Are corroded monoprice banana plugs still good?

[Harmonie]

The untouched plug is the left (red) on in the picture of the first post. It may not be completely untouched, but almost untouched. When I got the out of the plastic back, they both looked very clean and shiny. But this changed very rapidly after handling it in my hand.

Acid Hands. It’s a thing. Ask any gun collector

You remind me

 

[Wes]

ok... Human skin is naturally somewhat acidic, either to help "good" bacteria or to inhibit "bad" bacteria

I dunno what the variation in acidity is among individuals but am certain that data is out there in some journal (assuming anyone on here cares).

For this item to have been corroded so easily means there is something wrong with it. We are not dealing with blueing here, but a supposed rare metal plating.

 

[AdamG]

https://www.armorvci.com/news/are-y...on-the-best-solution-hands-down-is-hands-off/

https://www.medicalidfashions.com/acid-skin

https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press...ce-bacteria-defences-in-hospitals-and-schools

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/974027/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2133.1976.tb00843.x

https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOCORRJ/TOCORRJ-3-38.pdf

 

[egellings]

Ya know, I just get the nice nickel-plates cheapies from Pomona or other suppliers, and they work just fine, and don't corrode. Why fuss over something like that at all?

 

[uwotm8]

nickel-plates

Nickel completely kills the sound, and warming up will help only slightly after 200-300 hours.

 

[Chrispy]

Why wouldn't you just return them? Or what is "recently" and in what environment?

 

[egellings]

Nickel kills the sound? It "breaks in"? I 'spoze. All things are possible. Take your protein pill and put your helmet on. Nickel is an atom. How do those atoms change?

 

[escksu]

Nickel completely kills the sound, and warming up will help only slightly after 200-300 hours.

Considering its just a thin plating, I don't think it will make any audible difference.

 

[Wes]

Nickel kills the sound? It "breaks in"? I 'spoze. All things are possible. Take your protein pill and put your helmet on. Nickel is an atom. How do those atoms change?

maybe he meant Nickleback kills the sound...

 

[uwotm8]

I thought it was obvious that I'm joking

 

[ironhorse128]

Monoprice gave me a full refund. I did not even have to send the plugs back. So very generous on their end.

Nevertheless, I am still hesitant to buy anything (e. g. cables, adaptors,...) from them again.

 

[Harmonie]

Monoprice gave me a full refund. I did not even have to send the plugs back. So very generous on their end.

Nevertheless, I am still hesitant to buy anything (e. g. cables, adaptors,...) from them again.

It either means that they know their flaw.
Or it happens so rarely that it doesn't cost them much to satisfy their customers.

 

[escksu]

Monoprice gave me a full refund. I did not even have to send the plugs back. So very generous on their end.

Nevertheless, I am still hesitant to buy anything (e. g. cables, adaptors,...) from them again.

The hassle of making you send back your plugs are simply not worth it. These plugs are mostly made in China at a fraction of the selling price. Furthermore, they are just generic plugs. So monoprice likely purchase ready made ones from some OEM manufacturer.

 

[escksu]

It either means that they know their flaw.
Or it happens so rarely that it doesn't cost them much to satisfy their customers.

Those plugs cost them nothing......

 

[IronPyrite]

Consider rhodium plated terminations. Rhodium has ~half the conductivity of gold, but trades for hardness and durability. Surface hardness of Rhodium is at LEAST 4x that of gold, depending on the gold plating technique (links below). Gold plating is often thin in cheap components, on the order of 2 atoms thick. In fairness, "real world use" for banana plugs (and need for durability) isn't going to be heavy, as opposed to headphones where they tend to get constantly plugged/unplugged. But that out-of-box oxidation in your pictures... At least go with a different brand.

Conductivity
https://www.angstromsciences.com/elements-electrical-conductivity

Hardness
https://www.pfonline.com/articles/hard-gold-plating-vs-soft-gold-plating
https://proplate.com/rhodium-plating-qualities-specifications-and-uses/

Its been noted that rhodium plating is smoother at the molecular level than gold, but it would be only conjecture to make conductivity comparisons based upon that subjective observation alone.