I live in the high desert of Arizona. It gets to about 95 degrees during summer months. I wan to run my 8 watt tube amp. I dont have air conditioning but have a ceiling fan that keeps the air moving pretty well. Lower wattage amps have fewer tubes and produce less heat collectively but I am concerned about the individual tubes. Do I have anything to worry about?
Running Low Power Tube Amps In Summer
- Thread starter AudioSoul
- Start date
Nope! Your high heat low humidity weather is actually a lot better than high heat/humidity here on the Eastern Seaboard. And I run my Tube receivers all summer. I have Central Air, but I don't use it much(maybe 2 weeks total time during the summer), and when it is on it's set for 83*F. I like fans better anyway. If you feel more comfortable with a fan on them, go ahead. but even with out they'll be fine. The individual tubes will make their heat no matter what ambient temp is.
crispycircuit
Super Member
Wow, no AC. Hot tubes are normal, I don't see a problem.. Enjoy the summer.....
Audio Soul; You got an Evaporative cooler on the house???? And if you DO decide to roll tubes, let it cool down about 5 minutes BEFORE you handle the tubes. Blisters on the ends of your fingers HURT!!! And give the unit about 10-15 minutes to cool down between power cycles. Or you may be buying more tubes, and other parts. Short cycling hurts rectifier tubes and output tubes not to mention small signal tubes, which can arc when short cycled. And when they arc, You need a new one.
Get a laser thermometer. They are less than $100, and will verify that nothing is getting too hot. Tubes are designed for a max bulb temp of 220 degrees Celsius. Water boils at 100 Celsius, which means tubes can be really really hot before being in any danger of overheating. I would be far more concerned with my actual filament voltage, than the temp of the tubes. If one is running too hot it will generally glow bright red for. The plate!
I run mine all summer. No issues, but make sure your PT don't get too hot
