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Posted

Hi. I had a 30 years old audio research valve power amp and was in storage for about 10 years. Are there any risks of  valves blow up or other potential circuitry damages once I hit the power button. circuitry looks a bit dusty.

Any advice on steps I need to take before turning it on?. Thankyou

Posted

I suspect yes - there is a risk. Perhaps the loan of a variac might help? The step I would take prior to power up is discuss it with @xlr8or.

Posted

Some, but 10 years is not so long, compared to the usual length of time old equipment sits in sheds (50 years or more sometimes), and prompts the usual warnings about not just turning it on.   A visual checkup,  and general cleanup of dust, and vermin evidence 🙂, is a good idea.

 

Also, do you know if it had any problems before being stored? Are there any known problems with this brand/model?

Posted

Don’t forget to make sure the amp is connected to a load - think that’s right ? 

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Posted

This really depends on how much time you want to spend in checking, cleaning and slowly powering up the unit beforehand. I'd be inclined to remove the tubes and open up the unit and visually check there is nothing wrong with the circuitry components. I'd also use some small soft-bristled paint brushes to clean the dust off the circuitry components and board at the sane time. Check there is no corrosion present along with what Mark has suggested that there is no bulging or leakage of the caps. You can then follow the procedure below using a variac multiplying the US voltages by 2 to slowly bring amp to 240v AC mains.

 

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/variac-procedure-2-old-30-wpc-tube-amps-unused-for-4-years

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Posted

l use a dim bulb tester on unknown amps.

Cant justifiy a variac cost yet.

 

regards Bruce

  • Like 1
Posted
2 hours ago, sloper said:

use a dim bulb tester on unknown amps

Sound advice.

Incandescent or packeted halogen in series with the amp. 50w would be enough.

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