Peter, I like the idea. However, I did a little research at the industrial supplier's website (McMaster Carr) and found that route would add a fair bit of complication and a pretty significant cost. I think the way to go is with as much simplicity as possible.
Would anyone like a tube hour counter for amps that don't have this function ?
I am planning and designing a small, attractive, external tube hour counter, and I would like to get a sense if anyone is interested in this for themselves. If so I may be compelled to make a batch of these at the same time Rather than just one.
I have an audio research VT100 mkII and and LS25. I really like these amplifiers, but neither of them have a way of tracking tube hours. I know I can just listen to the tubes to determine shortcomings, but I'm also an analytical sort of guy, so having an accurate tube hour count would be useful to me.
my plan is to use a digital, non-resettable, industrial hour counter. I am planning to recess this into a small aluminum enclosure with professionally machined openings for the Digital counter as well as the power cable coming out of the back. The plan is to use a Black anodized aluminum body with natural aluminum face plate and rear plate. A power cable coming out the back and be terminated to a standard household grounded plug. There will be rubber deer on the bottom. The device will be small: perhaps about 4 inches wide, 2 inches tall, and 4 inches deep.
I have a six outlet power conditioner with one outlet free. To use this hour counter, I will plug it into my conditioner, I will switch off the power on the conditioner when I'm not using the amplifiers. When I switch on the Power conditioner and subsequently the amplifiers, The hour counter Will begin its count.
For those of you who plug their power amplifier directly into the wall, I suspect that many of you will still plug your preamplifier or other components into a conditioner or strip of some sort. In that case this tube hour counter will still work for you, unless you just turn on your power amp from time to time for fun!
Since I will be re-tubing my power amp soon, this is a perfect time for me to add this to my system. I plan to use my small label making machine (brother p-touch style) to put a label on the bottom of the aluminum enclosure that has notes on the install date, tubes, and hour counter numbers.
For example, I may just change the power tubes on my amplifier and not touch the signal or driver tubes in the power amp, or the preamp tubes in the preamplifier at this time. When I go to change those smaller tubes in the future, I will notate that change and log the hour count in a small note on the Label Maker, and stick it to the bottom of the enclosure. The hour counter will be non-resettable to avoid tampering or mistakes.
I'm not yet sure about the price of something like this, I'm doing the research now. Since it has to sit on my audio shelf, I don't want it to look like a piece of junk or a children's science project. Because of that, I will use professionally sourced parts, quality machining, and thoughtful design, planning, and careful assembly.
I suspect the final selling price may be in the neighborhood of $100 - $200. But that's just a wild guess at this point. If anyone's interested please let me know and I will consider making several of these instead of just one for me!
Take care,
Mark
I have an audio research VT100 mkII and and LS25. I really like these amplifiers, but neither of them have a way of tracking tube hours. I know I can just listen to the tubes to determine shortcomings, but I'm also an analytical sort of guy, so having an accurate tube hour count would be useful to me.
my plan is to use a digital, non-resettable, industrial hour counter. I am planning to recess this into a small aluminum enclosure with professionally machined openings for the Digital counter as well as the power cable coming out of the back. The plan is to use a Black anodized aluminum body with natural aluminum face plate and rear plate. A power cable coming out the back and be terminated to a standard household grounded plug. There will be rubber deer on the bottom. The device will be small: perhaps about 4 inches wide, 2 inches tall, and 4 inches deep.
I have a six outlet power conditioner with one outlet free. To use this hour counter, I will plug it into my conditioner, I will switch off the power on the conditioner when I'm not using the amplifiers. When I switch on the Power conditioner and subsequently the amplifiers, The hour counter Will begin its count.
For those of you who plug their power amplifier directly into the wall, I suspect that many of you will still plug your preamplifier or other components into a conditioner or strip of some sort. In that case this tube hour counter will still work for you, unless you just turn on your power amp from time to time for fun!
Since I will be re-tubing my power amp soon, this is a perfect time for me to add this to my system. I plan to use my small label making machine (brother p-touch style) to put a label on the bottom of the aluminum enclosure that has notes on the install date, tubes, and hour counter numbers.
For example, I may just change the power tubes on my amplifier and not touch the signal or driver tubes in the power amp, or the preamp tubes in the preamplifier at this time. When I go to change those smaller tubes in the future, I will notate that change and log the hour count in a small note on the Label Maker, and stick it to the bottom of the enclosure. The hour counter will be non-resettable to avoid tampering or mistakes.
I'm not yet sure about the price of something like this, I'm doing the research now. Since it has to sit on my audio shelf, I don't want it to look like a piece of junk or a children's science project. Because of that, I will use professionally sourced parts, quality machining, and thoughtful design, planning, and careful assembly.
I suspect the final selling price may be in the neighborhood of $100 - $200. But that's just a wild guess at this point. If anyone's interested please let me know and I will consider making several of these instead of just one for me!
Take care,
Mark
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- 32 posts total
Peter, the 12v trigger could possibly work, and would be a perfect way to activate such a device. My amps unfortunately do not have 12v triggers :-( so in my case, I will have to use a household plug and connect the hour counter to my power conditioner. if you (or anyone else with 12v triggers on their gear) are interested in one of my yet to be built devices, I will do the appropriate research on the actual function of the 12v trigger and consider making a 2nd version, or enhanced functionality in one design to accommodate more users. I should be able to create a version that can be activated by the influx of current when I turn on the power conditioner that it is plugged into, and also have an option to activate it via 12v trigger. I think that addition will not add too much complexity... |
It is worth checking out. In my case, although produced by the same manufacturer, my amplifiers have 12 V triggers but my preamp does not. I'm assuming that the 12 the trigger on an amplifier only received instructions and does not send them. So I am not sure how it would send information about on/off status. I am guessing that most people would not want to have to plug their amplifier into some other device in order to achieve the time accounting. That is why I was suggesting a temperature sensor. But a 12 V trigger could also do this job. |
Peter, what amplifiers do you have? I am researching the possibilities of a design that would employ a toggle switch that would allow one to choose a mode where the simple connection to the electricity will activate the hour counter, as will be useful in my case. Flip the toggle, and the alternate mode will be selected where the 12v trigger will activate the counter. Here is a rough preliminary sketch that I made of the device. There are 2 LEDs to indicate the mode of operation. can you please tell me the model numbers on your amp and preamp so I can use them as a research starting point? thanks! |
- 32 posts total