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Threat of fire from audio equipment

Just read Art Dudley's new piece in Stereophile, and found myself becoming all sorts of worried. For many, many years now, I've left solid state equipment powered on -- except during thunderstorms or when heading away from home for extended periods. Now, I'm rethinking this practice.

See Mr. Dudley's article here:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-193-nordost-flatline-cables

My questions:

Is what happened to him the rarest of things, like someone's being struck by lightning? Is putting an amp (or another piece) into standby mode any better than leaving it on -- when it comes to preventing fire, that is -- or can a unit in standby mode burst into flames just like one that's powered on fully? Do others worry about fire? As much as I appreciate a fully warmed-up system, if fire is a legitimate concern, I'll routinely switch things off when I'm not around and listening. Or about to listen.

I'd love to learn what others -- especially those who understand engineering and electricity -- do with their equipment.

Thanks very much.

Howard
 
hodu
rodman99999
3,557 posts
 
@onhwy61:   +1
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
The title should have been: "Chicken Little says: THE SKY IS FALLING... THE SKY IS FALLING..."
Agree on the smart phone burning your house down way before the stereo.... Though if you are not at home, the phone is most likely to burn your bum.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
If your equipment caught fire or your house burned down raise your hands.
hodu OP
239 posts
 
I can only assume that neither onhwy614 nor rodman99999 read the Stereophile piece that prompted me to start this thread and ask the questions I did. (link included above.) 

An excerpt: "I didn't get much sleep that night, owing to the lingering stink—which had reached almost every corner of our home—and to my lingering worries about potential carcinogens. In the morning I set about cleaning the house, which proved a lengthy task: three days of scrubbing walls, ceilings, hardwood floors, and hardwood furniture, often multiple times—even after four washings, the wall behind the amp continued to reek—plus laundering bedsheets, pillowcases, slipcovers, and clothes that had been neither shut away in a closed drawer nor hung in a closed closet."


onhwy614 writes of an exploding transformer; the part in question appeared to be an electrolytic capacitor. He writes of a foul smell; what happened in Art Dudley's home was quite obviously  nothing so forgettable.


I'm as far from an engineer as one can get. I'm just a music lover who also appreciates good sound. I was very surprised by what I'd read in the Stereophile piece, and wondered if others, folks with more knowledge than I, might weigh in with some considered replies. I'm thankful to those who did.


-- Howard


elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
Like the wheel that fell off the car... Do you worry YOUR wheel is going to fall off?            
Or the pipe that broke and destroyed that home.. Do you then worry about YOUR pipes?             
The athlete who was in seemingly perfect shape and died of a heart attack. YOU worry?                  
Like the episode of Young Sheldon... When he stops eating solid food because he heard someone might choke to death.... ??
"A coward dies a thousand deaths, The Brave only once.' is how I look at the problem.               
And yes I read the original article.


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