Interconnect Off-Gassing?

[avantbored]

Hi all.

Picked up a Yamaha stack (post about that forthcoming), and seller threw in a bunch of Audioquest interconnects. Figured they were sticky from some drink being spilled, but as I was cleaning them, I noticed some sludge at the base of the terminal's collar.

I loosened a couple of the collars, and saw this sludge inside of the housing. Same color as the cable's casing.

Is this off-gassing? We used the cables briefly to test the gear, but I'd be weary to put them into regular use.

Pictures attached.

 

[cademan]

Never heard of the term, "off gassing".

Never seen that on cables before neither!

Should be fine to use as long as they ohm out okay.

 

[gadget73]

looks like crappy plastic breaking down to me. Wipe them down with alcohol and hope for the best but don't be surprised if it comes back. The problem is that lots of that stuff turns acidic and it will start to rot the wire inside. Sniff test might be useful here. If its got a sharp, sour kind of smell thats the acid in the plasticizer and you can expect the copper wire is slowly rotting away from exposure.

me I'd chop the ends off and throw the cables away, replace the wire with something that isn't gross to touch. Those ends look decent though.