Re: galvanic reaction

["John O" <johno@#no^spam&heathkit.com>]

>I've been mucking about with building electronic stuff since
>I was old enough to hold a soldering iron..probably 40+ years
>and I've never seen a resistor corrode. However, we may have
>to consult with our resident guru, Paulie, maybe he has discovered
>GCR too.


I have never, ever seen a resistor lead corrode without some serious outside
influence, such as a nearby leaking battery, salt water, or some such. We
have some 50+ year old Heathkits up in the loft...and I bet we wouldn't see
any corroded leads in there.

I saw some extensive life testing of such things at Zenith, and the only
thing that wrecked proper solder connections (and the resistors themselves,
obviously) was excess heat. We did see that white powdery stuff, and one of
those engineers could probably explain what it is, but I recall it happened
as a result of some time in a humidity test chamber. IIRC it was left behind
by the moisture that condensed and then evaporated.

-John O