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Unread 11-28-2003, 07:13 PM   #11
snowwie
Cooling Savant
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 154
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Quote:
Originally posted by Since87
That doesn't look like copper to me.

The color looks to me like a plating I've heard called "chromate plating" which is used to put a non oxidizing coating on aluminum to facilitate electrical contact to the aluminum. (I don't have any reason to think this actually is chromate plating - just noting the similarity of the color.)

Normal tin/lead solder bonds easily to nickel. I don't have a good guess why the interior of the IHS has that yellow color.
it has been my understanding (and that of many others) that the IHS consists of solid copper, but gets its silver color from a plating, most likely nickel, probably to resist corrosion or oxidation.
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