MTH ran great!

[webenda]

Printed circuit copper is normally gold plated at switch and edge contact locations on the board.

Gold does not tarnish. Mth most have used an alloy.

I agree. Hard Gold is used to plate printed circuit copper. There are several metals used to make hard gold, copper being one of the metals. Gold/copper alloy does corrode. Gold/nickle and gold/cobalt are highly resistant to corrosion. Gold/palladium is as resistant to corrosion as gold alone.

[MartyE]

I'd go over them with a pencil eraser and then maybe some contact cleaner on a qtip.

[E7]

Printed circuit copper is normally gold plated at switch and edge contact locations on the board.

Gold does not tarnish. Mth most have used an alloy.

I agree. Hard Gold is used to plate printed circuit copper. There are several metals used to make hard gold, copper being one of the metals. Gold/copper alloy does corrode. Gold/nickle and gold/cobalt are highly resistant to corrosion. Gold/palladium is as resistant to corrosion as gold alone.

The price of palladium is over $1400 an ounce. Makes for an expensive alloy!

[webenda]

Printed circuit copper is normally gold plated at switch and edge contact locations on the board.

Gold does not tarnish. Mth most have used an alloy.

I agree. Hard Gold is used to plate printed circuit copper. There are several metals used to make hard gold, copper being one of the metals. Gold/copper alloy does corrode. Gold/nickle and gold/cobalt are highly resistant to corrosion. Gold/palladium is as resistant to corrosion as gold alone.

The price of palladium is over $1400 an ounce. Makes for an expensive alloy!

The price of gold today has been fluctuating between $1950 and $1832 per ounce. If palladium is only $1400, then the alloy would be cheaper than pure gold.

[robert.]

1 ounce of gold can cover 100 sq.ft.

[webenda]

1 ounce of gold can cover 100 sq.ft.

That means it would take 576 ounces (or just 36 pounds) of gold to completely cover a football field.

[webenda]

Gold/palladium is as resistant to corrosion as gold alone.

Maybe not.

Palladium will not tarnish
https://www.larsonjewelers.com/

Palladium is tarnish resistant.
https://www.serendipitydiamonds.com

Now Palladium does not react with the oxygen in air under normal temperatures. Add a little heat (400-500 degrees Celsius) then you will begin to see a thin layer of oxidation. If you raise the temperatures even more, palladium will tarnish readily at around 850 degrees Celsius.
https://www.prosumerdiamonds.com

[Rufus T. Firefly]

1 ounce of gold can cover 100 sq.ft.

That means it would take 576 ounces (or just 36 pounds) of gold to completely cover a football field.

Doesn't all that depend on how thick the coverage is?

palladium will tarnish readily at around 850 degrees Celsius.

If your electronics are at that temp, you might have other problems.

[webenda]

1 ounce of gold can cover 100 sq.ft.

That means it would take 576 ounces (or just 36 pounds) of gold to completely cover a football field.

Doesn't all that depend on how thick the coverage is?

Such statements assume the gold is hammered out as thin as possible without having holes in it. It also assumes a goldsmith with the skill to do such a thing.

Both statements, 100 Sq feet and a football field, come from the same source. I did not verify either claim.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

That means it would take 576 ounces (or just 36 pounds) of gold to completely cover a football field.

Doesn't all that depend on how thick the coverage is?

Such statements assume the gold is hammered out as thin as possible without having holes in it. It also assumes a goldsmith with the skill to do such a thing.

Assumptions, as you know, are the mortar used for paving the road of good intentions......

[sarge]

Talking of assumptions, aren't you assuming the Chinese actually used gold on the exposed parts of the board rather than merely cleaned off the contacts, screwed the controllers together with perhaps a little grease on the contacts to keep oxidation at bay long enough to get the dingus accepted and in the container, and cashed in the letters of credit?

I sure as hell wouldn't.

[E7]

Printed circuit copper is normally gold plated at switch and edge contact locations on the board.



I agree. Hard Gold is used to plate printed circuit copper. There are several metals used to make hard gold, copper being one of the metals. Gold/copper alloy does corrode. Gold/nickle and gold/cobalt are highly resistant to corrosion. Gold/palladium is as resistant to corrosion as gold alone.

The price of palladium is over $1400 an ounce. Makes for an expensive alloy!

The price of gold today has been fluctuating between $1950 and $1832 per ounce. If palladium is only $1400, then the alloy would be cheaper than pure gold.

Never stated it wasn't, just that palladium made for the most expensive alloy of the stuff that was listed. The benefit of the higher price: corrosion resistance equal to gold.

[robert.]

You would need to hammer gold so thin, to get a football field covered. I can't find anything says " PCBs use gold" I do see statements claiming " there is no regulation on how they are made for cheap toys"

[webenda]

I can't find anything says " PCBs use gold"

Here is one for you Robert, "PCBs and Why They Contain Gold." => https://www.4pcb.com/blog/pcbs-and-why- ... tain-gold/
Here is another, "GOLD RECOVERY FROM PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS." => https://www.scielo.br/j/bjce/a/4J3QYYYr ... 20of%20ore.

[healey36]

When I worked for Hughes, we had a scrap deal with a local outfit that recovered precious metals from junk printed circuit boards. I don't recall what the numbers looked like, but it was certainly lucrative enough that folks went through the effort to extract materials from old boards. It was also my understanding that the process was fairly toxic, having to deal with high levels of lead and mercury as well (there were some also pretty serious waivers for the recyclers to provide that assured proper handling and disposal).