Noob question: is the needle supposed to turn black like this?
Noob question: is the needle supposed to turn black like this?
I've been using the same one for a few weeks now and just noticed it was turning black. I tried to clean it but that did nothing. Is this something that happens with cheap needles? Is there a particular brand I should get?
Happens all the time with mine. Some brands oxidize faster than others, I think it's the nickel content that does it. It doesn't stain but the oxide layer causes more friction so the needle doesn't glide as easily. I usually change them when they get to this point, never bothered cleaning them. Now that I think of it, it's kind of wasteful.
It looks like it's been heated.
It's their acidic grease hands
I think this might be the first meta comment I've seen since coming to lemmy
Nope, just regular use!
Actually never seen this happen with any of mine and now I'm really curious to find out whether the suggestion to clean it off works. Please report back! For science!
Cleaning with vinegar and steel wool didn't really do anything. The needle still works fine, but as someone below mentioned it's now has more of a matte texture to it. I'll probably keep using it unless something else happens to it lol
I've seen people suggest that it's to do with your own body chemistry but I dont know if there's any science to back it up. At any rate, they recommended gold plated needles to help prevent the problem.