We do not account for it when buying a USB device, since we always focus on its functionalities, that everything is fine and that it works correctly. But with the passage of time and the use of certain positions that end up taking and other environmental factors, peripherals begin to stop being what they were. Could a USB cable fail after a few years? Do cables deteriorate over time?
Although we are talking about peripherals because they are the most common, what we are going to discuss next can be extrapolated without any problem to any cable that we buy to connect any device. From a smartphone, to a laptop, printer, camera or any other, all will fulfill the same function: to interconnect several devices with each other and therefore the same rigor will be applied to everyone.
Do USB cables deteriorate over time?
Yes, USB cables have a bad habit of following the designs of time and irremediably aging. Now, it should be borne in mind that not all cables do it at the same level or in the same way, with the quality of the cables at stake.
USB cables have a number of key characteristics that depend on their survival. In the first place, the number of inner threads, where their thickness is hopelessly linked. Although we do not realize it, a USB cable suffers continuous stress to the posture that we indicate, until they end up taking the form.
Normally, the internal wiring of the same is flexible and we might think that it is not damaged, but it is not really like this and here the second factor comes into play: the cover that covers them. Said sheath has another key factor, flexibility and with it, inescapably we have to mention permeability. This is important especially if we live near the sea.
The greater the flexibility, the greater the permeability and with it the suspended particles, the humidity and therefore the oxidation come into play in the torsional rigidity of the cable with the passage of time. We will all have seen how a cable gets harder and harder to tame over the years and may end up failing if your posture stress is not normal now.
Wear of contacts and coatings on the USB cable
In addition to everything said that influence the cable inside, we have to take into account its ends, where the male or female connectors are located. A good cable will have a good coating and the best ones will do it in gold. This metal has a double function: to protect the connector from corrosion and oxidation and to improve the signal of the cable.
It has been proven that a gold-plated cable withstands the passage of time much better and therefore it is only carried out on high-quality cables. The last factor to consider for a USB cable is that of the contacts.
The contacts suffer the hardest part of the cable itself as a general rule. They have to be clean, without any type of dust and of high quality to face long years of use and data or power connection. Continuously plugging and unplugging devices from a cable generates friction and premature wear that end up creating a layer of excess material in it that generates greater resistance over the years.
If this happens, the ideal is to change cables as quickly as possible to avoid short circuits in our devices, since after all, a quality USB cable does not usually cost too much money for the treatment they normally receive.