Computer parting out questions

is the aluminum in the computer cast? and what type would the frame be tin? i broke some down would like to know. otherwise ill just throw it with all the other aluminum thanks still learning.

The bottom of hard drives are aluminum the top part is stainless. The out side is sheet metal. The heatsink would be cast I believe.

so sheet will be more also? keep it separate too from other lower type metals as well? my yard says they dont take computers but i bet they will they way i broke them down hehe

Originally Posted by Scrappy Doo

is the aluminum in the computer cast? and what type would the frame be tin? i broke some down would like to know. otherwise ill just throw it with all the other aluminum thanks still learning.

The hard drive is a solid piece of milled aluminum that has a stainless steel cover and is painted (usually black). Taking these apart is a pain in most cases, but if you do, you have the added bonus of getting two nice neodymium supermagnets. My yard buys them whole at 55¢ per pound.

Things like floppy drives are usually aluminum, often cast aluminum.

The heat sinks are aluminum extrusion in most cases, and I don't bother sorting them into different types. All of my heat sinks go into the aluminum extrusion pile, even if I'm not sure exactly what they are made of. It can be hard to tell sometimes because they have such unusual shapes.

Some times, the heat sinks are made of copper, or have nice copper billets inserted in them.

The case is almost always tin, although I have scrapped aluminum computer cases before. It was a special custom case I believe. Makes me wonder if it wasn't worth more as a used case, but oh well.

Don't just mix all of the different types of aluminum together. There is a pretty big price difference at most yards, so it is in your best interest to save up a pile of extrusion, even if it takes a while before you deem it "worth hauling"

I agree, thanks for the info by the way there was a piece of solid copper in the middle that i banged out looks like a high grade.

Originally Posted by Scrappy Doo

I agree, thanks for the info by the way there was a piece of solid copper in the middle that i banged out looks like a high grade.

Yup those are the type heat sinks I was talking about. I have a couple of those billets that I'm holding onto just for fun. Their about 1/3 of a pound each and shine up real nice. Not sure of their composition though, but I'm guessing they're 99.5% copper.

i noticed the wires look silver are they still copper?

oh wow cool thanks again.

We sell the Heat sinks as 6061 around our parts.

Originally Posted by Escrap

We sell the Heat sinks as 6061 around our parts.

Couldn't they use another alloy for a heat sink? Here it says they also use 6063. Most yards I know would want to test every piece to be sure it was 6061 before buying it as such.. Does your yard test every piece?

No they do not test all of it. Our yard buys 6063 .04/lb more than 6061. So even if there are some 6063 pieces in there then they are making a bit more. But really they do not care to go through it all and test it.

got a couple 5 1/4" floppy drives from an old computer-controlled panel. looked on ebay and they were selling for $30 each. Thought they were just scrap, but maybe i got lucky