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Best Way To Maximize Preamp Tube Life?

I would love to learn how to best maximize tube life. Tubes have a limited lifespan, of course. So when you're not listening for a time, is it best to shut everything off to preserve the "hours" left on the tube's life? OR does the act of powering off/on itself shorten tube length as well? If so, by how much? Something like "powering off/on costs 3 hrs of tube life, so taking a music break of less than 3 hours, better to just leave it powered on." Or 1 hr, or 10 minutes, 6 hours, etc? Where is the tradeoff point?

In my system FYI, I am running a Don Sachs preamp with 4 6SN7s and 1 6BY5 rectifier.  Don says the preamp is only running the tubes at 40% of their rating. I would greatly appreciate some input from people with tube knowledge. Thanks in advance!
sid-hoff-frenchman
drkingfish
79 posts
 
My Carver 350s came with a 10 yr warranty on amps and tubes (Bob later raised it to 50 yrs on all of it, long story)  Even his new 275s come with a 5 yr warranty on everything.  He runs them both conservatively and you can touch them even after hrs of playing.Best to allMark
twoch
429 posts
 
Just do the method you like best 
Any method you pick be ready to take the gas pipe . Don't lose sleep over it 
audiodwebe's avatar
audiodwebe
230 posts
 
I can't actualy think of a time tubes wore out, ever.  I've had tubes go bad, but it always happened to a single tube and not the set.  

If the tubes went from use, I would think they (same type/brand used as a pair or more) would burn out roughly the same the same timeframe.  And yet that's not been my experience.

So I'm not sure what the best method is for getting more life out of tubes.

I've turned the amp/pre on after work if I planned to listen in the evening and turn off at bedtime.  On the weekend, I'd turn everything on in the morning and shut off at bedtime, unless I was going to be gone for more than a few hours, in which case I'd shut off then turn back on upon my return.
ghdprentice
6,848 posts
 
The more I think about it. The more I think they are such an asset that tube life just should not be a concern. With at least 3,000 hours it’s just not worth worrying about. If your a person that thinks about these things, then replace when it is time.

The fact that tube equipment should not be left on unattended.. pretty well takes care of the longevity issue.
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