Today I removed my ACME silver plated cryo receptacle from more than 20 days' burn in through my refrigerator. I noticed the silver was more 'orange' in color, as if copper had mixed with it. Is this possible or just an optical illusion?
My understanding is yes it will. That is why siver plated copper is often first plated with nickel of some other metal. The issue becomes the nickel, how does it effect the signal?
What you have is the silver corroding the copper underneath. This causes pock marks on the silver plating which cooks from the voltage applied to it, hence the coloration. Could very well be there's no nickel under the silver (typical of cheap-o plating with brighteners added to the silver to cut it.)
Pierre Spray, Mapleshade guru, says that using refrigirators as cable burners condition the molecules with unmusical properties and you need a zillion hours of music playing to recondition them ! (IF, they are able to be reconditioned again!) Theo
The ACME is silver plated directly over the 688 brass, no substrate and 200 microns deep.....The brownish color is sulphur from air polluton and not copper leeching through or oxidation as silver doesn't oxidize at room temperatures.......I have some glorious sounding Switchcraft panel mount IEC connectors from fifteen years ago that have turned almost black with the sulphur.....
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