Gold plated connector question

Originally Posted by Bear

Hahaha, oops!



I'm not trying to dispute Nobles findings, specially not with an old cable bought at a drugstore maybe ten years ago for $2, made and packaged in China, and realize labels aren't always the most trustworthy source of information. The term "gold plated plugs" could be used here to reference only the inner plugs, but these particular connector shrouds do appear to be slightly more than anodized.
This could open open up a whole nuther can of worms, but when we were buying these things they told us "gold", or on another often discussed item here, "silver", such as old RAM. When we were buying it, they told us it was silver contacts, but now that we're wishing to sell, it's become mere "tin". I full well understand there's an art to how one references an item when buying or selling. To better sell an item one will clearly and naturally wish to concentrate on the positives, and when going to buy something from an individual (where the price may be negotiable) it's best not to start drooling all over it before getting around to the price haha ; )
I'm only presuming with the matter of RAM that maybe it's a mix of tin and silver, and when they were selling it they addressed the connectors silver content, but now it's for sale, and buyers are mostly addressing the "tin"? Maybe that question belongs in a whole other thread

Hahaha, no actually I'm glad you posted this.

The gold plating does refer to the pins, and not the surround, I'll explain why.

The reason gold plate is used in electronics is for two reasons. First, it is one of the best conductors of electricity with only silver or alloys doing so better. Second, and the reason why gold is used instead of silver, is that gold does not oxidize, meaning it doesn't tarnish. Silver does tarnish and in doing so starts to build up a resistance to conducting electricity, so gold is used instead.

Now think about the surround or metal casing you find around the plug that I stated above is anodized. It is not intended to conduct electricity, matter of fact, it doesn't. It's only intended as being a strong framing, to keep the plug together and the pins compressed so they don't get sloppy inside the plug itself. It's anodized to prevent oxidation as most metals used in electronics that run a risk of oxidizing.

I don't get the feeling that the Chinese manufacturers will spend any extra money on manufacturing plugs than they absolutely have to, and nobody looks at the back of the computer or the plugs so there would be no reason for doing it for show.

When I owned a car audio shop, a lot of the connectors we used were plated in gold, but in excess. It was done on purpose for show. But that is the only example of gold plating connectors that don't actually need to be plated I can think on. In the realm of computers however, gold is only used where it is required. With maybe the exception of a few computers for the ultra right that have gold plated cases, or something else totally ridicules in the same way.

Scott