Gold or Silver?

Nigel Goodwin · Sep 19, 2009

bountyhunter said:
I thought better rings were alloys of gold and silver. Anything that turns green has copper in it, which would be cheap alloy.

I think that was her concern.

PatM · Sep 19, 2009

Mikebits said:
Silver is, but often corrodes, if corrosion is a problem then gold is a good choice, but expensive. So most use a copper of some sort.

But if you loose conductivity with a silver contact, you can burnish it.
Do this with a gold contact and you wear away the thin gold coating.

Nigel Goodwin · Sep 20, 2009

PatM said:
But if you loose conductivity with a silver contact, you can burnish it.
Do this with a gold contact and you wear away the thin gold coating.

Why would you burnish a gold contact?.

Mikebits · Sep 20, 2009

Nigel Goodwin said:
Why would you burnish a gold contact?.

How true, why would you need to as that defeats the purpose of using gold. At any rate I never burnish contacts, I have found a pencil eraser to be very effective in cleaning contacts.

Nigel Goodwin · Sep 20, 2009

Mikebits said:
How true, why would you need to as that defeats the purpose of using gold. At any rate I never burnish contacts, I have found a pencil eraser to be very effective in cleaning contacts.

Wouldn't that be considered 'burnishing'?.

As you say, pencil rubber is quite good for it - so is a tiny squirt of WD40, and inserting the connector a few times.

Mikebits · Sep 20, 2009

Nigel Goodwin said:
Wouldn't that be considered 'burnishing'?.

As you say, pencil rubber is quite good for it - so is a tiny squirt of WD40, and inserting the connector a few times.

I think of burnishing as something more abrasive, erasers seem to be less evasive on the metal coat, yet are still effective.

PatM · Sep 20, 2009

Nigel Goodwin said:
Why would you burnish a gold contact?.

I never do, but I have seen someone doing it.

Mikebits said:
I think of burnishing as something more abrasive, erasers seem to be less evasive on the metal coat, yet are still effective.

I would think that the eraser would be the most abrasive.

Boncuk · Sep 20, 2009

Mikebits said:
How true, why would you need to as that defeats the purpose of using gold. At any rate I never burnish contacts, I have found a pencil eraser to be very effective in cleaning contacts.

A Q-tip dunk into alcohol cleans as well. (Not whiskey! Too expensive)

audioguru · Sep 20, 2009

Many erasers have sand in them and will destroy the plating on a contact. The white ones for "artists" do not have the abrasive.

mvs sarma · Sep 20, 2009

Electronman said:
HI,

After reading several topics in the filed, yet I do not know which one is the better conductor for the electricity?

See this link Resistivity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for specific resistance of metals, you would be able to decide. due to cost effectiveness, they use copper and Aluminum with some protection against corrosion. It is economical to use aluminum (in fact ACSR) for power line feeders

killivolt · Sep 20, 2009

Renewing XLR's connectors.

**broken link removed**

I noticed this thinking of a way to renew XLR's on cables that become affected after aging a while.

In the schools we have cables running from mixers and some are old and out of date should be replaced I'm thinking the cable's might be salvageable ?

Based on what you guy's are saying.

I did consider what Nigel said about the WD40 though.

kv

Nigel Goodwin · Sep 20, 2009

killivolt said:
**broken link removed**

I noticed this thinking of a way to renew XLR's on cables that become affected after aging a while.

In the schools we have cables running from mixers and some are old and out of date should be replaced I'm thinking the cable's might be salvageable ?

What has that got to do with silver?, you surely don't have silver cabling

bountyhunter · Sep 20, 2009

PatM said:
But if you loose conductivity with a silver contact, you can burnish it.
Do this with a gold contact and you wear away the thin gold coating.

You can't burnish contacts inside switches or assemblies. You use gold because it doesn't oxidize in the first place and never have to worry about it in any reasonable life span of use.

Speakerguy · Sep 21, 2009

I have a 1950's era Selmer Paris clarinet with silver plated keys. After seeing how fast they tarnish, I'll stick with gold plated stuff for my electronics work.

mvs sarma · Sep 21, 2009

speakerguy79 said:
I have a 1950's era Selmer Paris clarinet with silver plated keys. After seeing how fast they tarnish, I'll stick with gold plated stuff for my electronics work.

as the clarinet crossed 59 years almost, perhaps a golden treat appears apt !!!

Nigel Goodwin · Sep 22, 2009

speakerguy79 said:
I have a 1950's era Selmer Paris clarinet with silver plated keys. After seeing how fast they tarnish, I'll stick with gold plated stuff for my electronics work.

Sweaty fingers on keys, what do you expect?.

Speakerguy · Sep 22, 2009

It's actually pretty uniform over all the surface of the keys, not just where the fingers hit 'em. Still a great clarinet though.

audioguru · Sep 22, 2009

Silver trays and teapots tarnish just by looking at them.

Nigel Goodwin · Sep 22, 2009

audioguru said:
Silver trays and teapots tarnish just by looking at them.

I don't have a great many silver teapots or trays!

In fact, I don't think I've got a single silver article?.

killivolt · Sep 22, 2009

Nigel Goodwin said:
What has that got to do with silver?, you surely don't have silver cabling

I think I had to many beers that night.

What was I thinking.

Maybe safer for the WD40.......... rinse Push-Pull rinse and repeat.....

kv

Gold or Silver?

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