Leaving the power on?

Hi folks, quick question... is there any detriment to leaving your theremin powered up for extended periods of time? I'm not talking about days, but several hours at a time.

I accidentally left my B3 on overnight, which was shortly thereafter followed by the wall adapter failing, causing a horrible hum when it was turned on. I found a 12v adapter that solved the issue (and actually works far nicer than the odd 7.5v that was included), but I'm wondering if perhaps the extended time powered on contributed to the wall wart going bad?

Hello Richard,

Theremin’s draw such a low amount of energy that leaving it on all day, as many people do, is not an issue. Why your wall wart crapped out needs further investigation. Going to the higher voltage may not be a good idea as more heat will be generated inside the theremin box encouraging thermal drift.

Christopher

Hi Christopher,

Thank you! 12 to 24v was recommended by Kathy Burns when I inquired. I also did some research and found Thierry stating that the B3 runs optimally with 12v, so recommends a 15v adapter, which I have on order. I've also found that having both the B3 and the amp on the same power strip significantly reduces any noise, which kind of makes sense since the amp is the only thing grounding the theremin.