10 gauge power cord. Too much power for tube amp?


Tube amplifiers tend to be sensitive on incoming voltages. Is there a chance a bigger gauge power cord like 10 gauge may not be a good thing?

My amplifier tends to shut down occasionally upon start up. maybe moving to a higher gauge might be better. Does it matter?

emergingsoul

@cundare2 The usual suspects (Fluke, etc.) make very expensive power quality analyzers. There are some EMI/RFI to audio toys made by a couple of people just for the audiophile crowd.

In the middle of the actually useful pack is a digital oscilloscope with the right probes. I found the frequency measurement features in mine to have been very difficult to use.

Lastly, you can build something that will let you input the AC to your audio jacks via a step down and isolation transformer/instrumentation amplifier. This is the cheapest solution that will let you use off the shelf PC scope software but requires the most amount of care in building to ensure you don’t electrocute yourself or your PC.

 

https://amzn.to/3FSuA98

 As others have mentioned, it is not the power cable. Also tubes are surprisingly robust and will tolerate more abuse than any MOSFET.

You could use a PC that's has a greater cross-section than 10AWG without any problems, in fact could reasonably expect a slight improvement, the amp will only use the power that is being demanded but there could be a capacitor in the power supply that is going/gone faulty and pulling more current (amps) than the protection circuitry allows. I have experienced a similar problem with the PSU bleed resistor going low ohms.

Perhaps do a visual inspection of the power caps, they will be positioned close to the power transformer, and look for any dicscolouration, swelling or residual smell.

You have already received probably the best advice:  Contacting McIntosh would be the sensible thing to do.

@emergingsoul 

what problem (technical, aesthetics, prestige) are you trying to solve? what brand your tube amp is, how much power etc? 

good audiophile quality brands have good PC included, and only need to replace if broken etc..

Too large of a AWG can be an issue as can too small. As mentioned, size the wire for the load. I would guess, all that one can do without trouble-shooting, is that there is a thermal protection sensor on the fritz. Maybe a rectifier issue, tube or diode bridge. A transformer issue, maybe, but I would guess that's where the thermal protection would be. A bad solder joint can act up like this, too. Heater circuit on a tube, or bad bias... That's way too many guesses right there.

Do you have the OE Power Cord?

if you do plug it is and see if this solves the issues. If it does problem solved and move on, if not then you need professional help.