Just received my order from Intl-outdoor after much stuffing around, again.
As soon as I opened it, I thought - hmmmm.
Is there something wrong with this picture or am I crazy?
Chris
They are nickel-gold plated copper.
360 degrees?
Nice! 
Chris
I bet the only reason they're "gold plated" is to hide the base metal which is probably some recycled crap scavenged from a landfill! You should return them ASAP. No, wait- better yet, just send them to me and I will make sure they're properly disposed of.
[NOTE: This is a clumsy attempt at satire, they are gold plated copper]
Anything gold plated is fine by me
Id be a bit better off if the mrs wedding ring was gold plated copper!
Chris
Man, that would be like walking around with a grenade in your pocket with the pin missing, wondering when it was going to go off... :O
A couple people now have questioned if they are copper due to the gold.
Intl-outdoor should mention the complete gold plating on all Noctigons. Its a selling point yet its only mentioned with bare boards.
No mention at all on boards with pre mounted leds.
Its gold! Advertise it a bit.
Noctigons will arrive with a complete brilliant gold plating. Since gold does not tarnish or oxidize its solders easily right away. A true premium solid copper MCPCB.
Gold is not as good as Copper for heat transfer ;)
Cheers David, who is ducking for cover
I bet it is a micron or so thick, that will not affect heat transfer at all
For lists like that to be relevant you have to first know what alloys you're dealing with, which for these boards (and nearly everything being discussed every time somebody posts a link to some thermal conductivity chart) we don't.
Picture's fine. :)
I see those Sinkpad are bent up on the edges like regular stamped mcpcbs, where's Sinkpad routed all around before?
I use these boards in silver plated copper P60 pills I make and I can tell you right now they transfer heat FAST. There is zero discernible difference between bare copper boards and the gold plated Noctigons.
I really like the Noctigons, they work beautifully and look fabulous under a Triple TIR!
I lightly sand the Noctigons using 2000 GRIT anyway to remove any small burrs mostly present on the edges, and usually the gold comes off real quick, it's so thin. The nickel however is a lot thicker - not so easy to come off with fine sandpaper, but I've been leaving it on.
Is tarnishing really a factor here? There should be thermal paste between the star and pill, no tarnishing there. The electrical connections are soldered, no tarnishing there. How does it matter if it tarnishes anywhere else?
That was mostly advertising. :face_with_monocle: Doesn’t matter in practice.
But if you ever find an old unused noctigon in your parts box it will still be gleaming brightly even years from now. :bigsmile:
So you can keep mistaking it for brass for years to come!
Yeah it’s a bastard too.
You can’t lap them properly without reducing the thickness by almost half.
These were from the vob group buy, the ones from the previous group but were routed and far higher quality.
Spose they do the job but stamped copper? Come on.
Chris
What is routing? Are the newer sinkpads now stamped meaning far less flat than “routing”? I still have sinkpads left over from one of the first group buys and they have served me well. I’m really itching to get some these of noctigons though.