Does it damage the radio to be left on for weeks and months ? mine takes quite a while to warm up which annoys me so I just turn the sound down. But I do wonder if it is damaging it. they use almost no electricity so the cost is not an issue. (not sure if this is the correct thread but you are all clever people ! )
bill1451,
Sep 7, 1:23pm
"takes quit a while to warm up" that used to apply to the old valve radios, just how old is your radio, I havent seen a valve radio since late 60,s and they are now quite expensive as opposed to the "transistor" solid state models. if your radio has valves then yes you will be shortening the life of the valves. Valves have what is known as a "heater" in them which is why they take a while to "warm up" although this may be minimal as in some ways turning your radio on and off at the wall may be just as damaging to the valves.
bill1451,
Sep 7, 1:28pm
something to think about, valves are still available, albeit prob made in PRC. and when they die you might get a surprise when you have to replace one. best to look at that well known off shore site.
comsolve,
Sep 7, 1:54pm
No Harm At All
trade4us2,
Sep 7, 2:23pm
If there are valves in the radio they would last only a month or two if left on 24 hours a day. We have lots of valve amplifiers etc. We get the valves from Russia.
goron56,
Sep 7, 2:45pm
I can remember back in the 50s my parents had a valve radio that went every day for the 18 years i was at home,then i inherited it when they past on and i had it in my garage for another 15 years it was still working fine when it was sold 8 years ago.never replaced any valves.
tmenz,
Sep 8, 3:14am
Post the make, model and age of your radio and I'll give you an answer based on experience. A photo would help too.
tmenz,
Sep 8, 3:25am
Not too many types of valves (tubes) are still made new. Those that are, by Russian and Chinese manufacturers, tend to be the types used by guitar amplifiers and hi-fi amplifiers favoured by audiophiles. The run-of-the-mill valves used in the old radios have generally not been manufactured for many years. However, as you say there are thousands of new-old-stock and used ones still available on the global market, generally at reasonable prices, but postage is often a killer. Many, if not most, are also available in NZ from various traders, averaging around $10-20 apiece with much more reasonable freight costs - so repairing the old radios is still affordable.
pisces47,
Sep 8, 6:24am
Will start up quicker if you untied the knot in the power lead
trade4us2,
Sep 8, 6:26am
We have lowered the heater voltage of our valves, and they last much longer. However there are so many valves that they heat the room up, which is not so good in summer.
fendie,
Sep 8, 9:39am
I should have said it was brand new ! it goes through an annoying little routine where it says HELLO and flashes away to itself and then the sound comes on. And because I am an ancient lady I use the term warming up, because I remember the old valve radios. I have a very old valve radio in the garage, anyone want it ? still works I think, and yes it does get warm .
tmenz,
Sep 8, 10:43am
OK, in that case it is fairly safe to say that there is no problem with leaving it on all the time - there are no components in a modern set that will 'wear out' from normal use!
fendie,
Sep 8, 12:22pm
OK thanks, I'll continue to just turn the sound down.
supernova2,
Sep 8, 2:54pm
Check the handbook. Our stereo does that sort of carryon if it's in Demo mode which it switches to every time its turned off at the wall or unpluged. Couple of buttons and all is good until some fool (usually me) turns it off by mistake.
tegretol,
Sep 9, 4:38am
Also, drape the power lead above the radio so that the last section has the power running downhill into it - these older valve devices need the increased electron velocity as they hit the anode of the EZ valve.
tegretol,
Sep 9, 4:40am
How low can you go though - I have an old Philco that had only 5.8v on the heaters instead of the 6.3v and it was useless. That last 0.2v made all the difference although the front end may well have been pretty tired.
trade4us2,
Sep 9, 5:40am
6.0v should be OK. We had 240volt incandescent light bulbs in our bach instead of 230v. They were not very bright but never burned out in 40 years.
studio1,
Sep 12, 6:09am
I'd be keen to take that - I can get it going again (if it's not working). Can't beat the sound of a tube radio. Just wish there were more offerings on the AM band than what we have.
elect70,
Sep 17, 11:36am
Mine is on all day every day rexcept when Tv is on . Dog likes it & deters wannabe burglars when im not home
studio1,
Sep 23, 11:56am
The trick with incandescent lamps is to run them up on a dimmer when applying power. Limit the inrush current and they'll last forever. It's the inrush that causes filament failure. My parents had chandeliers in the dining room and living room and each one had 8 lamps on it. The failure rate was becoming unrealistic until I fitted dimmer switches and instructed the rest of the family to wind the knob to minimum before switching on then ramp it up slowly. Never replaced a lamp after that. Tube heaters are another story.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.