Hard drive breakdown

This has probably been done a few times in here, but I wanted to share my experience with hard drives.
I just tore down 20 hard drives the other night to check the yields. I bought them for 50 cents per lb and the 20 weighed a total of 22 lbs.
It took me 12 minutes to take off all the boards which weighed 1 lb 12 oz. I can sell those at $11 right now -$2 shipping so that's $17.25. For the 20 lbs left I can get $7 at 35 cents per lb as 10% dirty aluminum.
The total would give me $24.25 for a $13.25 profit on 12 minutes tear down plus hauling them around. That's not too bad especially if you have large quantities.



Then I went on to completely tear them down and these are the results.
Clean Al 10 lbs 5 oz at 45 cents = $4.64 local yard
Stainless 2 lb 7 oz at 40 cents = $1.10 don't use a neodymium magnet to sort the screws, it will pick up a lot of stainless ones just by drawing on the nickel content
Plastic 1oz = 0 board backing plus reader arm stops and dessicant packs (the only true waste)
steel 3.4 oz at 6 cents =.01 local yard
platters (disks) 32 for 1.25 lb at $2.50 =$3.12 average of recent ebay prices
magnets 3 lb 2 oz at $2 = $6.25 average of recent ebay prices
motors 12 for 1 lb 3 oz at 20 cents em = .24 It could be argued that these will sell on ebay for .30 -$1 ea but I haven't sold any (the ones mounted with screws, the others I get in with clean AL)
reader arms 13 oz at 20 cents em = .16 They go in my electric motor bin for now, I may try to snap off the copper winding and put the rest in dirty AL
This total is $15.52 compared to the $7 dirty AL price and I get $8.52 for an hour's labor. $15.52 + $17.25 = $32.77 total - $11 original cost is $21.77 profit on 20 drives and my haul yesterday was 300.
It is definitely worth it to buy them to get the boards and I'll probably strip most all the way down but if any give me any trouble they hit the dirty AL bin.
Sorry for the packed post, but I had a lot to get in and I hope it helps out someone.
Notes on the teardown. You'll absolutely have to have a #8 torx screwdriver. The others you'll need are #6 for a lot of the Westells and possibly a #7 for a few oddballs. The boards are almost always put on with the #8 or a #1 Phillips. The cases can also be held together with #2 or #1 Phillips.
Ribbon wire on the arm on most connects to gold plated pins that should be kept also. Most of the covers also have one or two hidden screws under the label. This lot I picked to be a good mix of manufacturers. Some older Seagates have more platters than others and heavier magnets which are nice but STRONG. If you have any questions just ask....20 down 280 to go.
Some have a circuit board that covers half the back and some more up to covering the full back of the drive and weighing almost double so take this into account when buying.

platters are only $1.25 a pound on ebay?

I have a box of (mostly) old SCSI one an a half height drives been sitting back there for several years now. Thinking after reading your post I'll probably just go with pulling the boards(soon as I get a #8 torx tip ; )

I constant getting in harddrives, just remember sata drives 80gb and up or worth more then scrap, second, I find that leaving them whole will yield more in the long run then breaking them down.. for example, one pound of boards will yield you about 15 bucks, not you take 1 pound of harddrives whole will yield you 1.25 per pound. it takes about 15 to 20 boards to make a pound. and plus the time.. I go with whole boards.. but thats my opion anyone else respond to this.?

Originally Posted by bnbsfsd

I constant getting in harddrives, just remember sata drives 80gb and up or worth more then scrap, second, I find that leaving them whole will yield more in the long run then breaking them down.. for example, one pound of boards will yield you about 15 bucks, not you take 1 pound of harddrives whole will yield you 1.25 per pound. it takes about 15 to 20 boards to make a pound. and plus the time.. I go with whole boards.. but thats my opion anyone else respond to this.?

That probly works well enough unless you're shipping, then it's probly best just ship the boards, and sell the rest local?

Bear
That should have read 1 lb 4 oz, but for some reason I put 1.25 lb. The value for the platters I used was $2.50 which is close to an average I've gotten on ebay per lb. They range from $1 to $4 depending on how patient you can afford to be. I haven't found a buyer for them outright yet.

Those old larger drives you're talking about are a bit tougher to break all the way down, but pulling the boards is nice. bnbsfsd is right that it takes 15-20 boards to make a lb on standard drives. The old Seagates with finger connectors instead of IDE are much heavier and still go as drive boards. I'll try to get a weight comparison tomorrow.

bnsfsd
You are right, I wouldn't scrap those sata drives, test them and sell them. Second, if I could get $1.25 per lb whole that would be an easy flip and I probably break down fewer, but I have noone local to sell at anything over dirty AL and ebay fees and shipping eats up so much for whole drives for me. I wish I had a larger yard near me to get better prices on everything and I know the prices I listed are different for everyone depending on where they live. I just posted the breakdown so everyone could see the actual weights of the different components and make a decision on whether it's worth the time and effort.

aw hek, i misread it anyway Pnut, $2.50 a lb, i see that now. I haven't even looked at em there in years, guess they've declined somewhat

Thanks Mechanic,

I have a small pile of these and forgot to include them because I was going to try to sell the motors as working on this lot. Do you have an idea on the value? They seem to have a good gold to total weight ratio, but I don't know how to classify them. These and the printer head contacts that look about the same.

I was about to post a question about the printer head contacts, thans Mechanic.
the gold looking foil/plastic film on the cd and floppy lasers, should they be saved as well?

Hey Bear,
I got the weight on one of the old Seagate drive boards, a whopping 4.7 oz. That's $2.94 at the price I can get for boards right now.

Can't you put them in a drill that has an adjustable chuck? Smallest bit I have had in my drill was about the diameter of a pencil lead.

When I get bits that lose magnetism, I run a HD magnet over it a few times, perks it right back up.

Hey guys, I use the Craftsman precision screwdrivers that have the top piece that can spin. After you break a screw loose, you can grab the thin shaft and turn it on out by rolling it between your fingers. Takes a little getting the hang of it but goes pretty fast when you do. These are the black and green drivers not standard Craftsman handles, but they guarantee them just the same as I've taken back several I've worn the teeth off.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Before you sell the motors as scrap, take a few minutes to pull the tabs off the backs and save them for the gold recovery.

What would they go as?