IDE Cables

Hey all. Wanted to ask for some advice here. As most of you know I scored a pretty large load of escrap, and with your help and support got a lot of broken down and resorted to a more manageable heap.

A lot of it I have a pretty good idea what my plans are for it, but the IDE cables I have no idea. I have thousands of them and need to make a plan for those. They are brand new in the plastic bags, and to my way of thinking they should have more than scrap value, but they are also pretty obsolete now. I suppose I could try and ebay them in small lots, but I don't think the return on the time of doing that would really be worth it in the end.

The connectors I think are gold bearing so they might be worth cutting off and taking in the ribbon for insulated. Pretty daunting task there too I think.

Anyone have any thoughts on this??

TIA

Devo

Thanks Mike. I hadn't thought of a paper cutter like that. The towers I took apart I processed the ide cables on the spot and found a good pair of scissors was the easiest for me. I'm not so sure if that will be the best for the kind of quantities I have though. I can already feel the blisters.

The more I think about that paper cutter the more I like it. Since the cables are all identical, I could lay out a bunch, chop, repeat.

Thanks!

the connectors are definately worth cutting off. the ribbons are something else again, some yards wont take them, most won't pay what t hey are really worth copper wise. I have herd :0 burning them is very efficient and quick. not that I would do such a thing.

p.s. be careful with the paper cutter they are notorious for lopping off the tips of fingers.

The IDE connectors are not difficult to cut apart to get the connector pins out. Just tedious work. A 3 connector IDE cable will net about 3 grams or .10 oz pins. About 160 IDE cables nets about a pound of pins give or take and depending on number of pins per connector. There are buyers on the forum who may purchase the gold plated pins, other option is to sell on ebay. Check some completed auctions on gold plated pins, might get your attention.

Thanks. I have seen some of those pin auctions and am giving some thought. I've been thinking about maybe building some sort of crude ball mill to try and automate the process. Theoretically it should work.

Probably like most of my theories, an ill conceived piece of machinery barely worth scrap value, with an epic mess of unsaleable half stripped pins and connectors underneath it on the floor!

Actually I had another thought on this. I have one of those old style paint can shakers here. Maybe I could fill a can up 1/3 with the clean connectors, and a bunch of nuts of various sizes and give it a good shake. Might give that a try this afternoon.

Don't be discouraged. Most progress comes from grinding trial and error.

Originally Posted by bejak

The IDE connectors are not difficult to cut apart to get the connector pins out. Just tedious work. A 3 connector IDE cable will net about 3 grams or .10 oz pins. About 160 IDE cables nets about a pound of pins give or take and depending on number of pins per connector. There are buyers on the forum who may purchase the gold plated pins, other option is to sell on ebay. Check some completed auctions on gold plated pins, might get your attention.

I recently shredded a big pail full of IDE connectors and I can tell you there was no 3 grams of gold recovered.

In the manufacture of electronics a gram of gold goes a long way, takes a mountain to scrap to recover that gram.

Best gains are from flat packs, fingers and cpu's

Originally Posted by biscuit

I recently shredded a big pail full of IDE connectors and I can tell you there was no 3 grams of gold recovered.

In the manufacture of electronics a gram of gold goes a long way, takes a mountain to scrap to recover that gram.

Best gains are from flat packs, fingers and cpu's

I read it as the amount of pins recovered, not the amount of gold. Maybe the OP can clarify.

That's what I use the paper cutter teachers use.