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Peter Wieck[_2_] Peter Wieck[_2_] is offline
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Default Introducing a New Horse to the Stable

Howard Stone's experience with the Radford amp brought this on, so please f=
orgive the rant-like process here.=20

Guys and Gals:=20

When introducing a new piece of equipment to the system, please take NOTHIN=
G for granted, not even it it is brand-new, fresh from the box. And if it i=
s used, or, much worse, vintage-used please be exceedingly cautious. Equipm=
ent failure can be anything from minimally annoying to spectacularly annoyi=
ng to genuinely dangerous to life and property.=20

I have no problems running my 56 year old tube system in my office, and lea=
ving it unattended for hours at a time. It has been through my bench, sat f=
or hours on a metered variac, and I created a temperature-table using a hea=
t-gun such that if I see changes over time, I have a pretty good idea wher=
e to look for trouble. But when it came to me, I had no such faith.=20

In all seriousness, if one is going to pursue this hobby at more than an oc=
casional level, one should obtain the basic tools necessary to do so safely=
both for the equipment and the real-estate. This is not to suggest that su=
ch would have prevented Howard's experience - but he very probably would ha=
ve seen it coming in time to prevent the special effects.=20

If there is a consensus, I would be glad to take a picture of my (very basi=
c) bench, and (very basic) tooling, with an explanation for each item and t=
he purpose(s) it services.

Thoughts?

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA