Happy Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Hi My office amp is Sugden A21a. Is it ok to keep it powered on 24/7? Since it gets pretty hot, I wonder if keeping it powered on constantly may damage the parts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjs Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Damage your power bill more likely 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 1 minute ago, mjs said: Damage your power bill more likely Read my post again mate not my bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunbird Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I used to leave my Musical Fidelity A1 (the new 2008 version) powered on round the clock most of the time - did this for over 3 years with no adverse effect to the Amp - but as mjs said, keep an eye on your power bill. Good side effect could be the added heating at this time of year ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 (edited) 22 hours ago, Happy said: Hi My office amp is Sugden A21a. Is it ok to keep it powered on 24/7? No, for several reasons. Not the least of which is increased greenhouse gases released' along with excessive power bills. Quote Since it gets pretty hot, I wonder if keeping it powered on constantly may damage the parts? Yes, it will. Your Sugden, for some really odd reason, employs horizontally aligned heat sink fins. This means it cannot use the more efficient, convection cooling and must rely on radiation for most of it's cooling. Radiation works equally well for heat transfer to the outside air and, more critically, to the inside of the case of the amp. This will cause the electrolytic capacitors to be subjected to unnecessary amounts of heat and will shorten their life-span. Presumably, Sugden, who have been building hot running amps for many decades, are confident that the semiconductors can deal with the internal temperatures (and the Australian climate), so they should be OK. That still leaves the electrolytic caps. Electrolytic capacitors are rated at XXXX hours @ XXX degrees C. Typical, high quality capacitors will be rated for at least 5,000 hours @ 105 Degrees C. That figure will be uprated under normal conditions. Let's say your caps are so rated and the internal temps of the amp are around 55 degrees C. That would suggest a life of APPROXIMATELY 80,000 hours. About 10 years of 24/7 operation. Your caps might be 2,000 hours @ 85 degrees C, so that figure will be dramatically shorter. Much smarter to switch the amp on 30 mins before you want to use it. It will last a lot longer. Or fit fans, of course, as fans will keep the caps cool and they will last MUCH longer. Edited July 13, 2017 by Zaphod Beeblebrox 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 12 minutes ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: Much smarter to switch the amp on 30 mins before you want to use it. It will last a lot longer. Or fit fans, of course, as fans will keep the caps cool and they will last MUCH longer. Thanks. You mean something like laptop fan? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AU-Notebook-Cooler-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-Fan-Table-Stand-Fits-9-17-USB-Hub-/222569702452?hash=item33d2302434:g:rQ8AAOSw6YtZW19i Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 7 minutes ago, Happy said: Thanks. You mean something like laptop fan? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AU-Notebook-Cooler-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-Fan-Table-Stand-Fits-9-17-USB-Hub-/222569702452?hash=item33d2302434:g:rQ8AAOSw6YtZW19i I don't know, as the product pictured has no useful specifications. The way to compare fans is to look at the air flow rates. Usually in Litres/second, cubic Metres/hour or cubic feet/minute/hour. That said, ANY air flow will assist any heat sink, even horizontal ones. You could stick one of these on each heat sink: http://au.rs-online.com/web/p/axial-fans/7878920/ It will help, but you really need to increase air flow inside the amp. If you don't operate the amp 24/7, then you should not expect any problems for awhile. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benje Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Happy I use laptop cooler pads on my receivers/amps, and they 'suck' the heat out. USB powered, so have been able to use one of the receiver's usb connections to power the fan. Been doing this now for about 8 years - works well. Also reduces the dust falling in the amp because of the air movement. Benje 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 @Zaphod Beeblebrox ah fair enough i'll just turn it off when not using it then thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 Just now, Benje said: Happy I use laptop cooler pads on my receivers/amps, and they 'suck' the heat out. USB powered, so have been able to use one of the receiver's usb connections to power the fan. Been doing this now for about 8 years - works well. Also reduces the dust falling in the amp because of the air movement. Benje thanks - any noise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Just now, Happy said: @Zaphod Beeblebrox ah fair enough i'll just turn it off when not using it then thanks Best idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benje Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 negligible noise. However, my electronics are not in the listening area so noise has not been a consideration. Noise of a cooler fan is far less than in-built fans on electronic items in my experience. A clear perspex one doesn't look too bad. The fan speed is quite low - you do not need a tornado to cool the amp, just enough to increase the air circulation to shift some of the heat elsewhere. You are only shifting heat by cooling the amp, you are not preventing heat. ZB's solution (of turning it off) will prevent heat. A cooler fan will stop the amp getting hot when you need to have it on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 I had my Marantz MA6 Monobloks on all the time for 10 years or so.Only turned them off when I went away. Eventually sold them to a guy and not long after, all the binding posts broke.>Heat fatigue apparently. I never had the problem as I used them over that period with a pair of ELS63's. So never mucked around with the binding posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 Well I asked this Q because I forgot to turn it off yesterday when I left work. And it sounds somehow better than usual today. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rantan Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 1 minute ago, Happy said: Well I asked this Q because I forgot to turn it off yesterday when I left work. And it sounds somehow better than usual today. Same here with my Luxman A. On Monday I was playing it and had to go out that afternoon and forgot to turn of the amp. The next day ,after 24 hours powered up it sounded even more sublime than usual. Overall, I think its fine to leave it on for a day or two at most but I wouldn't push it beyond that. If possible, I always power it up for at least 15 minutes from cold before playing anything. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 2 minutes ago, rantan said: Same here with my Luxman A. On Monday I was playing it and had to go out that afternoon and forgot to turn of the amp. The next day ,after 24 hours powered up it sounded even more sublime than usual. Overall, I think its fine to leave it on for a day or two at most but I wouldn't push it beyond that. If possible, I always power it up for at least 15 minutes from cold before playing anything. too bad even in the audio it's the hotties that rule the show and then perish easy... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 @Happy you of all people have stereo gear at work? some of us have all the luck hey..... No friggin wonder you're happy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rantan Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Happy said: too bad even in the audio it's the hotties that rule the show and then perish easy... LOL. I reckon if I left my Luxman on all the time it would only last 35 years and not 50, so whomever inherits it when I shuffle off can worry about that Edited July 13, 2017 by rantan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 1 minute ago, Addicted to music said: @Happy you of all people What do you mean? Where's the smoking icon...not on SNA dang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proftournesol Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 4 hours ago, mjs said: Damage your power bill more likely Damage the planet more likely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 40 minutes ago, proftournesol said: Damage the planet more likely See what happens when @Happy leaves his Class A amp on: http://www.9news.com.au/world/2017/07/12/20/39/trillion-tonne-iceberg-breaks-off-antarctica 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 See what happens when [mention=123585]Happy[/mention] leaves his Class A amp on: http://www.9news.com.au/world/2017/07/12/20/39/trillion-tonne-iceberg-breaks-off-antarctica [emoji3] Damm right the factories in China still have a long way to goSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 4 hours ago, proftournesol said: Damage the planet more likely Given that you say you're an "unAustralian", prof, I'll have dig at you. Whatever CO2 savings are made by H not keeping his Class A Sugden on 24x7 ... will be rendered completely insignificant by many things - including: another square kilometre of forest cleared in Indonesia or the Amazon basin. another volcano erupting. another oil well put on fire by Daesh (as they are forced to leave that territory). another factory opening up in China. What I suggest you should do instead, @Happy is ... be sociable and use a Class AB amp, instead - like I do. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rantan Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 It's called class A for a reason. Just power it off after a listening session if you don't intend using it anytime later the same day. 12-24 hours is fine but leaving it on permanently is not wise IMO and it has zero to do with being green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 Pfff class AB is for peasants Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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