Power usage while in Standby

[aaronlyon]

Anyone have one of those Kill-a-Watt energy usage meters? Or know offhand how much power in watts does a Mark IV head use while in Standby?

 

[Boogiebabies]

Really !

 

[av8or3]

Anyone have one of those Kill-a-Watt energy usage meters? Or know offhand how much power in watts does a Mark IV head use while in Standby?

He might be trying to figure out what he has to turn OFF in order to turn his Boogie ON. :lol:
Jim

 

[chipaudette]

So, just to be clear, on a tube amp "stand by" is not intended to be a "low power" mode. No. "Stand by" is intended to make the amp silent while still keeping the tubes warm so that it's ready-to-rock as soon as you stand back up on stage.

Therefore, at minimum, your amp will be drawing enough power to keep all the tubes warm. Here is my estimate as to what the minimum power draw will be for the tube set in a Mark IV:

12AX7: 6.3V x 300 mA = 1.89 W x 4 tubes = 7.56 W
12AT7: 6.3V x 300 mA = 1.89 W x 1 tube = 1.89 W
6L6: 6.3V x 900 mA = 5.67 W x 4 tubes = 22.68 W

Total Heater Power = 32.13 W

Note that this power estimate does not include the light on the front of the amp or any of the other losses within the amp. So, I would estimate that the amp draws 50-100W sitting there in stand-by.

I don't have a kill-a-watt, so I can't measure the actual value. It would be interesting if someone did.

Chip

 

[aaronlyon]

*headsmack* I remembered I have a CyberPower UPS for my computer that has a nice, digital power usage display. Here's what I observed with my Mark IVa head:

                                    Standby          On
Tweed power/Triode/ClassA           41 watts         49 watts
Full power/Pentode/Simul-Class      73 watts         97 watts

I did not observe what happens when I play guitar. Nice estimates, Chip!

BTW, my Mac Pro typically uses 283 watts. That thing must get REALLY loud!