[runswithaliens]

I have been looking at amps such as the Woo Audio WA2, and the Decware CSP2+, but noticed this warning in the WA2 manual:
 
"DO NOT: Leave the amps running unattended. To use the amps safely, please allow it to
cool down for every 8 hours of continuous play time."
 
The CSP2+ manual merely states: "Turn apparatus off when not in use.".
 
So my question is for tube amps in general, is it a bad idea for example to fall asleep while it is on and have it running unattended for the whole night? I would hate to have it burst into flames and burn the place down while I'm asleep if you see what I'm saying.

 

[eclipes]

yeah never leave a tube amp running longer for 8 hours, it gets really hot and it will just depreciate your tubes life. Especially expensive tubes, I wouldn't want them to burn out so fast.

 

[Il Mostro]

Over many many years I have fallen asleep with tube amps on and also just simply neglected to power down tube amps.  These have ranged from headphone amps to big-balls power amps (Mesa Baron, Audio Research VT200, VTL 225's).  Nothing to get your panties in a bunch over.   No damage whatsoever.  While it doesn't help tube life, you will not burn down the house or damage the amp.  Ditto with my tube pre-amps.  I would not intentionally leave them powered-up indefintely, but normal human error is not something to worry about.

 

[Uncle Erik]

If you fall asleep now and then it's probably nothing to worry about. But it is not a good idea to leave them on continuously.

Yes, tubes will wear out faster. But so will your resistors and capacitors. They're rated for only so many hours and will fail much earlier.

No, failure won't be a Hollywood-style explosion and it'll probably still turn on and work.

Failure is usually defined as when something goes out of spec. Your 100 Ohm resistor might change - permanently - into a 250 Ohm resistor. Capacitors go out of spec, too. Transformers won't change. But you might end up with a working amp that is full of parts that are not the values they should be.

Heat is usually what changes values. The more heat the parts are exposed to without a chance to cool off, the more likely it will be that the parts will go out of spec.

Every older component I've worked on has parts that are not the right value. Lots of them still work and are safe to operate, but they always sound so much better once they're full of new parts of the correct value.

 

[runswithaliens]

Hey thanks for the replys. That does clear up the main hesitation I have been harborring about going with a tube amp.