My Scrapping Log (including e-scrap)

So I have been scrapping for several years learning more every year, I started like everyone else throwing everything as light iron. Now I separate everything and am into e-scrap, I decided to start posting some of my process feel free to comment. I fill these truck bed liners with light iron/e-scrap cores after the majority of plastic has been removed:



After the plastic removal I pull all wires, motors, and circuit boards. Then I pull the aluminum heat sinks, transformers, inductors and visible copper goodies. The cracked up and stripped boards then go into those orange tubs, there is also a non-mag stainless bucket, brass, copper #1 & #2 in the photo:



For now I throw all the transformers and inductors into one bucket and get $0.20/lb which is not that great not sure if I can get more for the inductors:





This is an example of some of the things in my transformer bucket, I think the small items up front should yield more then transformers:



I have this bucket as well that I throw visible copper goodies in that are not wrapped in tape, etc, I think some of them might be inductors as well but I smash and unwind these in front of the TV lol throw the wire in my #2 bucket:



All the wire will be stripped someday, I could stop now and sell the boards without the aluminum and copper goodies I think they actually prefer you strip the heat sinks and they tolerate the copper wire component removal but I'm not sure if its okay I had to break many of the boards to remove the heat sinks. I am between that and processing them further myself, if I take anything else off I would have to make it worth it and take everything possible or else I think I would break even between selling the boards and just stripping a few things it would be a lot less work to just sell the boards...I know I need to take the ICs and a few other components including gold connector pins, and then I can sell those components by weight and even some such as ICs can be processed myself. I've seen ICs burnt with a torch contained in bricks slowly fed to prevent smoking, after being burnt cleanly thrown in a bucket with some steel balls and I think a paint mixer on a drill so everything is smashed into a dust/powder then mixed with water and "panned" off...not sure where my cutoff line will be but it is a good way to save if you are not good with money haha.

Looks like you have a good sorting system going. I like the bed liner shred bin. I didn't see a bucket for your higher grade green boards from the printers. Be sure you're saving those out separate from the low grade.

Gotta love making money unwinding copper while watching TV.

I have 5 of these bedliners, I leave one for people to dump their stuff in too. I do not separate boards by grade since I was going to process them myself anyway but if I do then I might loose the value of the things I am not capable of removing or processing. Haha ya in front of a big screen that was free in my scrap drop off, I use it in the basement.

How about the electric motors from the printers? If your going to take the plastic off and pull the boards you should also take the electric motors. Those little white round things in the bucket in the last pic. are easy to take the copper off of. Slide them on a screw driver, grab the two wires and pull, quick and easy. Did you take the electric motor out of that fan in the first pic? Those moters and the transformers should go together. I wouldn't sell my transformers and electric motors for .20# I get .34-.35#.

No some of those motors in the printers I leave they are so small and some are bolted with tight angles and weird screw heads I do pull some though. I always strip those in the last picture. Yes I removed the motor from the fan I do not mix motors with my transformers because my yard to date (1/09/14) pays .20 for transformers and only .18 for electric motors I was also told to remove the flyback transformers from my bucket and throw them with light iron.

Those ones in the bottom bucket, I use a hammer on. lol. Makes short work of them, smash it, an watch it fall off. Probally no the route to go while watching tv tho. I do mine in the shop to music, when things get slow or I need a break from the other stuff.

Makes the old copper bucket fill up fast. An I also like your buckets, good stuff.

Sirscrapalot -Truth comes out in wine. - Pliny the elder

Yeah I use a hammer for almost everything, smash up the magnets and they fall out in pieces.

My 5-gals are always a 2lb tare, and I use chlorine buckets for E-components. The truck bed liners were free I got a half dozen for storing light iron and aluminum!

Originally Posted by taterjuice

I use old stock tanks for collecting and sorting larger items, but whatever is availible and cheap works too.
Whatever you use to sort and stock pile goodies, there's never enough of them.

Ain't that the truth! It seems every time I think I have enough, I need to get/make more! Grrr!

Ah well, it keeps us on our toes I reckon. While I don't have truck beds/liners..I think my most unusual 'bucket' is the back shell of a large tv. Found it on the side of the road one day, sucker holds a lot!

Sirscrapalot - It ain't easy being green. - Kermit the frog.

I'm down to e-scrap right now, still trying to get my system in order there. Basically I have two piles that are sorted into two general categories; low grade and higher grade. I have another pile the size of that large pile that has not been cut yet; all the guts of electronics go into one bin until I have time to remove all the wires and metal trays/heatsinks. That is a 12oz beer for size comparison and I will break these piles into finer grades, I still have a whole shelf full of CD/DVD drives, floppys and HDDs that need to be disassembled...printer cartridges are building up too. I have had time to think and learn the hard way about processing my own boards and I am just saving them to sell as is, I may pop some hand fulls of larger tantalum capacitors and sell them on eBay since their weight on the boards are only worth around a few dollars a pound when nobody will notice a few missing here and there and I will not take enough from any one board to downgrade it as controversial as that may sound...the trick is just don't piss off your buyer.

Check to make sure you are identifying the tantalum capacitors correctly. "Handfuls" are not easy to come by.

I have done extensive research into tantalums from SMD to dipped to Kermet to silver mica (standard and Russian style) and silver cased I have a chart on my wall where I work.

A picture of said chart would be helpful or the information stating the charts name date and publishers. If not a big deal. Thanks. I'd like to see what it displays.

Its a homemade chart I printed, I will upload all the pics on the chart this weekend identifying tantalum so you guys can see them it covers everything.

I certainly did cut the ends off those radiators brings the value way up if you remove that iron/steel, my system is about to get even better this weekend I will post pictures; I have a new metal rack that holds all my board bins (which I am still figuring out/grouping).

Saw a great YouTube video that really explained things with boards. Sorry no link. I don't know how. But the video really made me think. Happy scrapping. 1scrap.

Back to the top if you look at the very first image I started this thread with this is the same pile...that little white bike is under there the pile is VERY dense:



To the right of that as I said I have multiple liners, I store large light iron shells on the left (that I can stuff with metal as I load it onto truck) and my prepared steel on the right side:



I have a liner to the right of that which holds my aluminum and other odds, my yard takes all cast/sheet aluminum in one class they also buy batteries and radiators (I have not prepared those in photo the magnetic ends need to be removed from radiators)



All the way to the right I store my electronic scrap brown board as is takes up a lot of space and is worth practically the same as light iron or steel...I hope the rain and snow does not devalue my brown board?



All in all the truck bed liners work really great, not including the brown board I pulled little over $500 out of here and it all trickled to me slowly none of it costed me anything and it wasent that bad of an eyesore but I am going to improve on containment:



I have another liner that I allow people to drop their "junk" off in this is just an assortment of the types of things people drop off it has been working good but I have been limiting the tubes lately since my facial accident: