Speaker wire discoloration

[jcarter1885 995]

I have two different brands of speaker wire that are turning green inside the jacket. It is not turning green at the ends just in certain areas of the covered wire. Ive spent two hours googling and just seen multiple forums and websites where it turned into an argument whether the discoloration was due to oxidation or the chemical reaction between cheap insulation and the copper wire. Please don't turn this into a pissing contest. Either you know or don't know, don't need guesses. What causes the discoloration and will it affect the signal if used?

Remember its not at the ends, just restating that for the people who can't read. One set of wire is brand new and it came like this in the unopened spool, Monster cable. The other was installed in my car for a while and turned green over time, Monoprice cable.

Edited September 18, 2012 by jay-cee

[95Honda 486]

Oxidation. Was a big problem with the Monster Cable I was using 20 yrs ago. Newer techniques have helped this. I wouldn't worry about, it is mostly a superficial problem...

[nem 2,019]

Did the jacket also get hard and crack?

I bought a roll about 5 years ago for the haunt and have been seeing green spots and the jacket is hard and cracking.

[jcarter1885 995]

No the jacket is not hard or cracking, the new Monster cable wire has an oily residue on the outer jacket.

[pmureika 31]

So its just turning the jacket green?

[Impious 1,476]

Simple solution is to not purchase speaker wire with transparent insulation, then you'll be blissfully ignorant of this problem

Like 95 said, sounds like oxidation. Not a huge concern as long as it's not at the connection points, which it's not as I read twice in your post.

[jcarter1885 995]

Thanks for the response guys, I'm not a huge complainer so I wanted to ask before I sent the wire back. Thanks to woofersetc.com amazing customer service, I have 50ft. of Stinger speaker cable on the way for $9.99. So it worked out in the end, just gonna toss the monster cable in the trash since I don't have to send it back. The manager was happy I called because now he's gonna do quality control on the Monster cable they have in stock and deal with it.

Edited September 19, 2012 by jay-cee

[Shogen 325]

Thanks for the response guys, I'm not a huge complainer so I wanted to ask before I sent the wire back. Thanks to woofersetc.com amazing customer service, I have 50ft. of Stinger speaker cable on the way for $9.99. So it worked out in the end, just gonna toss the monster cable in the trash since I don't have to send it back. The manager was happy I called because now he's gonna do quality control on the Monster cable they have in stock and deal with it.

what gauge wire is it? if you don't mind me asking

[jcarter1885 995]

14 gauge wire