Copper Deterioration?

All conductors will oxidize with time. The only possible exception might be the carbon ones used in Van den Hull, but I don't know. Silver will before copper. And I can't imgine why this would be a good thing. Copper is fairly inexpensive considering how well it works. Silver works better but is much more expensive. Mind you better in as a pure conductor not necessarily as subjectively sounding better. Most well made cables should provide more than decent service for quite a while. Connectors should be periodically maintained as this where most oxidation will occur. Many feel that the connectors are the most important part of cables. Besides what other alternatives do we have?

Dr; I've seen properly covered copper powerline wires that were well over 50 years old, and underneath the cover, the copper was "squeeky clean". It's only when bare and under harsh envirnonmental conditions, ie high temperature and humidity that corrosion is a serious problem. And I agree with Unsound above, periodically clean copper contacts and they will work well for many years.

My copper house wiring is 33 years old, and in the main breaker box, the exposed wire ends only have a VERY thin layer of oxidation, ie they look somewhat dirty as opposed to shiney-- and I live in a high humidity (but cool) area. If properly taken care of, your copper wires will outlast you and me. Cheers. Craig

One of my "projects" is going to be testing and comparing various "tweaks" to conductors. I'd like to take several identical pieces of wire trimmed to the same length, bare both ends and then treat them with various "contact enhancements" that i have handy. Over time, i'll come back and check on them to see which has held up best in terms of conductivity and corrosion. Obviously, this will take some time since "crustiness" doesn't show up over night. I do plan to speed up the process a bit by leaving them in a damp place though. Sean
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Sean, please share your results with us. May I suggest keeping a daily log as to temperature and humidty. An outstanding project idea. Bravo!