First batch of E-waste - with pics

So I picked up 6 computers tonight. So far I have pulled 4 apart. I am sure I will have plenty of questions as I go along. I have been reading the old posts for quite some time but when you actually look at a board it is very confusing as to what grade it should be.

Ok I went back down and grabbed the CPU's. Looks like 1 ceramic and 3 fiber w/copper heat sinks.

Is there anything special about this fingercard?

Hypo while writing that post did your cat jumping on your keyboard for that one sentence?

Nice score River!

Keep it up.

Sirscrapalot - Liberal and conservative have lost their meaning in America. I represent the distracted center. - Jon Stewart

On the finger card, you might want to remove the aluminum heat sink.

Originally Posted by numbers

On the finger card, you might want to remove the aluminum heat sink.

And that metal holding strip?

I get the impression that motherboards are of three sorts, Server, Computer, Laptop.
And each of these is divided into two, Large socket & Small socket.

I remove anything possible, ali heatsinkz, metal trim, CPU holder strips-screws-screw sockets, even the steellever (but not thd plastic surround) from the CPU socket, on the legless CPU socket I remove the top metal bracket parts.

Dunno about the chips with the 'J' shaped legs though, the sort that's fitted into a socket on the boards, I think they are programmable and I sorta consider them part of the boards chips so I leave them there.

But I have a container just for the J legs chips I pick off other boards.

The PCI card (finger board) needs the aluminum heat sink removed as the last post suggested. the metal bracket can stay, depending in whom you sell to. The motherboards a pear to be small socket boards. I think you mentioned that you removed the metal heat sink off the CPU. If not doing so will cost you when you attempt to cash them in. Also if they had any SATA cables the ends are going to contain gold plated pins. as will the power connections for SATA drives. The optical drive boards will have more value than the complete drive as well. Occasionally the internal construction of the drive will be cast aluminum as well. Only takes about 3-5 min to completely disassemble one after you get the hang of it. Also when you break down the HDD the board, magnets, and body you will get more for the components than for a dirty aluminum rate for a complete drive. With a little practice you will have a dual socket server in its complete disassembled glory in about 20 min. Good score and good luck.

If the optical drives are functioning properly you can consider eBay and Amazon for those as well. I have had many drives yield 20 To 30 dollar returns that way as well.

There are three grades of mother boards (small socket green, small socket colored and large socket) the mother board on top of the stack looks to be a large socket but can't see the rest. Also take the battery off the mother boards if you haven't done so. Did you find any memory on the mother boards? You should be able to leave the steel bracket on the finger board. The media drives (the pic under the stack of mother boards) I would pull the boards, remove the back cover and tack the larger board out and through the rest in with your steel. That heat sink looks to be an all copper heat sink, you will find basically three kinds of heat sinks, exstruded aluminum, aluminum/copper and copper. Good job so far, keep up the good work.

This has been a good lesson for me as well. I'm picking up four computers and several cell phones tonight as well. I already have 13 lbs of boards to add too and this was a good lesson for me.

I am very interested in e-scrap. This conversation is very interesting to me. I have done a search and do not see a particular thread that I could look to for guidance on e-scrap information.

I have scrapped since 1985, but I have only recently realized e-scrap was worth separating (since I started reading posts on this site). I have gotten computers at garage sales and have been stuck with them because of the XP retirement. I have included a picture (I think) of the goodies I harvested from a curbco computer.
I do sell on e-bay.
I have seen that people suggest I put an ad selling the CD-Rom and CD-RW.
What about the floppy?
Should I accumulate and sell the cables?
I have a heat sink that is at least partially copper. Sell or scrap?
I see P-4's=$. Are AMD=$?
How can I tell what bin to throw the mother boards in?
Are the CPU chips worth $, or do I have to scrape the pins off to get $$$?

I realize I am new here and I don't have much goodwill banked, but I will give my best shot to help anyone I feel I can help.

Thank you in advance,
Todd

About the CPU chips: OzCopper | CPU Gold Content

The other stuff really matters how you want to deal with. Of course you will always get more money selling items on Ebay or Craigslist as a parts. If you want to scrap it there are plenty of buyers on this board that will buy wire, cables, heat sinks, & boards, for their metal contents.

An far as a quick an dirty link to a 101 guide on Ewaste...you'll just have to do like the rest of us, an search through the archives. There are few dozen good threads out there, but you have to use the right search words. That fails read old posts an look at the bottom of the page, you should see four threads that are similar to the one your reading.

Sometimes it's like a treasure hunt. An trust me when you find the info you need, you'll consider it a treasure for sure.

Sirscrapalot - Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead. - Benjamin Franklin

Originally Posted by dooker

About the CPU chips: OzCopper | CPU Gold Content

The other stuff really matters how you want to deal with. Of course you will always get more money selling items on Ebay or Craigslist as a parts. If you want to scrap it there are plenty of buyers on this board that will buy wire, cables, heat sinks, & boards, for their metal contents.

The link you posted isn't accurate on the gold content per chip. There have been many who have claimed there is 1g of gold in the Pentium Pros and that's just simply not the case. Obviously your results will vary, depending on your skill level and how you refine, but I believe some/most of those figures are off. Intel 486 CPU's are a little higher as well. Just my .02. I'm not trying to highjack the thread, just inform those who might not know.

Its funny I was going to yell at you for not taking out the CPU's, I'm glad Hypoman beat me to it