I accidentally left my amp on for 3 hours...

[Southpaw Tele]

It's an Ampeg Jet J-12t reissue. It still plays fine, but the chassis was hotter than my wife. Have I damaged anything? I was afraid to look at the tubes.

[fezz parka]

I do that all the time. Just pretend you were playing though it.

[Southpaw Tele]

Originally Posted by fezz parka

I do that all the time. Just pretend you were playing though it.

Whew, thanks Fezz. The PCBs in these things are paper thin and I was praying traces didn't lift or something. I think it was my family's fault for rushing me out the door while I was playing in my usual mediocre fashion.

[marc13]

I once left rehearsal and came back a week later to find my amp still on. (1995 Fender Deluxe 112 Plus) it was hot as hell, but we had to practice, so I plugged in and it played just dandy! Still using it, too. (when I bought it in 1998 I'd had a post-power external speaker out added, now I disconnect the built-in speaker and plug an 80s Peavey 2x15 bass cab into it at 8ohms, and it sounds good.) I'm guessing it's cause it's a solid state and not tubes.....

Now I'm looking forward to saving enough for an AC30...

[trev333]

hey! it's winter down here... and it cold and rainy...
the super 210 stays on from morning until night to help warm the house....;)

nothing more annoying than switching an amp on an off .... getting off the chair,,, up and down,,heeerrruummpphh... ha ha ,,

[Mike Simpson]

I played an 8 hour outdoor gig in Phoenix on 06-17 and left the amp on for 8 hours in the AZ heat from noon to 8pm... my left hand was real tired about 7:30pm...

[SamClemons]

Left tube amps on for 12-24 plus a number of times with no problem. 3 hours should be nothing. That is a pretty short gig or practice for a lot of folks. Some do that every day.

[DeepSouth]

I know they are different beasts but once upon a time everyone had valves in televisions and radios. You can imagine how long they got left on for.

[trev333]

much better than accidentley leaving the car lights on over night and having a flat battery in the morning,,,;)

[6stringelectric]

3 hours? It's just getting properly warmed up at that point.

Most gigs are longer than that, and decent guitar amps can take much more than that.

Nothing to worry about.

[Warren Pederson]

Originally Posted by Southpaw Tele

It's an Ampeg Jet J-12t reissue. It still plays fine, but the chassis was hotter than my wife. Have I damaged anything? I was afraid to look at the tubes.

Forget the amp. Forget the guitar. You've got time for that later.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Warren Pederson

Forget the amp. Forget the guitar. You've got time for that later.

What makes you think it was not later? How do you think he forgot it for 3 hours?

[BoogieManSC]

I read when Eddie Van Halen was co-developing the EVH III w/Fender...one of his "torture" tests was to crank it full blast and set his guitar in front of it closeby so it would feedback, for a full month! The amp survived, although the engineers didn't really see the point. There's video of them explaining it, etc. There's short mention of it here in this article:

http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/...h-brand/147685

so don't worry at ALL over 3 hours, my friend....

[Scotty 2]

Originally Posted by Southpaw Tele

It's an Ampeg Jet J-12t reissue. It still plays fine, but the chassis was hotter than my wife. Have I damaged anything? I was afraid to look at the tubes.

Not to worry,,most guys don't practice long enough to
allow tubes to reach their potential heat range.Yes,,they
get hot,,,they're supposed to.But never,never go away
and leave your wife turned on for 3 hours MELTDOWN

[ehren]

My amps are rarely ever on for anything less than 3 hours.

[Ricky D.]

It's made for that.

[FenderLover]

My basement is primarily heated with a fireplace/blower connected to a thermostat on the other end of the room. The main room is 25' x 18' with a couple of halls and perimeter rooms. When I turn my stereo on (8 6SN7's and 16 6AS7's) the fireplace does not turn on.

I don't know what that has to do with anything, but I smile whenever I think about it. The only thing to worry about might be your pocket book if you do it all the time (with tubes). Class A amps pull max current at idle, so your tube life will suffer more.

[Southpaw Tele]

Originally Posted by Scotty 2

Not to worry,,most guys don't practice long enough to
allow tubes to reach their potential heat range.Yes,,they
get hot,,,they're supposed to.But never,never go away
and leave your wife turned on for 3 hours MELTDOWN

This quote made my day!

[Southpaw Tele]

I think what alarmed me was how hot that chassis got. I had a homebrew 18 watt Lite IIb and it used to heat up quite a bit, but I've been playing a Pathfinder for a couple of years. I could have a cooked an egg on the Jet's faceplate last night.

[gwjensen]

I've left my tube amps on all day and over night several times. What makes me nervous, though, is not what that might do to the amps, but the risk of a fire. I'm much more careful now.