• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

valve protectors (cat!)

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Wilbur, a ragdoll cat with learning difficulties will at some point, without doubt, attempt to lick the exposed valves. Playing this forward, that could be the end of wilbur. The wife would probably upsticks too. All of that is bad.

All jokes aside about the retarded cat..

Anyone know of either a diy solution that looks pretty (i dont want a mesh box over them), or a source of valve protectors.

One very annoying rule - I hate the look of the stacked rings you can get on fleabay / aliexpress.

On commercial offerings, i see glass tubes, they look nice, but i cant find any for sale.

ideas welcome.
 
Wilbur, a ragdoll cat with learning difficulties will at some point, without doubt, attempt to lick the exposed valves. Playing this forward, that could be the end of wilbur. The wife would probably upsticks too. All of that is bad.

All jokes aside about the retarded cat..

Anyone know of either a diy solution that looks pretty (i dont want a mesh box over them), or a source of valve protectors.

One very annoying rule - I hate the look of the stacked rings you can get on fleabay / aliexpress.

On commercial offerings, i see glass tubes, they look nice, but i cant find any for sale.

ideas welcome.

Metal shielded can sockets? Depends on the type/size of the valves.

An alternative is use a high temperature plastic/epoxy block and have holes cut/ polished that fit over the valves, leave a gap big enough for sufficient air. They're still going to get hot, radiated heat will heat up the area of the plastic. You could also help that cooling by leaving a gap between the base and the cover.

Another idea is use of a wood tubes slats cut for ventilation.

The worse case is that the cat fins a warm spot to sit/lie on. So the more uncomfortable the better (or make a cat warming pad to divert attention).
 
Shame nobody knows of any glass solutions, they look great on the commercial amps.
Glass guitar slides? Should fit smaller preamp tubes.

Or maybe you can make something of clear plastic sheets.
Lexan (polycarbonate) is reasonably heat resistant (115°C/240°F).
 

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What about a cover in polycarbonate?
You remove it when you play it. Then the tubes will be too hot and the cat will stay away. It will protect the amp from dust too.
I was serious on the second part of the post. You can have them with or without holes, depending on the fact that you want to keep them while the amp is playing, or remove it.

You can also decide to just buy polycarbonate pipes around the tubes. Different lenghts and diameters can make them seem like an organ, or add some leds on the bottom and make them shine.

By leaving some clearance on the bottom you can even promote aeration like a chimney.

HTB174eFa5DxK1Rjy1zcq6yGeXXad.jpg
 
You could also teach the cat not to go near the amp, even when it's off. Some friends of mine have three Maine Coon cats (gorgeous critters!) that love to go on the kitchen counters. To dissuade them from doing so, my friends set up these motion-sensing hissing gizmos called SSSCAT. They work quite well. It's essentially a can of compressed air with a motion sensor. When the motion sensor triggers, the can hisses and the cat jumps away.

At about $35 they're not exactly cheap and supposedly the replacement cans aren't cheap either. But YouTube comes to the rescue with a trick for how to refill them with a bicycle pump.

Just a thought. The cans might not fit your decor but I'd be surprised if a few weeks of training with the occasional refresher course wouldn't do the trick.

Tom
 

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