Tube DIY Asylum

Do It Yourself (DIY) paradise for tube and SET project builders.

Return to Tube DIY Asylum


Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

High quality pure copper male and female spade connectors and fuse holders

65.240.194.62

Posted on January 6, 2021 at 15:49:53
ketchup
Audiophile

Posts: 619
Location: Pennsylvania
Joined: February 29, 2004
Does anyone know who sells high quality, pure copper male and female spade connectors like these?

https://www.amazon.com/Conwork-Connector-Disconnects-Terminals-Insulated/dp/B06XFGJP63

I'm also looking for high quality, copper tube fuse holders. Do any exist? I previously posted this in the Cable Asylum but then realized that this might be a better place.

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
The problem you are up against, posted on January 7, 2021 at 11:42:16
Ralph
Manufacturer

Posts: 4769
Location: Minnesota
Joined: April 24, 2002
is corrosion.

Copper corrodes quite quickly, which is why purity past 99.99% in a wire is nearly impossible. Yes, I know that there are those that claim as much as 99.9999% purity in their product, but seriously if someone suggests that to you, your best option is to face the other direction and run as hard as you can.

So no-one is going to make pure copper quick connects, spade lugs or fuseholders. OTOH, its fairly easy to find these things tin-plated. Now you might think of tin as terrible, but here are some things to keep in mind about it. For starters, like gold, its resistant to corrosion. This is why you can buy 70 year old tube sockets off of ebay and they solder easily enough no worries. Tin was used as a metal that didn't corrode and was also cheap, prior to the development of stainless steel. The second thing to think about is tin is fairly hard. In this way its a better metal to use in an application where parts are changed on any kind of service basis, such as a tube socket or fuseholder. If you use gold or silver in those applications, they are softer and wear off of the underlying copper much faster, exposing it to corrosion. At that point the part will fail.

So you might want to rethink this. Tin plated copper parts exist for a very good reason!

 

RE: The problem you are up against, posted on January 7, 2021 at 12:05:32
fun fact: tin has the largest number of stable isotopes in the periodic table! that's why it's the king of corrosion resistance

but everyone picks on it for some reason

regards,

 

RE: The people that sorted out the metalurgy on these parts, posted on January 7, 2021 at 12:10:50
Ralph
Manufacturer

Posts: 4769
Location: Minnesota
Joined: April 24, 2002
weren't audiophiles, and probably had an actual engineering degree; they obviously knew what they were doing.

I've been harping on this topic for years, which might seem odd since my company is known for some pretty exotic amplifiers.

They are known for transparency and reliability. Part of the latter is we avoid goofy parts that are obviously not going to hold up over time. And somehow that does not seem to interfere with the former :)

 

RE: The people that sorted out the metalurgy on these parts, posted on January 7, 2021 at 12:24:38
you can't drive where the roads are paved with bricks of gold

so what good are they? they draw crowds

sorry, my thought process wobbles between Socrates and Fractured Fairy Tales

best regards,

 

RE: The problem you are up against, posted on January 7, 2021 at 16:17:33
ketchup
Audiophile

Posts: 619
Location: Pennsylvania
Joined: February 29, 2004
Thanks! I'm not married to the idea... just kicking around some ideas for an upcoming project. That being said, I have no real gripe with corrosion as the parts will be frequently disassembled and easy to clean and polish. I totally get why a manufacturer would never use copper connectors, but for something where the owner is willing to do a little maintenance every now and then, I don't see a problem, especially when I'm going to be the one doing the maintenance!

What's usually the base metal for tin plated connectors? Brass?

 

RE: The problem you are up against, posted on January 7, 2021 at 21:48:49
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10012
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
The base metal is usually copper.




 

RE: The problem you are up against, posted on January 8, 2021 at 01:58:06
Thank you, you speak the truth which sometimes gets as fuzzy as politics in some places.

 

I own rather expensive junk and nothing beats Switchcraft RCA's and Neutrik balanced for me.~nT, posted on January 8, 2021 at 13:51:25
Cleantimestream
Audiophile

Posts: 7542
Location: Kentucky
Joined: June 30, 2005
~!
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.

 

RE: The problem you are up against, posted on January 10, 2021 at 06:23:56
PakProtector
Audiophile

Posts: 12356
Joined: May 14, 2002
The first place to look for good sound is in the circuit design. Operating points, for one. Then make sure the PS can deliver when asked. It is IME a lot easier to design when the biggest thing I have to worry about is ripple voltage on the DC bus from possible filter inadequacies. The part selection for stuff like output Iron is slightly more difficult as there is little in the way of useful data published. It is still possible... :)

If you think the final performance is going to be determined by the purity of the metallurgy in such bits as you mention, you've already gotten the process wrong.
cheers,
Douglas

Friend, I would not hurt thee for the world...but thou art standing where I am about to shoot.

 

RE: The problem you are up against, posted on January 10, 2021 at 09:29:25
ketchup
Audiophile

Posts: 619
Location: Pennsylvania
Joined: February 29, 2004
PakProtector- That all is pretty obvious to me, but where did you get the idea that I'm building an entire circuit from scratch?

 

RE: The problem you are up against, posted on January 10, 2021 at 14:16:08
PakProtector
Audiophile

Posts: 12356
Joined: May 14, 2002
You can do this any way you see fit. I really did not pay any worry to what you were building or not, just noting that the original question might not be the best place to start.

Taking your direction, what is the amp in question made out of, and what lower hanging fruit is there beyond connector metallurgy?
cheers,
Douglas

Friend, I would not hurt thee for the world...but thou art standing where I am about to shoot.

 

RE: High quality pure copper male and female spade connectors and fuse holders, posted on January 11, 2021 at 13:08:44
griboon
Audiophile

Posts: 449
Location: Lynchburg Va.
Joined: October 14, 2003
rivervalley..that was cool!

 

Page processed in 0.029 seconds.