What is my phone line made of?

NathanE · 7 Mar 2012 at 17:42

It is silver colour, and I thought it was aluminium.

The BT Infinity engineer said it definitely wasn't aluminium though as it wasn't brittle enough. And he is right as I sanded it with some sand paper and it is gold/bronze/copper colour underneath the silver.

So what is the "silver" coating on top?

Jokester · 7 Mar 2012 at 17:43

It's probably tin.

3dcandy · 7 Mar 2012 at 18:02

I'd go with tin aswell...

NathanE · 7 Mar 2012 at 18:34

Neat. At first you were joking

Is a tin coating good or bad?

sehcure · 7 Mar 2012 at 18:34

Solidified orphan tears.

Jokester · 7 Mar 2012 at 18:34

It's good.

Tealc · 7 Mar 2012 at 18:36

It'll be a tinned copper conductor. It adds better resistance from water corrosion so makes it last longer. It also makes the wire more durable apparently. This and other properties can make the cable last ten times longer than plain copper alone.

NathanE · 7 Mar 2012 at 18:41

Nice. So I've gone from assuming I would have a copper line, to fearing I had a aluminium one, to having pretty much the best you can get... tinned copper!?

3dcandy · 7 Mar 2012 at 22:12

yeah, sorry if I didn't make it clear....