Red Plaque

A powdery brown-red growth sometimes found on silver-coated copper conductors and shield braids. It is fungus-like in appearance and will appear in random spots along the length of a conductor or shield. It most often occurs at the point of crossover in a shield or in the interstices of a stranded conductor. It is caused by oxygen and copper reacting in the presence of water to cause the formation of copper oxides. Proper design and material selection, or nickel-plating prior to silver plating, has largely eliminated this problem.