice hefty cable. Hopefully I won't be risking too much leaving it plugged in (but will turn it off after unplugging amp and driver).

    Thanks again for superb info!

    Brian

    I think unplugging it (especially if you're babying it) is extremely important. We JUST had a storm, here, and power surges were pretty bad. For me, it's peace of mind, "just in case".
    Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
    JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
    "Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
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