I removed a HSF and inspected the 7 month old application of AS. It seemed unchanged since I applied it. This is the original AS, optimized for a small area HS. Can't tell you what's up with the ASII. I guess that the AS "1" is history, and it's ASII or nothin'?
If the ASII really does discolor over time, and the discoloration is caused by oxidation, this isn't a benefit to OCer's, obviously. As the original stuff claims to use micronized silver, the truth is that pure silver oxidizes, like it or not. My guess is that the goop that the silver is suspended in contains something to block oxygen's access to the tiny silver particles.
Now that I think about it, I imagine that a very small percentage of the silver will oxidize over time, no matter how well the carrier formulation keeps oxygen away from the silver. Won't there be some silver particles on the outside of the goop that contact oxygen?
Sterling silver resists oxidation better than pure silver. However, I don't know if "micronizing" it will remove it's resistance to oxygen. And I don't know what reduction in thermal transfer ability penalty comes with using silver alloy vs. pure silver.
