I have been looking at some adapters and some are silver colored and some are gold. Obviously the gold ones aren't real gold because they are the same $10 as the other ones. What are they made of and is one better than the other?
Chrome or Gold connectors
- Thread starter scanmanmi
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iMONITOR
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Actually the good ones are plated with real silver, and not too expensive. Probably not necessary however.
But what is the gold colored material? I'm sure it's not real gold. Is it worse than regular metal?
mmckenna
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It likely is gold. Very thin gold plating, but gold none the less.
It does help with conductivity and corrosion resistance. If it's going to get cycled a lot, expect the thin gold plating to eventually wear out.
For scanner use, I wouldn't be too concerned about the ever so slight differences between gold and non-gold plated pins. Unlikely you'd ever be able to hear the difference. If pricing is the same, choose the gold ones over the "chrome" plated ones.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Some additional info…
Gold is an excellent conductor, it's corrosion resistant, and it's easy to apply.
I remember learning back in high school chemistry that the molecular properties of gold allows it to be applied very thin, think of gold leaf on decorations/china, etc. I remember the teacher telling us that a piece of gold the size of a pea could be carefully hammered out to cover many square feet.
Same goes for electronics. It can be applied very thin to mating surfaces, it's highly conductive. It can be applied so thin that it adds little to the overall cost, and the benefits are well worth it.
I grew up in the Silicon Valley. As you know, a lot of electronic manufacturers there. Production of computer chips required a considerable amount of gold for plating chip pins. My uncle, who was with the San Jose PD, could make a considerable amount of income working jobs standing guard over the handling of the gold used in the chip plants.
If you surf around on e-Bay or the internet, you'll see people selling "get rich quick" schemes where you buy up old electronics and process the gold plating off the components. Interesting idea, but the amount of gold on the pins is extremely small and the amount of work that would go into the recover would have very little in the way of results.
So, yes, it's gold. But not much.
Gold is an excellent conductor, it's corrosion resistant, and it's easy to apply.
I remember learning back in high school chemistry that the molecular properties of gold allows it to be applied very thin, think of gold leaf on decorations/china, etc. I remember the teacher telling us that a piece of gold the size of a pea could be carefully hammered out to cover many square feet.
Same goes for electronics. It can be applied very thin to mating surfaces, it's highly conductive. It can be applied so thin that it adds little to the overall cost, and the benefits are well worth it.
I grew up in the Silicon Valley. As you know, a lot of electronic manufacturers there. Production of computer chips required a considerable amount of gold for plating chip pins. My uncle, who was with the San Jose PD, could make a considerable amount of income working jobs standing guard over the handling of the gold used in the chip plants.
If you surf around on e-Bay or the internet, you'll see people selling "get rich quick" schemes where you buy up old electronics and process the gold plating off the components. Interesting idea, but the amount of gold on the pins is extremely small and the amount of work that would go into the recover would have very little in the way of results.
So, yes, it's gold. But not much.
Oh, it's real gold alright! One of my hobbies is plating common objects, such a quarter or half-dollar with gold. All it takes is a bottle of 14kt gold plating solution (~$65 per quart), a low voltage DC source (I use a model train controller), some alligator leads, an anode, and a glass jar.
A quart of solution will place several thousand small coins. Larger objects such as a chalice, paten or other altar ware take longer to plate of course, but the results are beautiful.
https://jet.com/product/detail/b20d...&clickid=830ed2c8-0ab7-476c-be11-cb7400b33534
Have you ever plated any of your own connectors? How does it hold up? I may try that since I have my own equipment for making colloidal silver.
Yes I have plated connectors, especially those that are going to be used outside. Since they aren't subject to frequent connect/reconnect actions they hold up very well.
Before plating however, I first wash them in hot, soapy water and dry them thoroughly to remove all traces of oil or other contaminants so the gold will plate evenly and bond securely.
If the connectors are already chrome plated, I dip them briefly in a mild acid to "roughen up" the surface prior to the soapy bath.
I use a concentration of 32 oz/gal chromic acid. Your etch time should not exceed 45 seconds. Most of the time to 10–30 second is sufficient. Remember what the etching process does: It removes base material. Over-etching can be counter-productive and can damage your parts.
After the etching is completed, I rinse the parts through in distilled water, then place on a drying rack for an hour or so. Do not use tap water!
Handle all the above wearing gloves of course, and for God's sake don't try using picric acid!
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