L-pad watt rating

[milothicus]

I'm thinking of adding an L-pad to my amp, but i'm not sure if i need a 15watt or 50 watt version.

what wattage would i be expecting from a 2xEL84 output setup?

[rexindigo]

i had an rheostat in my 18 Watt clone (2xEL84) and it is rated for 50 Watt and the thing gets really hot. IMHO I would take the 50 Watt.

[Old Tele man]

...if the "clean" (ie: sinusoidal) output is 50W, then the worst-case "dirty" (ie: square-wave) output can push 100W.

...so, a "safe" rule-of-thumb is to double the rating of the amp, which makes sense because you're wanting the amp output at max (or very close to max) but the speaker output to be MUCH lower...so the L-pad in-between them must be capable of "handling" all the power between DIFFERENCE between the two extremes.

[hasserl]

Those variable L-Pads are way over rated, they will start releasing smoke well before you get to their rated capacity.