POWERCORDS/mains IEC plugs metal

I can't answer your question, as I've never looked inside a Naim IEC, but I doubt it would be copper, as that's quite soft, and I understand that the priority is to have a very tight fit to ensure a good contact. If you call Naim, they may be able to tell you.

If you want to ensure consistency, you could always buy a Naim replacement cable as a spare part. I'm sure a dealer could supply one, or they sometimes come up on ebay.

It will be some form of copper alloy,  brass is a copper alloy,  some of the fancy IEC plugs are a (claimed) special alloys or pure copper.  I would be surprised if anyone will have a specific answer as to the copper alloy formula.      If they're plated,  then it's normally specified such as silver, gold, rhodium,  but that is just a thin plated skin over the copper or brass.     

I've tried asking naim support....who knows if they will reveal the secret !

Noone else has a powerline to check?

999inmydreams666 posted:

Noone else has a powerline to check?

From what I understand, you want to know what is inside an IEC connector because it's hard to see down the little holes to the metal bits inside. Many IEC plugs are sealed, so that would require the use of a hacksaw. Powerlines may be easier to dismantle, as they are held together by some little Torx screws, but I've no idea how practical it is to pull one apart. If someone did, they could tell you what colour the metal is, but I'm not sure how useful that would be.

ChrisSU posted:

999inmydreams666 posted:

Noone else has a powerline to check?

From what I understand, you want to know what is inside an IEC connector because it's hard to see down the little holes to the metal bits inside. Many IEC plugs are sealed, so that would require the use of a hacksaw. Powerlines may be easier to dismantle, as they are held together by some little Torx screws, but I've no idea how practical it is to pull one apart. If someone did, they could tell you what colour the metal is, but I'm not sure how useful that would be.

Was hopeing that who buys a powerline is nevrotic enough to know these details! hahahahah 

I can see with a phone led in the little holes but maybe someone is better than me in discerning the metal used....it more like brown/orange so copper than yellow/goldie brass.....don't know!

dudes I just wrote to the producer down i. taiwan of the standard cable supplied with naim gear hahahah....let's see if either him or naim will answer!!

999inmydreams666 posted:

Was hopeing that who buys a powerline is nevrotic enough to know these details! hahahahah 

dudes I just wrote to the producer down i. taiwan of the standard cable supplied with naim gear hahahah....let's see if either him or naim will answer!!

Based on my experience with Powerlines and alternative mains cables, I'd be more concerned with their performance in my system than with what they are made of. hahahahah 

The colour of the metal might indicate any surface plating, typically gold, silver, nickel or rhodium, all of which have different characteristics in terms of native electrical resistivity, resistance to oxidation by oxygen in the air, resistance to corrosion by other substances in the air (from water vapour to pollutants such as sulphur compounds), hardness and resistance to mechanical wear in use. Also bare brass and bare copper may be used. These metals all have slightly different colours, though within the confines of a socket it may be difficult to tell between gold and brass, and between silver, rhodium and nickel.

Consideration of the electrical resistance of the coating is complicated by it being proportional to its thickness, and is often further complicated by the use of an intermediate metal, plated on the base before the surface metal, nickel possibly being the most common for this. However, from a different angle, the thinness of plating makes the absolute resistance of the metal of less consequence than other factors such as any oxidation/corrosion on the metal surface, the actual area of contact in the plug/socket, and indeed the cable itself, so in practical terms the resistivity of the metal itself is not usually a significant consideration in choice of contact material.

However, what can be very significant in humid environments like homes, all the more so in humid climes, is the potential for electrochemical corrosion between the  contact materials in the plug/socket combination, which can cause poor electrical contact, deteriorating with time. The best way to avoid this is to have the same surface metal on the contact surfaces of both plug and socket, so above all else this should be sought where possible.

It therefore can indeed be desirable to know what is the contact material of a socket or plug, to aid choice of a mating plug/socket.

joerand posted:

999inmydreams666 posted:

Was hopeing that who buys a powerline is nevrotic enough to know these details! hahahahah 

dudes I just wrote to the producer down i. taiwan of the standard cable supplied with naim gear hahahah....let's see if either him or naim will answer!!

Based on my experience with Powerlines and alternative mains cables, I'd be more concerned with their performance in my system than with what they are made of. hahahahah 

the performance might be unquestionable....BUT the point of the post is different!! I need to make some new cables from power distr to main wall socket using standard electric cable, brass/nickel plated schuko(like naim standard and most standard) but don't know what to do with the IEC....if either go with brass or copper cause I don't wanna screw the overall balance as, opposite to most people belief, plugs DO make a difference!!

can you help????

Innocent Bystander posted:

The colour of the metal might indicate any surface plating, typically gold, silver, nickel or rhodium, all of which have different characteristics in terms of native electrical resistivity, resistance to oxidation by oxygen in the air, resistance to corrosion by other substances in the air (from water vapour to pollutants such as sulphur compounds), hardness and resistance to mechanical wear in use. Also bare brass and bare copper may be used. These metals all have slightly different colours, though within the confines of a socket it may be difficult to tell between gold and brass, and between silver, rhodium and nickel.

Consideration of the electrical resistance of the coating is complicated by it being proportional to its thickness, and is often further complicated by the use of an intermediate metal, plated on the base before the surface metal, nickel possibly being the most common for this. However, from a different angle, the thinness of plating makes the absolute resistance of the metal of less consequence than other factors such as any oxidation/corrosion on the metal surface, the actual area of contact in the plug/socket, and indeed the cable itself, so in practical terms the resistivity of the metal itself is not usually a significant consideration in choice of contact material.

However, what can be very significant in humid environments like homes, all the more so in humid climes, is the potential for electrochemical corrosion between the  contact materials in the plug/socket combination, which can cause poor electrical contact, deteriorating with time. The best way to avoid this is to have the same surface metal on the contact surfaces of both plug and socket, so above all else this should be sought where possible.

It therefore can indeed be desirable to know what is the contact material of a socket or plug, to aid choice of a mating plug/socket.

it took me weeks bouncing between forums to get the informations you've summarized in one single post!! thank you!!

I get your point but I've experienced changes in sound with different plating used and just swapping a plug on same setup! that might depend from the distortion induced by the contact made by surfaces(more plain/regular or less)  and the connector's  material electricity goes through "after" the contact I guess!!

Going back to my question....we are talking about "standard" which in a usually iec male plug lile the one on the electronics for ex. it' brass nickel plated....but what about the female iec connectors?? Usually on standard/common/cheap pc cables they re neve plated and I can see the colour inside which goes toward a yellow tint so I presume it's brass! On the cable supplied with my supernait2 which seems to be a standard 3 x 1mmq pc power cable I cannot discern if it's brass again because It has a more "orange" tint so I was wondering if everyone defines the standard naim cable "different" because they have been looking for one with a normal nickel plated schuko as usual BUT a IEC with copper contacts!

this is the website of the manufacturer....but can't get any info!!