[Ptahkeem]

it does oxidize.  twag is copper wire coated with silver.  the silver oxidizes into a darker black color.  the copper in the jhaudio and ue wires oxidizes into the green color.

 

[scootermafia]

Yeah if you want it another color the best bet would be to go with some sleeving, like black nylon or something.  Making the TWag another color is a ridiculous suggestion, as if I were to get a wire like that, it would cost me in the realm of $3 per foot wholesale, with a 3000 meter minimum order meaning $30,000USD+ just to try it out...
 
@Ptakheem:  TWag is pure silver.  There's no copper in it whatsoever.  Lee does make a silver plated copper wire, but it's called TWSPC:
 
http://www.cryo-parts.com/twspc_bulk.html
 
Silver doesn't oxidize quite as readily as copper, and its oxides are plenty conductive compared to copper oxides, so it's of little concern.  I think the worry about copper wire oxidizing is overblown, as I've made OCC copper cables with a wire similar to TWCu in design and used them for the better part of a year and no green color yet.  

 

[guitarplayer]

TWag is pure silver (not SPC as you state), it will oxidize over time, but will not turn green like copper will sometimes.  Silver oxide is very conductive as well, so don't stress about it.  Ever seen real silver silverware over time?   Never turns green.  Silver will get an oxide coating, and/or a bit of black, but those are non issues.
 
Copper will lose its patina and turn a little darker and/or a little green over time.  However, the whole issue is blown out of proportion here.  Don't worry about it, the coating is obscenely thin, and only serves to protect the rest of the bundle.
 
Peace,
 
Lee
 
Quote:

it does oxidize.  twag is copper wire coated with silver.  the silver oxidizes into a darker black color.  the copper in the jhaudio and ue wires oxidizes into the green color.

 

[guitarplayer]

Good wrap up below. Peter.
 
Wish I could get my TWag made for $3/ft!  I would order 10000/meters tomorrow at that price!  Unfortunately, my TWag costs quite a bit more to produce.  Some Asian vendors might claim to be able make it for that, but, I would question the final quality, the quality of the raw materials they use, and their experience in casting wire suitable for high end audio purposes.  I've yet to find anyone but my current vendor partner that I can trust, and I have spent 25+ years and an obscene amount of money (could have had a bad arse Harley, a REALLY bad arse Harley) working with almost every vendor available.
 
Peace,
 
Lee
 
Quote:

Yeah if you want it another color the best bet would be to go with some sleeving, like black nylon or something.  Making the TWag another color is a ridiculous suggestion, as if I were to get a wire like that, it would cost me in the realm of $3 per foot wholesale, with a 3000 meter minimum order meaning $30,000USD+ just to try it out...
 
@Ptakheem:  TWag is pure silver.  There's no copper in it whatsoever.  Lee does make a silver plated copper wire, but it's called TWSPC:
 
http://www.cryo-parts.com/twspc_bulk.html
 
Silver doesn't oxidize quite as readily as silver, and its oxides are plenty conductive compared to copper oxides, so it's of little concern.  I think the worry about copper wire oxidizing is overblown, as I've made OCC copper cables with a wire similar to TWCu in design and used them for the better part of a year and no green color yet.  

 

[kiwirugby]

Quote:

i'd buy a silver / black braid
 
TWag is like crack!

Me too.   But more like beer to me!
 

 

[skoog5600]

Somebody out there must be able to produce a high quality cable with a black and silver braid.

 

[scootermafia]

Right, $3/foot is from a reputable manufacturer in Asia that is a licensed OCC facility and an OEM that provides a large percentage of the world's OCC.  The place I refer to produces nice product, a product that is in countless brands of cables that are out there, but they are like the Ford/Chevy of OCC wire whereas Cryoparts' needs are more along the lines of Ferrari/Lamborghini.  Lee's wire is very fine-tuned and he has very specific needs, plus as his manufacturer is not in a place with cheap labor like Asia and his design is more complex, the wire would cost substantially more to make - really $3-6 per foot is more realistic for a finely stranded OCC silver wire (despite the raw commodity value of silver wire being low enough to where you can get 24awg bare silver on ebay for <$1/foot, this sort of wire is pretty far removed from what TWag is).  Long story short, getting more colors would be a big deal - but perhaps it is possible that the wire can be dyed black; it'd be up to an enterprising headfier to attempt to color their cable.  Or, each wire could simply be heatshrinked with 1/16" shrink for a flat black look.  Or, break out those Sharpies guys!

 

[musicaddict]

i own and love the silver for my jh13 but would be good to have had a choice of colours

 

[skoog5600]

Quote:

Right, $3/foot is from a reputable manufacturer in Asia that is a licensed OCC facility and an OEM that provides a large percentage of the world's OCC.  The place I refer to produces nice product, a product that is in countless brands of cables that are out there, but they are like the Ford/Chevy of OCC wire whereas Cryoparts' needs are more along the lines of Ferrari/Lamborghini.  Lee's wire is very fine-tuned and he has very specific needs, plus as his manufacturer is not in a place with cheap labor like Asia and his design is more complex, the wire would cost substantially more to make - really $3-6 per foot is more realistic for a finely stranded OCC silver wire (despite the raw commodity value of silver wire being low enough to where you can get 24awg bare silver on ebay for <$1/foot, this sort of wire is pretty far removed from what TWag is).  Long story short, getting more colors would be a big deal - but perhaps it is possible that the wire can be dyed black; it'd be up to an enterprising headfier to attempt to color their cable.  Or, each wire could simply be heatshrinked with 1/16" shrink for a flat black look.  Or, break out those Sharpies guys!

I like the idea of dying the wire black. What I would do is dye one strand black and keep the other strand silver. Good idea!!!
 

 

[scootermafia]

I have some wire with similar insulation.  I just need to get some fabric dye and I'll give it a shot.

 

[SACD-Man]

Hey...
 
I have not read ever post. I thought this was about having black earpiece over mold, not black TWag. That investment is beyond imaginable right now....
 
Nice thought though!
 
Craig

 

[scootermafia]

Got some black fabric dye, will report back later tonight.

 

[scootermafia]

So far the news isn't good.  Using a permanent marker to try to color the wire has yielded no positive results, as it just leaves a black film on the wire that is easily washed off.  Using concentrated RIT fabric dye doesn't work either, it just can't penetrate the polyethylene insulation of my wire.   PE is famously stain resistant, what makes it a great insulation for wire is that it's nonporous, air cannot easily get in and oxidize the wire.  It would be even more fruitless to try to stain Teflon for obvious reasons, but PE isn't much better.  
 
This seems to be similar to doing endospore stains in microbiology, where you need heat to force the stain through an otherwise impermeable bacterial cell wall.  It's possible that I can apply heat to make the stain go into the wire's insulation, and it's what I'll try next if this overnight soak in the staining solution does not work.  
 
Are you after a clear-black, sort of translucent color on the wire, or a black that totally hides the copper within?  I was hoping the dye would give the wire a smoky color, but no luck yet.  If all you want is for it to look black, applying 1/16" black shrink to each wire would do the trick, but i'd like it if the wire were black but retained its transparency.  

 

[LintHart]

Quote:

Silver will get an oxide coating, and/or a bit of black
 

 

HA, thats the answer boys and girls we just have to find a way to make half the cables furiously oxidize and they could turn a little black.
 
only kidding
 

 

[scootermafia]

Good news.  After a day of soaking in the dye concentrate, the wire is starting to take up a greyish color, kind of smoky, that doesn't wash away.  The only problem is that it's not very dramatic, it still looks like the original wire, just if you look closely the fairly thin insulation is gray.  I'd say 2 weeks of dying would make a decent color.