To Pin or Not To Pin. That is the question....

So in the last month or so, I've managed to collect about 3.5 Oz of plated pins from various sources. Some are nicely plated, some are half plated. Not very impressive IMO.






I feel like I'm wasting my time with these pins? I have a tub full of these "gold plated" audio cables. 2 are still brand new in the package labeled 24k gold plated. So I'm wondering, is it just the center pin that's plated or is the entire connector, including the knurled collar and the spring behind that also plated...so I did a scratch test and 10k acid didn't dissolve the scratch from the collar and spring but 14k acid did. Am I to assume the collar and spring are 10k plated? Or did I get a bad batch of acid from Amazon...





Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'd much rather collect plated audio connectors, especially if the collar and spring are plated also.

you need a gold testing kit

Originally Posted by jghilino

you need a gold testing kit

That's what I'm talking about. I got a kit off of Amazon but can't be sure about the 10k acid. The center pin of each audio cable registers 10k from the scratch test but so do the collar and spring. I'm wondering if the knurled collar and spring are also plated...

I recieved the acid about 2 weeks ago from Amazon. It could be a bad batch of acid. The audio cables were the reason I got the kit so I could test If the knurled collar and spring are also plated. There's no way I'm going to waste my time collecting the small pins anymore if they are.