Water and Speaker Wire

mamorgan1 · 03-21-01, 12:56 PM

I recently had a flood in my apartment. There was water all over the floor. My speaker wire was sitting in the water for about 2 hrs. None of the bare ends touched the water. After that I disconnected the speaker wire from all the terminals as soon as possible. Following this the apartment was very humid for a month while repairs were being made. I am not worried about the speakers, I am worried about the wire. I want to know if it is safe to just cut a couple of feet off of a run and rewire, or do I need to replace the wire all together? I certainly don't want to damage my receiver by connecting damaged wire to it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Lazlo Hollyfeld · 03-21-01, 01:15 PM

If you have access to a volt/ohm meter or continuity tester, check that the two sides are not grounded to each other (pos & neg). If not, then it should be just fine.

Of course, that's just my opinion, I'm not a definitive expert on the subject. It just seems if the two sides are completely isolated from each other, then the wire would function as before.

einTier · 03-21-01, 01:38 PM

Well, if neither of the bare ends touched water, the wire should be fine -- provided there are no cuts or nicks anywhere else in the line.

The plastic coating isn't water permeable, so there's no way for water to attack the wire inside. Since your house was very humid for a month, you might want to inspect the wire for any rust. If there's no rust, it should be as it was before.

I've even had solid state electronics completely immersed, and so long as you dry them out properly (I re-washed them in purified de-ionized water and used a small towel and a hair dryer to dry) and you don't turn them on while they're still wet -- they still work.

mamorgan1 · 03-21-01, 01:49 PM

Thanks guys. I was pretty sure there was nothing to worry about but I thought I would run it by the experts.

03-21-01, 12:56 PM	#1
mamorgan1 Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Reston, Va Posts: 135	I recently had a flood in my apartment. There was water all over the floor. My speaker wire was sitting in the water for about 2 hrs. None of the bare ends touched the water. After that I disconnected the speaker wire from all the terminals as soon as possible. Following this the apartment was very humid for a month while repairs were being made. I am not worried about the speakers, I am worried about the wire. I want to know if it is safe to just cut a couple of feet off of a run and rewire, or do I need to replace the wire all together? I certainly don't want to damage my receiver by connecting damaged wire to it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

03-21-01, 01:15 PM	#2
Lazlo Hollyfeld Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: steam tunnels, Pacific Tech U. Posts: 163	If you have access to a volt/ohm meter or continuity tester, check that the two sides are not grounded to each other (pos & neg). If not, then it should be just fine. Of course, that's just my opinion, I'm not a definitive expert on the subject. It just seems if the two sides are completely isolated from each other, then the wire would function as before.

03-21-01, 01:38 PM	#3
einTier DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 6,514	Well, if neither of the bare ends touched water, the wire should be fine -- provided there are no cuts or nicks anywhere else in the line. The plastic coating isn't water permeable, so there's no way for water to attack the wire inside. Since your house was very humid for a month, you might want to inspect the wire for any rust. If there's no rust, it should be as it was before. I've even had solid state electronics completely immersed, and so long as you dry them out properly (I re-washed them in purified de-ionized water and used a small towel and a hair dryer to dry) and you don't turn them on while they're still wet -- they still work.

03-21-01, 01:49 PM	#4
mamorgan1 Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Reston, Va Posts: 135	Thanks guys. I was pretty sure there was nothing to worry about but I thought I would run it by the experts.