Coytee Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 When we first framed this house (call it 10 years ago), I went ahead & pulled some wires in the basement walls. They were 12g speaker wire. I bought them at my local Home Depot. Now that I'm actually getting around to this room... I've been putting other wires in. I saw a way I could reroute these existing wires to make it a bit more efficient for me and all the sudden... I noticed in the MIDDLE of the wires, some nine to ten lineal inches of "black". At first I thought it was maybe something like mold that had grown on the casing... then I thought it might be dirt... tried to rub it off with no luck. Turns out it seems to have been the wires themselves that have turned black (oxidized??) Just curious as to how this might happen inside the run. I can understand copper wires turning color near the ends of the strands but I turned out to have splotches of this black all up & down the strands. I just got done cutting them out and will be getting new stuff tomorrow to replace them with. Even my hands were oily/sticky when I was pulling them out. I had to cut them in several places because of the great job I had done tacking them down with little "U" shaped nails. Oh... the brand? Monster Cable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Sue em !!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Perzackly. those freakazoids have sued everybody they could for years. google monster cable lawsuits and see what you get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Cheap plastic insulation has reacted with the copper. "I bought them at my local Home Depot." "Oh... the brand? Monster Cable!" I never saw a Home Depot that sold real 'Monster Cable'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 Fact 1: It is indeed monster cable, I looked when I was pulling it out. Fact 2: It's possible my memory is wrong and I bought it elsewhere However: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?id=4194&jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125&N=4194%2B90401&langId=-1&linktype=brand&storeId=10051&ddkey=THDSiteMap [] East Tennessee is well known for our audiophile Home Depots.... [:|] [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeJoe Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Go to monoprice and buy their CL2 rated wire for in-wall installation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelA Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Monster can fool the middle-aged home owner just as easy as the geeky kid at best buy[] Like somebody said earlier, sue em, make them honor that worthless lifetime guarentee. Just be prepared to provide EPA samplings of the house and the contractors license, and any other obscure you could think of to proove it was installed correctly.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 My old Monster Cable wires turned green inside the insulation. I quit using Monster years ago for that reason. Nice to see they addressed the problem by turning them black now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeJoe Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 If the Monster cables are not CL2 rated but were installed in-wall, I guarantee that Monster will disavow any warranty coverage no matter how foul their wires became or why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivernuggets Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Didn't know about Monoprice until now. An hour has passed like two mintues browsing at what they have. Good stuff! Thanks CallMeJoe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 If the Monster cables are not CL2 rated but were installed in-wall, I guarantee that Monster will disavow any warranty coverage no matter how foul their wires became or why. Yeah... I was intrigued with it and was going to ask how/what/why this happened.... then figured... a lot more simple to simply yank them out, toss them and put something else in. Something less "monster'ish" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 When running wires permanently inside walls it should be CL-2 rated. That way, if a fire occurs your insurance company will have one less thing to mess with you about.. Even if the fire was from unrelated causes they might use this against you to deny or delay the claim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeJoe Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Didn't know about Monoprice until now. An hour has passed like two mintues browsing at what they have. Good stuff! I used their CL2 wiring (speaker and RCA) and A/V wallplates to set up my stereo and home theater systems: a bi-amped stereo and 7.1 HT in the same room with all the wire runs securely in the walls. Great products at great prices, reasonable shipping rates and quick service. They also regularly run daily specials - if your timing is right, you can get their gold-plated banana plugs at <$1/pair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblio Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I used their CL2 wiring (speaker and RCA) and A/V wallplates to set up my stereo and home theater systems: a bi-amped stereo and 7.1 HT in the same room with all the wire runs securely in the walls. Great products at great prices, reasonable shipping rates and quick service. They also regularly run daily specials - if your timing is right, you can get their gold-plated banana plugs at <$1 I've been looking at the keystone wall plates/inserts, do they work well ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeJoe Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I've been looking at the keystone wall plates/inserts, do they work well ? I've used the binding post, RCA and F-connector plates, all of which I recommend. I've not used the keystone style, so I shall refrain from comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 I used Home Depot 12 GA speaker wire in the early 90's and it turned green. I have switched to in wall wire with grey covering (I guess CL2) for in wall and many other apps, and Mogami 11GA speaker wire for short exposed runs (about $2.25 per foot, nice stuff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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