I have introduced myself, and been encouraged to contribute. I am fairly new to e-cycling, and don't have much knowledge to contribute about "how to" do anything properly. So, instead I am going to post a "what not to do" thread as I learn what mistakes I am making. This thread will be about printers.
First, don't do printers. I know it's been said in these forums before, but I am a knucklehead who has to learn by doing. When it comes to most printers, they are mostly plastic, a huge PITA, and very little goodies inside. However, if you are like me, you'll still dismantle a printer or two as you learn the ropes. This brings me to my next point.
Wear gloves. I don't think there is a way to dismantle a printer without getting a dab of ink on you here and there. It is also very common to get cuts, nicks, scratches, etc. when dismantling many electronics. Well, when you're all done and you're ready to clean the ink off your hands (because you didn't wear gloves), the rubbing alcohol you use to remove the ink, not only proves useless at removing ink, but it burns like crazy in ever little scratch you've earned dismantling those printers.
Finally, you will likely come across plenty of printers in your electronics recycling ventures. Moving forward, I will remove the ink cartridges, toss them in a bag to trade in at Staples or something, and slide the rest off to the side to bring to Goodwill.
Hopefully some newbies can learn from my mistakes as I post these "what not to do" threads.
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