Keep Your Alpha Amplifier Clean! Life is a dusty proposition; dust is everywhere. It collects on most flat surfaces when they aren't regularly cleaned. Your amp has a fairly efficient blower in it that behaves a bit like a vacuum cleaner when it’s on. The components and tubes in your amp behave like a filter; they catch all the dust and particulate matter that gets sucked in by the blower. As we all know the tubes and other components can get a bit warm during operation, heck some times the tubes get red hot. Take a guess at what happens to all that dust in your amp. That’s right it gets caked and baked on to your components, and if allowed to build up it can cause failures in various components.
Solution: Once or twice a year unplug the amp, remove the cover and blow the innards out with compressed air. This will remove any unsightly dust bunnies and will generally keep the amplifier clean.
If you don’t believe us have a look at some of these tubes...
Dust-blocked 8874 tubes from an Alpha 78.
Lack of cooling air caused the 8874 skirt and chimney to burn.
Blocked air flow results in excess heat and burned components.
