Question Speaker cable "sticky"

aekostas

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Hi,

I tried to cut and strip my old speaker cable so as to install banana plugs and realised that the insulator left a dark, sticky coating on the copper strands.

Do I clean it with something before attaching the plugs? Is it irrelevant? Or is it bad news and I need new cable?

Thanks,
AEKostas
 
Your insulting jacket is decomposing, probably best to replace, but won't do any harm.
 
Have you room to take the sheath back further?
 
Thanks for both answers.

I do seem to have room on this run (fronts), depending on how far back this goes, but I may find it harder for the rears (same cable).

Which also run under by beloved rug, so "decomposing" does not sound good!
 
Nah, it's fine.. usually happens at the ends to about 8 inches back - how old is this stuff?
 
Who knows how old it is; I bought it used together with my used speakers (Mordaunt-Short MS10i) and amplifier (Harman/Kardon HK610) maybe 18-20 years ago. If one could guess how old these are, they would guess the age of the cables.
 
You can usually tell how far the sleeve has decayed as it feels brittle to the touch. It should not effect performance as long as the copper itself looks nice and shiney.
 
The copper looks tarnished by the sticky residue, though if you "open" the strands they look good. Should I clean it before attaching the banana plug? With what?

Thanks.
 
The copper looks tarnished by the sticky residue, though if you "open" the strands they look good. Should I clean it before attaching the banana plug? With what?

Thanks.
Surgical spirits. Alcohol based so will dry very quickly. Any chemist will sell it. Leave for an hour or so before placing in the plugs.
 
It was my first thought and I have some at home, but it contains glycerine to protect the skin. Is mine "special"?
 
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Many thanks for your help throughout the thread today. You too Rock Danger.
 
No worries.. if alcohol doesn't work, acetone will. If you can one day re-pull the cables it won't hurt. But even 50% contact is more than enough nearly all of the time, unless it's very thin cable and a very very long run.
 
What does re-pull mean? I am in the process of trimming to add bananas, same thing?
 
No worries.. if alcohol doesn't work, acetone will.

I cut about 2-3 feet and still sticky. Can I ask if methylated spirits are also suitable? Readily available at my local Sainsburys, and recommended for another job (the double sticky tape on my AV furniture is failing and the glass is detaching from the wooden frame; the repalcement sticky tape talks about methylated spirits).
 
I cut about 2-3 feet and still sticky. Can I ask if methylated spirits are also suitable? Readily available at my local Sainsburys, and recommended for another job (the double sticky tape on my AV furniture is failing and the glass is detaching from the wooden frame; the repalcement sticky tape talks about methylated spirits).

Really at this stage you should remove and replace the old cable or just connect it and ignore it.
 
Thanks. Do I need to match the length of the rears or will YMAO take care of this?
 
Thanks. Do I need to match the length of the rears or will YMAO take care of this?

Just run what you need, they don't need to be the same length, it has no bearing on anything.
 

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