On Feb 17, 2:56*pm, Tim Shoppa wrote:
My homebrew open wire line has spacers held on by soldered tie wires
every foot. So, in the 90 foot rise, a lot of tie wires. I used copper
wire and 60/40 solder.

While the copper wire has certainly acquired a greenish patina over
the years, if I inspect the soldered connections they have flaky white-
gray stuff on the outside. It seems to be pretty soft and if I scratch
at it I can see shiny solder underneath.

The green on the copper is copper carbonate, I suppose. The whitish
stuff on the solder joints is maybe lead carbonate, lead acetate, lead
sulfide, maybe tin something?

Is the chemical reaction progressive, or does the coating on the
outside stop further reactions from going on in the joint?

Any lessons I should learn about protecting outdoors soldered joints?
The environment is pretty benign, just hot summers, cold winters,
occasional ice storms, no sal****er air.

Tim N3QE

Maintenance would would certainly add to the longevity of the solder
joints.
As is they may only last a hundred years or so.

Jimmie