How long have you left anything on by mistake?

[GordonW]

Those of you who mentioned leaving tube amps on, a guy on another website stated that he kept his monoblock tube amps on 24/7 stating that the tubes last longer that way because the filliments are not being turned on and off. I don't have much experience with tubes, so I don't if his thinking is right, but it's probably worth considering.

It's a tradeoff, between burning out the heaters and/or causing fatigue failures from cold/hot cycles from turning it off and on, and using up the cathodes and/or sometimes heat-stressing the plates and grids, from leaving it on.

The happy middle ground is, as almost always, in the middle.

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[BillyTheKid]

Those of you who mentioned leaving tube amps on, a guy on another website stated that he kept his monoblock tube amps on 24/7 stating that the tubes last longer that way because the filliments are not being turned on and off. I don't have much experience with tubes, so I don't if his thinking is right, but it's probably worth considering.

Dad was a tv repairman back in the days of vacuum tubes. He always said that the tv's in bars never gave any trouble, they were turned on and ran hot all day every day.
Often he just had to adjust the picture and clean the film of cigarette smoke off the screen.

 

[GordonW]

Dad was a tv repairman back in the days of vacuum tubes. He always said that the tv's in bars never gave any trouble, they were turned on and ran hot all day every day.
Often he just had to adjust the picture and clean the film of cigarette smoke off the screen.

And if there was a problem- just swap out a worn-out tube or two, and off they went again, usually...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[old_tv_nut]

It's a tradeoff, between burning out the heaters and/or causing fatigue failures from cold/hot cycles from turning it off and on, and using up the cathodes and/or sometimes heat-stressing the plates and grids, from leaving it on.

The happy middle ground is, as almost always, in the middle.

Regards,
Gordon.

There was a similar trade-off for compact fluorescent lamps, and for the arc lamps in DMD rear projection TVs. In those cases though, there was additional stress involved in hot restrikes of a gas filled tube. My Mitsubishi TV keeps the arc lamp on for a few minutes after you turn it "off" in case you change your mind.

 

[painttoad]

Left a vehicle running overnight.

i gotta derail this thread for a minute.....

years ago, the guy across the street started up his van one winter day to warm up and locked his keys in it.

he left it running because he thought the doors would unlock after it ran out of gas.




not the brightest bulb on the christmas tree for damn sure.

 

[Lux Man]

Years ago I decided it was time to give the goldfish aquarium a water change and cleaning. I started the small siphon tube into a bucket...then promptly forgot about it, took my son to his basketball game, remembered about half way home.
Bucket overflowed, water on the floor down into the basement. But I was very lucky and there was still about an inch of water left in the tank...so I didn't kill the fish, but they were looking nervous !

I’m happy for your fish. I thought it was going have a sad ending. But sorry about all the water all the way to the basement.

 

[init4fun]

Oven

gas filled

Ok, we've now got enough keywords in these two posts for me to fess up to mine........

I left a gas grill on........

FOR FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!!

But, how is that even possible you ask, wouldn't the propane bottle have run out long before that?????

Well yeah, it would have, except.....

The first house I bought had the gas grill on the back deck tied into the house's natural gas supply. On one Friday night I cooked two awesome steaks for the Mrs. and I and left the grill on to burn off the racks. Well, one thing led to another (Hey, I WAS young back then ) and I completely forgot about the grill! It was the following Tuesday that I happened to walk past it and felt an odd blast of heat blow by me in the breeze. I thought, "That's odd, could the bright sunshine have heated it that much ,so that I was feeling the warmth as I walked past? And then it hit me..... The steaks on Friday, , , the burning off the racks, , , , the , , , , oh ****!!!! it's been on since Friday?!?!?!?? Four DAYS?!?!?!? This thing's gotta be destroyed! I lifted the lid fully expecting the burner tubes to have turned to metal dust after running full blast for four days but no, lo and behold it had withstood my forgetfulness, remember this was 35 ish years ago and Webber still built a quality product back then. And yes, you can BET I checked twice each time I used it thereafter to make really really REALLY sure I had shut it off

Believe it or not I think I recall that it only added around $30 to that month's gas bill, but then gas was a whole lot cheaper back then.....

 

[grillebilly]

First week of owning a keyless entry Benz.

Somehow left it running & unlocked in the carpark while picking up supplies and having a bit of a browse around the Officeworks stationary store. It idles quietly!

I let my Suburban run overnight, total of 15 hours. It sits for long spells without being run so I start it and let it run for 20 minutes or so. Forgot all about it until midday the following day.

 

[Frankie's Market]

I had the wagon version back in the early '70's. Great little car.

I had several 122s over the years, all were wagons, loved em.

 

[Bill Ferris]

Stove burner. 4 hours. Oven. Over 6 hours

Boy, I bet your next power bill reflected that high wattage power meter spinning oversight !

 

[Lux Man]

Ok, we've now got enough keywords in these two posts for me to fess up to mine........

I left a gas grill on........

FOR FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!!

But, how is that even possible you ask, wouldn't the propane bottle have run out long before that?????

Well yeah, it would have, except.....

The first house I bought had the gas grill on the back deck tied into the house's natural gas supply. On one Friday night I cooked two awesome steaks for the Mrs. and I and left the grill on to burn off the racks. Well, one thing led to another (Hey, I WAS young back then ) and I completely forgot about the grill! It was the following Tuesday that I happened to walk past it and felt an odd blast of heat blow by me in the breeze. I thought, "That's odd, could the bright sunshine have heated it that much ,so that I was feeling the warmth as I walked past? And then it hit me..... The steaks on Friday, , , the burning off the racks, , , , the , , , , oh ****!!!! it's been on since Friday?!?!?!?? Four DAYS?!?!?!? This thing's gotta be destroyed! I lifted the lid fully expecting the burner tubes to have turned to metal dust after running full blast for four days but no, lo and behold it had withstood my forgetfulness, remember this was 35 ish years ago and Webber still built a quality product back then. And yes, you can BET I checked twice each time I used it thereafter to make really really REALLY sure I had shut it off

Believe it or not I think I recall that it only added around $30 to that month's gas bill, but then gas was a whole lot cheaper back

If I lost a finger every time I left the gas grill on, I would need to learn how to turn on my system with my tongue.

Fortunately, I use propane. Init4fun I’ve always wanted to hook my gas up to the house. You just gave me a great reason why in my case, I shouldn’t do that.

 

[Lux Man]

I told my son about this thread today and he confessed something far more dangerous- I never knew. He was doing some welding in our garage and had to run to the store but he had just blown the 20a breaker so right before he left he asked us to reset the breaker, which we did. He said when he was on the way back and driving down our street he saw smoke from our garage and wondered who was welding? He said today that the trigger for the feed was a little sticky so when he left and we reset the breaker it just started feeding wire and things were such that when he walked in the garage there was a big pile of red hot molten wire just sitting there. If there had been anything combustible nearby.....well just use your imagination- it won't take much. BTW- he is an exceptionally good welder. He has multiple awards in spite of this lapse.

The bullets we unknowingly dodge in life.....

 

[Mark W.]

The little Marantz 1030 Amp Pioneer P70 Tuner and a Pioneer SG-750 Spectrum Analyzer in my office system have been on for at least the last power outage which was year before last. The amp in the TV system a Pioneer A-120 has been on the same. They are never turned off.

 

[Blowed Fuse]

After a night of partying I woke up one morning to find an empty kettle on a red hot stove eye. Got it turned off and cooled down then started asking myself what the hell? I was home alone, nobody to blame but me. I noticed stuff splattered on the stove and walls. Then my memory finally kicked in. I had got hungry and my drunk ass decided to boil some eggs. While waiting the 15 minutes for them to get done I passed out. Those eggs exploded. The pot was completely empty nothing at all was left inside.
Im lucky to be alive

 

[init4fun]

The little Marantz 1030 Amp Pioneer P70 Tuner and a Pioneer SG-750 Spectrum Analyzer in my office system have been on for at least the last power outage which was year before last. The amp in the TV system a Pioneer A-120 has been on the same. They are never turned off.

Ah, but, , , , this doesn't sound like a mistake, more like an always on, on purpose

(The thread's theme is how long have ya left something on, by mistake)

 

[zwuttoo]

My wife has been "on" since the day we were married in 1974, and I have yet to find the "off" button, a real mistake!

 

[needforspeed]

Boy, I bet your next power bill reflected that high wattage power meter spinning oversight !

It certainly did Bill

 

[needforspeed]

Ok, we've now got enough keywords in these two posts for me to fess up to mine........

I left a gas grill on........

FOR FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!!

But, how is that even possible you ask, wouldn't the propane bottle have run out long before that?????

Well yeah, it would have, except.....

The first house I bought had the gas grill on the back deck tied into the house's natural gas supply. On one Friday night I cooked two awesome steaks for the Mrs. and I and left the grill on to burn off the racks. Well, one thing led to another (Hey, I WAS young back then ) and I completely forgot about the grill! It was the following Tuesday that I happened to walk past it and felt an odd blast of heat blow by me in the breeze. I thought, "That's odd, could the bright sunshine have heated it that much ,so that I was feeling the warmth as I walked past? And then it hit me..... The steaks on Friday, , , the burning off the racks, , , , the , , , , oh ****!!!! it's been on since Friday?!?!?!?? Four DAYS?!?!?!? This thing's gotta be destroyed! I lifted the lid fully expecting the burner tubes to have turned to metal dust after running full blast for four days but no, lo and behold it had withstood my forgetfulness, remember this was 35 ish years ago and Webber still built a quality product back then. And yes, you can BET I checked twice each time I used it thereafter to make really really REALLY sure I had shut it off

Believe it or not I think I recall that it only added around $30 to that month's gas bill, but then gas was a whole lot cheaper back then.....

Sorry but that’s funny. “Distraction” Let’s say, Can cost you. Bet those steaks were excellent lol

 

[Bill Ferris]

The little Marantz 1030 Amp Pioneer P70 Tuner and a Pioneer SG-750 Spectrum Analyzer in my office system have been on for at least the last power outage which was year before last. The amp in the TV system a Pioneer A-120 has been on the same. They are never turned off.

Interesting, Mark W.
This post concerns electrical/electronic equipment left on for sustained periods of time by "mistake" !

I`ve apparently have exceeded you in the purposely/intentionally left on stereo systems, as the purchased new Sony 100 WPC receiver that I purchased new from Crutchfield in 2000, has remained 24/7/365 powered up since prompt installation in my car garage/smoking room.
The only time that it gets a brief power down rest is the minute or so for my whole house backup auto switchover genset cranks up and switches over to resume powering my house.
I also have a purchased new in 1992 100 WPC. Radio Shack receiver, also continuously powered up 24/7/365 for over 18 yrs. that resides in a spare bedroom.
And a Mc. separates w/2 L/R 400 watt powered subwoofers stereo system in the sunroom also remains powered up 24/7/365 for over 15 yrs.
2 more of my house`s room`s stereos also remain powered up 24/7/365 both around 10 yrs.

All these stereo systems are hardwired audio fed from my 2 different WAV. ripped digital music sources with duplicated, currently 15k tracks, that also remain 24/7/365 powered up providing me with all day clear balanced HQ sound from wakeup until I mute the currently engaged source before going to sleep.
I love being able to hear my shuffled mode multi genre commercial free tracks of music that I own played all day without interruption throughout my house.

I`m sure I have over the yrs. mistakenly left some electrical/electronic device(s) powered up for a period of unnoticed time, but I`m at loss to recall what they were at this moment !

 

[SuperjazzyJa]

Interesting, Mark W.
This post concerns electrical/electronic equipment left on for sustained periods of time by "mistake" !

I`ve apparently have exceeded you in the purposely/intentionally left on stereo systems, as the purchased new Sony 100 WPC receiver that I purchased new from Crutchfield in 2000, has remained 24/7/365 powered up since prompt installation in my car garage/smoking room.
The only time that it gets a brief power down rest is the minute or so for my whole house backup auto switchover genset cranks up and switches over to resume powering my house.
I also have a purchased new in 1992 100 WPC. Radio Shack receiver, also continuously powered up 24/7/365 for over 18 yrs. that resides in a spare bedroom.
And a Mc. separates w/2 L/R 400 watt powered subwoofers stereo system in the sunroom also remains powered up 24/7/365 for over 15 yrs.
2 more of my house`s room`s stereos also remain powered up 24/7/365 both around 10 yrs.

All these stereo systems are hardwired audio fed from my 2 different WAV. ripped digital music sources with duplicated, currently 15k tracks, that also remain 24/7/365 powered up providing me with all day clear balanced HQ sound from wakeup until I mute the currently engaged source before going to sleep.
I love being able to hear my shuffled mode multi genre commercial free tracks of music that I own played all day without interruption throughout my house.

I`m sure I have over the yrs. mistakenly left some electrical/electronic device(s) powered up for a period of unnoticed time, but I`m at loss to recall what they were at this moment !

My last year in San Antonio, I had 1.5 systems. Source players and Denon receiver in the living room Onkyo receiver in the bedroom getting a signal via the zone 2 output of the Denon. Both receivers were on 24/7. While at work, the jazz station was on. My landlord liked it because it gave people the impression that someone was home. He was not very trusting of my neighborhood. I never had any concerns, but I appreciated that he was always looking out for me. Great guy!