Studio equipment always on or not?

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Phase Ghost
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Re: Studio equipment always on or not?

Post by Phase Ghost »

I leave my computer on all weekend since I'm in and out of the studio a lot. If I'm leaving for any extended period of time, I shut everything except the computer off. During the week, I shut everything off, including surge protectors.
steevio
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Re: Studio equipment always on or not?

Post by steevio »

how about this;

i have a TR909, 2 SH101s, and TB303 which apart from a couple of very minor repairs between the lot of them, (infact the SH101s have never been repaired) have been switched on and off thousands of times in their 30 year lifespans.

i have a Nord lead i bought new in 1995 which has been switched on and off thousands of times, its never once been repaired.

the only kit that has died on me in any way, has been very recent gear like a Prophet 08 and an Access Virus, undoubtedly made with inferior components, and both of them died within months of buying them and had only been switched on and off a few times.

i'm sorry but this switching on and off being bad for gear is complete bullshit. i have a studio full of gear that is testament to that. :D
Barfunkel
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Re: Studio equipment always on or not?

Post by Barfunkel »

I asked my teacher and he did say that turning electronic devices on and off constantly does lessen their life span. He didn't have a link
to prove it though, so it could be just his personal opinion and not a scientific fact. He did have a few examples of things he's witnessed
that speak for it, but a few cases is not science.

It's also possible that in most cases it doesn't really matter if you turn it off or leave it on for long periods of time, as you'll
die of old age or the gear breaks for other reasons before it breaks because of the on/off switching. Could be an issue for vintage gear though,
that can be decades old.
lem
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Re: Studio equipment always on or not?

Post by lem »

Barfunkel wrote:I asked my teacher and he did say that turning electronic devices on and off constantly does lessen their life span. He didn't have a link
to prove it though, so it could be just his personal opinion and not a scientific fact. He did have a few examples of things he's witnessed
that speak for it, but a few cases is not science.

It's also possible that in most cases it doesn't really matter if you turn it off or leave it on for long periods of time, as you'll
die of old age or the gear breaks for other reasons before it breaks because of the on/off switching. Could be an issue for vintage gear though,
that can be decades old.
I think its a thing to be taken with a pintch of salt. Unless someone can provide me with proper data, I will always continue to switch on and off gear. Not exessively, like discussed but still, I am concerned about the environment (and my energy bills!).
In the lab where I work we have equimpment from the 70's that is still going strong. Must have been turned on/off thousands of times. Very rarely do these things need fixing. Most of them still have the original internal fuses! Then you can get new instruments that break within months. A lot of it comes down to design. My Polysix has probably seen more than its fair share of power surges, it has a CPU and some fairly sensitive components. Its all original inside.
Its a fairly impossible thing to test and I think people are advising on their own experience. Which is fine, but I don't think anyone should take these opinions as gospel. I am more than willing to be proven wrong, but I would like to see some theory behind it.
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Re: Studio equipment always on or not?

Post by oblioblioblio »

I asked on Muffs like mentioned, and got replies from some engineers who are qualified. I was told that modern well designed equipment will be stressed less by leaving on for an extra hour than going through a power cycle in the time.

So, whilst I ensure that if it's turned off if I'm not using it, which to me seems sensible, if I get up to use the internet or eat food, etc etc. then I leave it on.
lem
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Re: Studio equipment always on or not?

Post by lem »

oblioblioblio wrote:I asked on Muffs like mentioned, and got replies from some engineers who are qualified. I was told that modern well designed equipment will be stressed less by leaving on for an extra hour than going through a power cycle in the time.

So, whilst I ensure that if it's turned off if I'm not using it, which to me seems sensible, if I get up to use the internet or eat food, etc etc. then I leave it on.
Well I looked at Daverj's reply then I looked at Synthbuilders reply. I thought synthbuilders reply seemed more complete but still not definitive.
I mean the only thing that seems to be agreed on is that components will eventually die.
Yes leaving it on for an extra hour is one thing. So is repeatedly switching it on and off like a pesky child might. But leaving equipment on constantly, which is what some people say they do, isn't going to help your equipment.
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Re: Studio equipment always on or not?

Post by MagpieIndustries »

Vintage (or just older) gear is quite often built with components of much higher tolerances. Think of it like this, if you design a resistor or capacitor that can tolerate a huge amount of overload, then you've designed it too well. They are often bulkier and heavier and so more expensive to produce. Modern 'improvements' reduce cost by making things smaller, and less tolerant. Modern gear uses unleaded solder, as its better for the environment, but it is also more brittle and more prone to cracking than leaded versions. Lots of gear thats 20 years old works just fine now, but I can't imaginge todays phones still functioning ok in 2033. You've not heard the term 'planned obsolecese'? You can predict month by month the statisticial likelihood of component failure. So, my point is that statements such as "I've tons of vintage gear which I'm always switching on and off" does not apply to newer gear.

When a device is up and running it is in a stable state, and its the least amount of wear to keep it in that stable state. Does your gear get warm? That is electricity being lost as heat. Until the gear warms up, the currents flowing in it are different (and changing). Resistors change value with heating. Thermal expansion occurs. Turn the gear off and things contract again.

Look at a transformer inrush current. They can draw 50 times their normal current when first powered up. This can go on quite a while with big transformers. Capacitors throughout the whole gear need to charge up too. It's very common for electrical device manufacturers to run power-cycle stress testing alongside long-term stability tests. There is a reason you turn your speakers on last; there can be all sorts of pops and clicks and current surges when you first power up some gear, which can stress or damage your speakersNow, it's arguable that these effects will or will not damage the gear, but it's certainly true that your gear takes a massive jolt when turned on. Do you feel confident enough to take your most expensive bit of gear and jiggle the power switch on and off as fast as you can, over and over?

Personally I'm more concerned with fire hazard and saving some electricity so I turn it all off, plus, turning the gear off forces me to do a bit of cleanup and patch saving.
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Re: Studio equipment always on or not?

Post by steevio »

^^^
you're right that older gear was better made with better quality components, and that some newer gear is of inferior quality to keep the kit competetive, and your explanation of how gear works is accurate, but come on what are we talking about here, switching your gear off at the end of your session, and switching it back on again the next time your'e in your studio.

i find it quite laughable that there it is even worthy of discussion, we arent talking about jiggling switches on and off repeatedly, we are talking about sensible use of your kit. If it cant be switched on and off a couple of thousand times without breaking then its not worth having imo.
if its that badly made then its got no place in your studio.

i dont have tons of vintage gear, i have a few bits of old gear, but most of it was built in recent times, and as i said ive had a couple of dogs, the Prophet 08 being the worst bit of kit ive ever had, i sold it as soon as it started acting up, and i wont buy a DSI synth ever again.

read the reviews, the forums etc., dont buy sh!t gear is my advice, way more important than how many times you switch it on and off, and not all new gear built with planned obselence. i'm very confident that my present set-up which was mostly bought two to three years ago will work when i switch it on every day. nothing has failed yet.
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