Leave Power On or Turn it Off?

[4-2-7]

Isn't this leaving equipment on unattended, in addition to all the other appliances mentioned?

No

 

[4-2-7]

I started this mainly because the search function is crap, and for some reason, even though it's apparently been discussed to death, this one still managed three pages or so of response. You cannot discuss things like this this to death. Surprisingly, people change their mind, maybe after a lightning strike, or their house burning down, or re-capping because moisture destroyed their receiver, or rust on the screws that hold their speakers in the cabinets (true story for me), or any number of other reasons.

I understand no consensus, but I want to know why you do or don't as related TO YOUR AUDIO STUFF. The guy who says we're idiots for leaving things unattended is, in fact, just as big an idiot as the rest of us. Where do you draw the line at "unattended"? If you leave ANYTHING on in your home, ANYWHERE in your home, you run a risk of destruction (albeit extremely slight). Why stop at audio gear, or water heaters, or air conditioners, or computers, or heaters, or the wall clock, or smoke detectors or, well... you get the point. Your home lives by electricity whether you are home or not.

I am simply relaying my experience with my AUDIO EQUIPMENT. Screw the rest of the house. My hot water heater stays on, my heat pump stays on (turned down doesn't mean squat), my fridge and freezer continue to run when I'm away, and so on. AND I LEAVE MY AMPLIFIER ON. And have done so for 27 years, minus a month or two. No issues. No re-caps, no burned down houses, not even a tripped circuit breaker (I use a UPS in front of all my equipment, it de-couples transient voltages).

So, add another on-off thread to your long list, but try to stay on topic of how it pertains to only your audio gear for once. It could actually be a sticky some day. Real people want to know.

Cheers,
Mark

Home supporting equipment "Hard Wired" is not the same as a bunch of crap plugged into the wall. And who's the us from what I read in the thread your alone.

 

[Audiovet]

.... and not too much material in support of either habit, more than personal preference or anecdotal 'evidence'.

As a pronounced idiot then: I have been around the block a few times and the instances where 'left-on' equipment lead to the woes predicted every time, in my experience, are so rare as to be negligible - even including those when the owner was present and could do something about it. In my professional career as a research EE, where we regularly left equipment on, I cannot really recall an instance where disaster occurred as a result of that action alone. Fridges and water geyzers stay on continuously and I don't find too many folks living in fear of catastrophy thataway. But I suppose there is equipment and equipment. Thus depending on how prone the design is to malfunctioning .....

We did experience that equipment generally lasted longer when left on for components to stabilise. In all precision equipment or high-accuracy experimental cases the same was left on, often in an air-conditioned environment. But as said conditions for tube amplifiers are different. Before we had semi-conductor instruments, those were turned off every night except for the mentioned special conditions.

But there are disaster-prone territories. I live in one of the highest lightning incidence areas in the world, where a fair share of lightning-disabled cases occur every summer. My own (own designed) equipment is on 24-7 except when going away for several days, and during thunderstorms (I have moderate surge protection). It has by now been on for some 22 years, barring vacations and power interruptions. The resultant average cost of electricity is about $20/annum (that roughly because of crazy exchange rates).
_______________________________________________________

PS: I am sorry but I cannot see why some get acerbic every time a topic is repeated. Forums 'live', folks come and go, new members have a right to questions - and as said this is not the easiest topic to do a search on. And those finding the repetition boring - who forced you to read every time? The intention is clear from the title. A contribution that did help was where the often repeated instances were listed for reference.

 

[frankxbe]

I started this mainly because the search function is crap,

agree OTOH the Google search option here works much better than "search forums"

ofc Google search by self is very good just type " audiokarma: subject " (whereas subject is your search term/ string ) in Google search , you can do that with any web site to speed up search results for a specific web site ☺

 

[frankxbe]

I wonder if anyone has had an over the counter consumer Joe six pack solid state AVR or stereo receiver or amp on continuously for over 20 + yrs without a malfunction ?

Try that with a stock Pioneer SXxxxx or SXxxx (recapped or not ) and get back to me .....................☺☺

 

[Smallies]

Silly to value original capacitors. Everything is right in the world when I throw a pile into the bathroom trash.

 

[exhippy]

I leave my two channel system plugged in. Unless I'm gone for week(s) at a time. I also keep my home owners policy up to date. I like to know for sure what's covered and what's not.

My transport and dsd manufacturer tells me not to unplug them. If you do they recommend waiting three hours before using again after you give'em the juice again.

Most equipment manufactures will tell you to unplug during a lighting storm, so if the sky's are looking poorly before I leave the house or the weather man says "chance of", I unplug.

 

[frankxbe]

I leave my two channel system plugged in. Unless I'm gone for week(s) at a time. I also keep my home owners policy up to date. I like to know for sure what's covered and what's not. .

Plugged in and turned on or off?

My transport and dsd manufacturer tells me not to unplug them. If you do they recommend waiting three hours before using again after you give'em the juice again.

Probably has to keep volatile memory (or something ) charged on standby .

Most equipment manufactures will tell you to unplug during a lighting storm, so if the sky's are looking poorly before I leave the house or the weather man says "chance of", I unplug.

Makes sense .

 

[frankxbe]

Silly to value original capacitors. Everything is right in the world when I throw a pile into the bathroom trash.

If an PSU electrolytic cap is ~ 15-20+ yrs old I generally like to replace them with modern caps