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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
5,981 posts
 
Some "smart" phones have a history of burning people, homes and cars. How many carry theirs around in fire-proof enclosures, or turned off?
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,136 posts
 
Hodu, I read the Dudley article and thought it was unfortunate.  But then again, I don't think Dudley's experience reflects a typical audiophile.  He's into esoteric and/or vintage tube amplifiers which truth be told, I wouldn't leave unattended either.  Also, he swaps out dozens of pieces of equipment a year.  If a fire is going to happen, it would happen to someone fitting his specific profile.  For a typical solid state amp/preamp/dac or even a small tube preamp owner, fire and explosions are not something to give much thought to.
Someone mentioned a power substation burning and the resulting possibility of damaged equipment.  I'm just not going to lose sleep.  An unnamed rogue nation in western Asia sending malware or a virus to corrupt your computer/music server/phone is far more probable.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,404 posts
 
Reminds me of a 1KW isolation transformer in the TV repair workshop where I worked which went bad. It was mounted on the wooden partition and the really loud vibration and plume of smoke were astonishing.
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2psyop's avatar
2psyop
1,500 posts
 
I thought some amps have fans, that would that add enough oxygen to a spark or flame... after all some fans are supposed to kick on if the amp gets too hot.
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