| Pure gold has complete resistance to atmospheric tarnish and oxidation. It does not contribute to polymer formations like platinum and palladium alloys. Wrought gold metal is very soft and prone to welding and has very few contact applications. Electroplated coatings of gold on silver and other base metals are used in dry circuit application and to provide long shelf life reliability. Gold is alloyed with other metals to improve hardness, contact performance, and reduce cost. ELKONIUM® 76 is CMW's gold-copper alloy that is completely tarnish resistant at ordinary atmospheric temperatures. Compared to the other CMW gold ELKONIUM alloys, it has improved resistance to welding, and particularly cold welding. When used as a positive contact operating against an ELKONIUM 32 alloy negative contact in low voltage DC applications, the combination resists transfer and sticking at currents up to 4 amperes. Information provided by NAECO, LLC. |
