Check out this double "Hour Meter " by Crooner. What a great idea for tube and vinyl fans.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=105095

Jorge

Sorry fellas, I've been a away for a while.

Yes, this is a project I had for a while. If cars have odometers for preventive maintenance purposes, why not add some means to do the same with our stereos?

The ideal solution is the electronic LCD based time meter. They have become much simpler, reliable and cost effective in recent years. Power consumption is also extremely low. They are resettable and the non-volatile memory can be kept for up to 20 years. That means, no backup battery when the unit is off.

I used a couple of units made by Curtis Instruments, one to keep track of my tube amp/preamp hours and another for the turntable.

This way I can establish a replacement point of 2000 hours for the tubes and around 1000 hours for the cartridge.

Here is a shot of the device:

Here's the unit in action:

As someone said over at SH Forums you could start a small business with those.

I´ll be first in line for a unit or two. I got 2 tube power amps and three TT´s.

Jorge

Simple, pratical and cool ! That's what audio always should be.
Congrats for the neat idea.

Thanks guys!

Dunno, perhaps I should go ahead and make more, by popular demand!

I wonder if a hour meter could be adapted from Diesel use all our trucks have these as well as any piece of equipment. No other way to keep track of service periods.

have to think about this!

great idea crooner I love it.

Thanks Mark!

A few days ago I finished another project: an improved linear power supply for my squeezebox. I used a similar enclosure but larger in size.

Here's another shot of the unit