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Threat of fire from audio equipment

Just read Art Dudley's new piece in Stereophile, and found myself becoming all sorts of worried. For many, many years now, I've left solid state equipment powered on -- except during thunderstorms or when heading away from home for extended periods. Now, I'm rethinking this practice.

See Mr. Dudley's article here:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-193-nordost-flatline-cables

My questions:

Is what happened to him the rarest of things, like someone's being struck by lightning? Is putting an amp (or another piece) into standby mode any better than leaving it on -- when it comes to preventing fire, that is -- or can a unit in standby mode burst into flames just like one that's powered on fully? Do others worry about fire? As much as I appreciate a fully warmed-up system, if fire is a legitimate concern, I'll routinely switch things off when I'm not around and listening. Or about to listen.

I'd love to learn what others -- especially those who understand engineering and electricity -- do with their equipment.

Thanks very much.

Howard
 
hodu
hodu OP
316 posts
 
Thanks for your responses, all -- Al, especially. As of now, I'll be keeping everything turned off until shortly before it's time to listen. Peace of mind is worth a lot.

inna
7,296 posts
 
Now that I will call a reliable piece - Levinson preamp.
I have transistor equipment and cannot hear any difference after two hours of warm up, and the difference between one hour and two hours is small. This doesn't mean that others wouldn't hear or/and that I wouldn't hear it with other equipment. I don't leave the equipment on unattended, this includes overnight.
colin44ct357's avatar
colin44ct357
122 posts
 
seen many cheap chinese power amp/mixers pcbs catch fire, mostly small components.I leave all my equipment switched on, especially avr's which have the fate of not coming on again.Cant afford to loose my hk5000, the 4000 went that way.
colin44ct357's avatar
colin44ct357
122 posts
 
the rotel 980 cda and dap are only switched on when used.heaven forbid one of them die on me, they are the best i have ever owned.cant take a chance with transformer items as our supply can hit 320vavc when a substation burns up, common in our new sa!bright lights...once so far in my area.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,229 posts
 
The title of this thread should read "BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID".  The chances of your equipment, excluding tube power amplifiers, catching fire is virtually nil.  Your laptop computer or cell phone are far more likely to self-incinerate than your stereo equipment.  A few sparks, a little smoke and a foul smell -- that's possible, but again highly unlikely.  And those events won't set your house on fire unless you've placed your equipment upon a bed dried evergreen needles.  If you really are going to worry about transformers exploding or lightning strikes, then you should also worry about making your system earthquake and tsunami proof.
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