Oxidation, Banana Plugs, Potting Compound

[stavvy]

Hi guys,

I often read about people periodically snipping off the bare end of speaker cable back to a clean peice of wire then reterminating. After spending some time making up new cables with decent-ish banana plugs I wondered if filling the banana plug with potting compound (after the wire has been secured in place of course) would avoid the wire oxidizing and therefore negating the need to reterminate every so often?

I thought this would probably be done before but I really couldn't find many examples of people doing this so was wondering if its not a good idea? Would it affect sound quality in some way?

Looking forward to your opinions as im genuinely interested.

Thanks!

 

[MajorFubar]

Don't know, but in a similar attempt to stop oxidation I once tried varnishing a small brass plaque that I didn't want to have the trouble of cleaning and polishing every few months. It did naff-all other than oxidize under the varnish. The point of that seemingly-irrelevant post is that I really don't know if there's anything you can use domestically to stop oxidation.

 

[stavvy]

Thanks for your input! I would imagine though that oxygen would be able to permeate the varnish quite easily. With something like potting compound I would hope it would effectively seal the wire in the plug, or at least massively ****** the permeation.

Maybe need to take the plunge and try it and see how it lasts. Could be a pig to remove though if the wire still oxidizes (although you would need to remove the potting compound to see if it has or not!! :?

p.s. the EDITED word effectively meant "slow"

 

[davedotco]

How about using silver plated copper cable?

 

[stavvy]

Thanks certainly an option, if I hadnt just bought a lot of new cable that's would definitely be a good move! :doh:

 

[hammill]

I keep my hifi in a vacuum these days. I can't hear anything, but my cables are tip top.

 

[davedotco]

Maybe you can convince yourself that cables make a real and important difference....... :?

Then as you will be swapping your cables every month or so the oxidation will be minimal......

 

[iceman16]

I've been using these with very good results

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAIG-DEOXIT-package-Quickdry-Deoxit-D5-Gold-/130773142445?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Audio_Cable_Terminations&hash=item1e72afcbad

 

[RobinKidderminster]

I use vascelene. Cuz I can.

 

[chebby]

Get your plugs soldered onto the speaker cable and use some heat-shrink (to prevent exposure to air).

 

[SiUK]

Hello stavvy

Ignore davedotco, he's being his usual sarcastic, disparaging self...he'll be of no help to you whatsoever, trust me. I do think chebby's advice is really the best to follow from this thread.

 

[stavvy]

haha! thanks guys for all your suggestions. I believe in decent ish cables (and I stress ish) so I don't plan on upgrading them that often that oxidation wont be an issue.

As it turns out I did cover the plug partially with shrink wrap to make a neat join to the insulation so hopefully that will slow down oxidation anyway.

Thanks for the help! love how helpful these forums can be

 

[Covenanter]

If you are really worried about this then you will find any number of proprietary conductive greases on Amazon and elsewhere. They will do the job perfectly and have the advantage over other solutions that they can just be wiped off.

I wouldn't use Vaseline as I don't think it is very conductive.

Chris

 

[andyjm]

Any properly made mechanical termination should be sufficiently tight to form a gas tight seal - no gas, no oxidation. Fiddling around, stripping cables and re-terminating should not be required.
When was the last time you stripped down your PC to re-terminate all of the connectors on the ribbon cables?
A soldered connection is also gas tight, potting compound or heatshrink is not required.
Unless the heatshrink has hot melt glue on the inside (some do for hostile environments), then it won't be gas tight, although it does tidy up the end of the cable nicely.

 

[basshound]

I keep my hifi in a vacuum these days. I can't hear anything, but my cables are tip top.

:rofl: :clap: nice one

 

[davedotco]

Being serious for a moment, SIUK take notice!

A properly soldered connection should be airtight but the issue is the exposed copper between the joint and the point where the insulation becomes air tight, this is where the oxidation takes hold.

The use of heatshrink or rubber sleeving is not a total solution, I have made up enough of them to be sure of this. It does seem to slow things down somewhat but on susceptable cables like Nac 4 and K 20 the oxidation still occurs.

Silver plated or maybe Litz contruction might help though litz can be difficult fot the amature to tin and solder correctly.

 

[Overdose]

This really shouldn't be much of an issue except in the most humid of environments. Bare wire fed through the terminal posts is as good a termination as any and provides the least amount of connection points, it is also the easiest to remake if necessary.

 

[stavvy]

Thanks again for your suggestions. I have noticed with the bell wire that goes to my rear speakers (which is still just little speakers that came with my onkyo package) that just goes into the spring terminals is much darker and looks dirtier than freshly cut cable. Not sure how much of an effect this has on sound but I'm guessing it certainly won't improve things!

I got some decent cable and some QED screwloc banana plugs when I got my B&W 685s and HTM62 up front. It isn't a mechanical connection as in its air tight or anything like that. Its 2 little grub screws that grab onto the cable.

I hadn't heard of conductive greases but that sounds like an option. The heat shrink I put on, I put on partially for cosmetic effect (makes it look much neater) and to protect the bare section of cable. It is adhesive lined so hopefully that will help.

I have never came across lilz construction but I'll look into it although a soldering iron to me as about as much use as cat flap in an elephant house, to quote blackadder

 

[andyjm]

Thanks again for your suggestions. I have noticed with the bell wire that goes to my rear speakers (which is still just little speakers that came with my onkyo package) that just goes into the spring terminals is much darker and looks dirtier than freshly cut cable. Not sure how much of an effect this has on sound but I'm guessing it certainly won't improve things! I got some decent cable and some QED screwloc banana plugs when I got my B&W 685s and HTM62 up front. It isn't a mechanical connection as in its air tight or anything like that. Its 2 little grub screws that grab onto the cable. I hadn't heard of conductive greases but that sounds like an option. The heat shrink I put on, I put on partially for cosmetic effect (makes it look much neater) and to protect the bare section of cable. It is adhesive lined so hopefully that will help. I have never came across lilz construction but I'll look into it although a soldering iron to me as about as much use as cat flap in an elephant house, to quote blackadder

Mechanical fixing of banana plugs with little grubscrews isn't ideal as the screws are a pain to tighten decently without chewing up the screwheads. Properly done however, you should manage a gas tight connection.

Well designed spring connections should be OK as long as they generate enough pressure at the contact point to seal. Most of the spring connections I have seen in HiFi systems aren't very good, and may allow the cable to oxidise at the contact point, so perhaps cleaning or stripping the cable would make sense in this case.

Worth remembering that almost every house in the UK has solid copper cable going into the back of the wall mounted mains sockets. These are connected by screw connections, carry much more current than a speaker cable, are many, many years old and still are going strong.

 

[stavvy]

Thanks for your points. I know what you mean about the grub screws but the QED ones were excellent, much better than some cheaper ones they replaced.

the spring clips are only on the speakers that came as part of an onkyo 5.1 package, so pretty woeful! I hope to replace these soon with B&W 686 to complete the package!

you make a good point about the wire being exposed behind the sockets but Im a little OCD and like things to be as optimised and and neat and tidy as possible. By stopping the oxidation at the speaker cable end I know myself I would be happier. Also carrying a much lower current I guess oxidation would have more of an effect on a speaker signal (albeit still only marginal)?