Please give me advice about an ARC VT 200 amp

@noromance , The technique I offered works just as well and is a lot cheaper. Based on your post I suspect you didn’t read my post all the way through.

@atmasphere I did read it all the way through. And with increasing incredulity with each sentence! However, I'll defer to your experience. I always play by the book when working on tube amps.

I always power up an old or used gear the first time using a DBT (Dim bulb tester) as atmasphere suggested:

http://www.geek-tips.com/2015/11/22/dim-bulb-tester/

Better safe than sorry!

@noromance  The technique I wrote about has been around for many decades as you can see from the post prior to this.

When the bulb is lit, the voltage drop is all on the bulb. This can happen if the filter caps are shorted or drawing current as they take a charge. But over time, eventually the lamp might go out- if it does, that means that the caps are no longer drawing current, so at that point they are fully charged. The lamp prevents the caps from being damaged should they draw current.

This is actually safer than using a variac, as you need to have an ammeter on that variac to monitor the current draw, and there is a serious judgment call about how much current is safe! So you are usually better off using the light bulb in this particular case- but because the tubes draw current, they can't be in the amp while this process is going on. You put them in only after the caps charged up and the lamp is off, and then power up the amp normally.

For an amplifier that has been sitting for decades, this technique is not so good, as the filter caps should simply be replaced. But for an amp that has been sitting for only three years this is the way to go.

Thanks @atmasphere . As the VT200 pulls 500w at rest, what wattage bulb would you use? I use a DMM to monitor current when using the variac.