Metropoulos Forum

Hey, I was reading this forum and in one thread it caught my eye that silver plated copper wire is prone to corrosion. It got me thinking since right now my amps safety ground wire is mil spec 18AWG PFTE teflon, which is silver plated. Is the corrosion possibility so bad that I should change the wire? I tried to search but couldn't find answers so thanks a lot if someone could clear this up for me!

Silver plated indeed is most prone to corrosion. And doesn't take to standard leaded solder particularly well either. Where two different types of metals mix, there is always the possibility of corrosion. Which is why you can't use steel rivets on aluminium aircraft panels, for example.

Best avoided, really.

Bit afraid to change the wire as i have a pretty much perfect sturdy mechanical and solder joint to it right now and a locknut and all that stuff.. Guess I'll have to change it then...

So, do you think silver plated ground wire is potentially dangerous?

I don't think I'd go that far. It's pretty difficult to fully disturb a path to ground, and I suspect you'd have noticeable issues before it would ever become dangerous. In a good climate it may never rear it's ugly head in your lifetime, but it's not something I would ever use. Back in the days of when I was going through the training college at Oxford Airport, silver plated wire was a definite no-no. Standard tinned PTFE was the order of the day. Personally I don't like working with any Teflon coated stuff at all, but that's just a personal preference rather than based on anything scientific.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate experienced guys like you! I don't then sweat it too much if it isn't dangerous. The wire sits there so sturdy and tight and I have two nuts (other is locknut) and star washer and abiko so it's so well done I don't want to redo it.

silver plated copper wire is composed of a copper core covered by a concentric silver plating. This material combines the advantages of copper, such as the conductivity, with the bright and shiny surface of silver.