x-ray machines

There was an add on Craigslist for someone giving away a few old x-ray machines. They weren't sure if the machines worked or not, so i figured why not get them. After taking one apart, most of the metal is aluminum,lead,copper,some stainless steel and light iron. I did some looking online and found the anode for the x ray tube is probably made of molybdenum. Anyone else ever take one of these apart?

I was at a scrap yard one time, waiting by the pay window, when an alarm went off. Turns out it was a radiation detector. The scale man asked a few pointed questions, and it turns out that the fellow riding in the passenger seat of the truck on the scale was a cancer patient, and had some sort of radioactive implants, which had set of the alarm.

Before that, I'd never even realized that yards have radiation detectors to prevent radioactive material from even coming through the gate. One would have to assume that radioactive material in a load of scrap, any load of scrap, is a no-no, and a potential problem that the industry is prepared to prevent.

Fast forward a couple of years, to a different yard.

I'm waiting in line, when I observe one of the yard's laborers digging in their own garbage dumpster. He pulls out what is obviously a dental X-ray unit, and, with a big smile on his face, carries it inside. A few minutes later, he comes back, looking disgusted, and tosses it back in the dumpster. I asked him, "That was radioactive, wasn't it?" He answered that it was.

(Obviously, somebody had tossed it, because the yard couldn't accept it. The fact that it's probably now in a sanitary landfill someplace didn't seem to be an issue, as long as it didn't enter the scrap metal stream there.)

Anyway, the moral of the story is that you might be playing with something radioactive there, which now that it's in your hands, could be your problem to dispose of, hopefully properly, which would probably be very expensive I imagine.

Maybe somebody else has more specific knowledge than that anecdote.

Thank you for the heads up. Doing more reading on it I found out that there is no radiation produced unless the machine is powered up. I took load of the stuff to the yard today, thank God no bells and whistles went off. lol.. Btw i got 10 lbs of lead,80 lbs of light iron, 10 lbs of stainless, and 30 lbs of aluminum from one machine.

Sounds like a good day then! Glad it worked out for you.

Hi everyone - I have a veterinary practice that is getting rid of a 1993 Fisher Xray generator and table. We are located in Raleigh, NC. If anyone is interested they can come get it. Ansede Animal Hospital 919-661-1515

I just picked up an x-ray floor/wall mount dental machine without the tube/head but haven't a clue as to it's content of metals. My question is, how do you know what types of metals do you have when breaking them down? Thanks! Sucker weighs about 250lbs!

Originally Posted by Rich

Thank you for the heads up. Doing more reading on it I found out that there is no radiation produced unless the machine is powered up. I took load of the stuff to the yard today, thank God no bells and whistles went off. lol.. Btw i got 10 lbs of lead,80 lbs of light iron, 10 lbs of stainless, and 30 lbs of aluminum from one machine.

what about the copper? how much from one machine?