Date:         Wed, 11 Aug 2004 23:58:20 -0400
Reply-To:     Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Subject:      Re: tube amp in a vanagon
Comments: To: jbange <hfinn@INGRATES.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <5.0.2.1.2.20040811152838.0349a850@mail.dslextreme.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

But back to the discussion at hand, the problem with tubes is that they're
not real "vibration-friendly". Mechanical stress really shortens the life
of vacuum tube devices, particularly when they're not designed for vehicle
applications. An acquaintance of mine was the guitarist in a band that
transported all their gear in the drummer's lowered mini-truck. The
chopped
springs made it ride really rough and it kept breaking tubes on this guy's
amp, so he ended up pulling all the tubes and carrying them separate,
plugging them in on stage before the show. One-off anecdotes are
statistically meaningless, but it's still worth considering. It probably
wouldn't be a bad idea to mount it in a cushioned or flexible manner, as
opposed to solid brackets. Dunno. Just prattling, I am...
----------------------------------------

the guy on the original website built his using military tubes that were
designed for use in tanks and subs.  he also mounted it on a vibration
isolator, he says that he hasn't had any problems so far, well that was
back in 2000 :).  mostly from what i have seen on tube equipment the old
electrolytic caps go bad before you start having problems with the tubes.

jonathan