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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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In Reply to: Life expectancy of cables...? posted by LC on January 23, 2007 at 12:17:54:
The short answer to your question is that it varies. Obviously some aging such as fading of colors, etc. will not affect performance. However, there are a number of factors that will affect performance.Performance related aging:
1. Conductor and/or connector corrosion from exposure to air
2. Work hardening with eventual breakage of conductors and/or connectors
3. Insulation reaction with (and subsequent corrosion of) conductors
4. Solder embrittlement (from residual flux, etc.) and eventual failure
5. Physical misalignment of cable components in cables that are loosely woven.
6. Changes in insulation mechanical properties that result in altered mechanical properties of a cable (for example stiffening of PVC insulation will occur over time that will affect a speaker cable's resonance characteristics)
7. Mechanical damage to a cable that changes its electrical properties (for example the crushing of foamed insualtion materials)
8. etc., etc.The aging process will differ dramatically between different cables. Teflon is a very stable insulation material that will not change much over time, but PVC (depending on the grade) will change substantially in its flexibility in the first few days after manufacture, then again over the first year, and further in the years to follow. Uninsulated copper or silver will both have significant corrosion in air after a matter of months (though silver will of course take longer than copper). Solder joints on the other hand may take 20 years to fail, or may last indefinitely. On the other hand, an unstressed cold weld joint that is fully insulated should last indefinitely if it is not stressed.
The only way to know how long a cable should last is to evaluate its individual components and construction techniques. A teflon insulated silver cable with gold plated connectors that is assembled with skill and molested a minimal amount should easily last 20 years or more. A poor grade PVC on copper cable will often be corroded before it even makes it out of the retail store.
Hope this helps...
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Follow Ups
- Varies... - apblake 20:00:47 01/23/07 (0)
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