Speaker wire life?

[Go Blue]

Does speaker wire go bad? I have 2 lengths of some seriously thick speaker wire that I have used for about 15 years on various front mains. I'm not sure how thick, but it is kind of flat and at least 4 times the size of my 16 gauge wire.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by schultz

Does speaker wire go bad? I have 2 lengths of some seriously thick speaker wire that I have used for about 15 years on various front mains. I'm not sure how thick, but it is kind of flat and at least 4 times the size of my 16 gauge wire.

Cut off the last few inches of each side (don't start in the middle and work your way out )

There is probably oxidation etc.... but everything inside the shielding should be good-to-go.

[Johk]

I don't think wire will go bad as long as the jacket is in good condition and that there is no oxidation on the exposed wires.

If oxidation is present you might want to cut the exposed wires.

[liquidice]

to help beat oxidation, I use this stuff on all my connections, every single time I mess around with them. I've been using the small vial for years now, it'll last forever. It's called ProGold G-100L, and it can be found for cheap, and I do recommend it. Peace of mind?...yep, that may be all it is, but I can say I don't have any problems with exposed wire.

[Big Daddy]

Copper oxidizes and looks ugly. The good news is that oxidized copper continues to contuct electricity.

[FreddieFerric]

Check the fine print and see if it has an expiration date.