New Guy
I have a few hundred pounds of hard drives. I know it's worth it to pull the boards off, but I'm not sure if it's worth the time to pull out the internals. I'd have to separate it into plates, magnets/brackets, and the enclosure, and the scrap value on those probably ranges from 40c to $2-3 per pound. The price that e-waste recyclers offer would barely cover the cost of shipping. Are they worth tearing down?
|
Unless you are really bored, no it is not worth taking them apart.
Experienced Scrapper
A few months ago, I did a small test (10 hard drives, I think it was) and found that for me, it wasn't worth even taking the boards off. Some of them had very small controller boards, though, so that may a big difference if you only pull off the boards for the large ones and leave the small ones intact. If you do break them down further, it would probably make it more worth your time. 6 more screws and the top is off. Pop out the platter and the magnets and toss the rest in the dirty aluminum pile.
I'd suggest doing a test of 10 drives. Weigh all 10 together, break them down completely and weigh the total amounts of the components. Calculate the total value complete, without the boards and completely broken down. 10 drives shouldn't take long to do, and if you have a few hundred pounds, it won't cut into profits much if it turns out you'll get more leaving them complete.
I do break them down completely but I have a lot of time on my hands. I also use an electric drill with the proper bits to make disassemby quick as possible. I don't think it pays me well for my effort though.
I may check into selling them as dirty AL after removing the boards. I can't see not removing the boards. I have found a yard that seems to be willing to buy more things. Mike.
"Profit begins when you buy NOT when you sell." {quote passed down to me from a wise man}
Now go beat the copper out of something, Miked
New Guy
I just pull the boards off the hard drives now. I used to take them fully apart but its really not worth the time or effort. Money is in the board
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
I weighed some out and the board by itself is worth almost exactly the same as a whole hd. If you dont have ship then id just leave them whole. If your shipping id def pull the boards of and throw the rest in with the breakage.
New Guy
|
Use a T-9 bit in a cordless driver and zip those back boards off quick! The back boards sell for around $10 lb.
On average, you will produce a pound of back boards for every 12 or so Hard Drives (12 or so back boards per pound average).
Arkad
I find that it does a few things for me.
1. The extra alum gets me to the 250 pound minimum to receive 3 extra cents a pound faster
2. Gives me something to do while watching a TV show. I take in 10 at a time and in 1 hour will have them all taken apart. This is only half paying attention too.
3. I get small bits of copper
4. When i finally get around to it i should make a decent killing on ebay with platters and magnets. I have like 25 pounds of platters so far.
|
They are not worth the breakdown IMO, but i break them down anyway for two reasons. 1) data destruction is a selling point for me which allows me to get most computers free or cheap. 2) I never want to worry about data being stolen and traced back to me, so all platters are all destroyed.
|
I like breaking them down as well. I will grab 20 or so and set down in front of a football game and go at it. I enjoy it and make a few extra dollars form the e-bayable parts. Mostly because I like it though.
"64K should be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates 1981
http://www.treasurecoastelectronicrecycling.com/
New Guy
|
|
If you do dismantel them completly, I have found the clean hard drive bodies to be good quality AL and If you melt from into bars, you can get higher prices for them by selling them directly to people in the sand casting business.
I will try to upload some photos of AL bars that I have done in the past.
Arkad
|
Up until recently I was taking them apart because I could not find a local buyer for intact drives. Then I found one and so all I do now is remove the board and sell them separately. One additional reason why I do that instead of selling them whole with the boards is that if there is any data on the drive, I want to reduce the chance to spreading this data. You can probably achieve the same by whacking each drive with a hammer to bend the platters inside.
|
if you are going to sell them whole as either shread or dirty alu, help out a fellow board member who is a ss scrapper for the same price and pay it forard.
I would be careful selling platters on ebay, unless the disk has been wiped clean or made unusable any info written on the disk is still there. Tech savy people with unscrupulous intentions could very easily get whatevers on the disk.Originally Posted by drozenski
I break them down, not because its profitable it assures the customer and myself that data is not passed on. Besides that we do not know what some people have done with their computers, would really s**k to get accused of something we did not have anything to do with.
As a driver I'm always sober, but my truck is always ready to get loaded
|
Yeah, selling a hard drive that you didn't know had kiddie porn on it could ruin your whole day...
Burly Smash![/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
John Terrell (248) 224-2188
Burly Guys Junk Removal LLC
5499 Perry Drive Unit P Waterford, MI 48329
http://www.burlyguys.com
Mine go through a degausser. They are fully demagnetized.
Probably more than one
|
I know the platters are al. dose your yard buy them? I brought some to a yard and they didn't want them, it was like they didn't know what they were. Maybe I'll try again.
Mine takes them without a problem but I bend them before they go in my barrel.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
|
Browse the Most Recent Threads
On SMF In THIS CATEGORY. 
OR 
|
Posting Permissions
Register To Reply
Bookmarks