Bottlehead Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: azrockitman on September 21, 2013, 03:44:01 PM

Title: Standing on end
Post by: azrockitman on September 21, 2013, 03:44:01 PM
It seems to me that the only "stress" that would be placed on any of the amps, if they were "stood on end, upright", would be on the tubes themselves.  Of course, the faceplate/top plate would need to be secured, but presuming they were secured, would there be any short or long term detriment to standing any of the amps on their end, so as to make more room in their physical location?  The tubes, in the limited amount of experience I have so far with BH gear, seem pretty snug.  is there any long term reason not to stand any of the amps up?

Thanks
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: Chris on September 21, 2013, 03:59:20 PM
Don Garber of Fi audio has an amp and preamp that is on its side.. The piles of garbage movers in England who packed all of my gear in a container to be shipped to Orlando put my EAR V-20 amp on its side... I was pissed when I unpacked the container.. I called Tim and asked if it was cool, and he said "well, I dont know???"  haha.. but it ended up being a non issue.. The amp is flawless in appearance and performance... And having said that, when I picked up the amp from Tim's shop near Cambridge, He opted to carry the amp and place it in my car himself, all 65 pounds of it, and placed it in my car on its side!  haha..  I would imagine if things are secure in your BH amp, it should be ok....
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: 2wo on September 21, 2013, 04:27:59 PM
I think you are asking if it is OK to run your amps sideways. For the most part yes. Be sure that any hanging caps and wires are well secured and consider that if the bottom is exposed, so are the high voltages.

Most small tubes run fine sideways, DHT's like the 45, 2A3 & 300b prefer to be run vertically but can be run sideways if the filaments are vertical, see the data sheet. I don't know about the Crack output tube, once again check the data sheet...John 
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: adamct on September 21, 2013, 05:02:10 PM
Bear in mind that heat rises. I don't know if this would make the wood of e case more likely to crack, or if there are any other components that are heat sensitive in that orientation.
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: azrockitman on September 21, 2013, 05:34:23 PM
Good point on the heat.....
The units will be backed against a wall so they wouldn't be exposed to curious hands, unless they were moved away from the wall. But that's a good point regardless.  It might be easier for a little one to pull it away from the wall, than it would be to turn an amp upside down that was placed normally on a table.

The heat could be aided with some vents cut on the back side (the side that would be facing up, if stood on end) 

Thanks for all the feedback.  The short answer might be to add a ventilated screen/bottom plate so no one would have easy access.
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: Paul Birkeland on September 22, 2013, 08:06:05 AM
In a DHT, the filaments need to be oriented in such a way that gravity doesn't pull them closer to the grid/plate.  The datasheets for these tubes specify this quite clearly. 
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: azrockitman on September 22, 2013, 03:32:00 PM
In a DHT, the filaments need to be oriented in such a way that gravity doesn't pull them closer to the grid/plate.  The datasheets for these tubes specify this quite clearly.

Ok, i'm smart enough to read that as "don't do it"....  :D  But I have no idea what DHT stands for.  is it:
Dihydrotestosterone
or
Distributed Hash Table  (Not what you think)
or
Directly Heated Triode? 

Either way, thanks, and I'll keep them firmly planted on all fours. 
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: 2wo on September 22, 2013, 05:49:35 PM
It means "Don't Heed This, hell no one ever does ;)

Directly Heated Triode, the 45, 2A3, 300B. the filament/cathode can sag if not placed correctly...John 
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: azrockitman on September 22, 2013, 06:32:04 PM
 :)
Thanks
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: Chris on September 22, 2013, 07:22:28 PM
Yes, it in fact does stand for "Dihydrotestosterone"... This in conjunction with the 5 alpha reductase enzyme is the main reason why you dont see any hair on a DHT vacuum tube... Just trying to help..
Title: Re: Standing on end
Post by: azrockitman on September 23, 2013, 08:34:02 AM
 :o
I knew there had to be a tie-in. 
 ;D