Tantalum capacitors - Who buys them?

**etack** · 11-01-2012, 11:29 PM

It's hard to tell looking down on them. If they look a little like long balloons than thats a good start. Theres a link to some though hole Ta caps on the GRF up above, thats my listing. It has lots of pics of Ta caps.

Those boards look like they came from industrial machinery. love those type of boards. It's hard sometimes to get paid for what they are worth. I have 100# of boards that came from mitsubishi machinery control panels populated on both sides and only get offered MB price or finger price not what I believe they are worth. So I keep them for now

.

Eric

**etack** · 11-01-2012, 11:35 PM

Originally Posted by eesakiwi

They don't show the most common one I find though. The light brown shoebox shaped ones SMD'd onto the board.
I find they are most common beside a CPU on actually on it. The G5 I took apart was almost covered with them @ 20 grams per cpu.

I think you are referring to monolithic SMD capacitors. https://www.google.com/search?q=mono...w=1600&bih=742

Some contain Pd and Ag and at times be sold to the right person for good money. They are also by chip resistors which are made up of the same material. https://www.google.com/search?q=chip...w=1600&bih=742

Eric

**drozenski** · 11-07-2012, 09:36 PM

So i just picked up 1000 pounds of capacitors.

Who is buying them?

**etack** · 11-07-2012, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by drozenski

So i just picked up 1000 pounds of capacitors.

Who is buying them?

Are they Ta caps?

Do you have any pics?

Eric

I buy them. sent you a PM

**drozenski** · 11-07-2012, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by etack

Are they Ta caps?

Do you have any pics?

Eric

I buy them. sent you a PM

Yes i got it thanks.

I have no idea if they are. Ill be sending you pics. total is over 500 pounds and they are all new in the box

**drozenski** · 11-08-2012, 08:09 PM

Here's a small sample of some of the caps i got

**Mechanic688** · 11-08-2012, 08:36 PM

Most of them look to be can caps and disc caps.
Droz, you might check with this company about buying them, I've used them a few times; http://www.electronix.com/contact_us...smfbt4uhtha0c7

Or maybe this buyer from the forum; http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...st-prices.html

**savage85** · 02-03-2013, 09:50 PM

For those that want to know what tantalum looks like....

**etack** · 02-03-2013, 10:17 PM

that doesn't look like tantalum it looks like lead. Do you have the can and part number?

Eric

**savage85** · 02-03-2013, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by etack

that doesn't look like tantalum it looks like lead. Do you have the can and part number?

Eric

it is not reactive to nitric.............. btw tantalum is grey...........

**etack** · 02-03-2013, 10:34 PM

yes tantalum is grey but when it comes out of a Tantalum capacitor it does not look like that. the part number for it will tell you what it is. if it isn't reactive to nitric then it might be Al try HCl and see.

All so is your period key broken?

assumptions will only cost you money, or lead to your disappointment.

Eric

**savage85** · 02-03-2013, 10:58 PM

Yea its broken sorry about that just fixed it. I am not assuming anything I have spent hours researching tantalum. I was also wondering why your price for tantalum was so low? Also I will check with HCl tomorrow after work and let you know what happens.

**eesakiwi** · 02-04-2013, 12:49 AM

Drozenski, the bottom left can & the red pellet I think are both tanti's. Notice how the bottom left can is marked with the '+' polarity, thats a big clue to tanti's.

The blue cans are marked with the ' - ' (negative sign), thats a indication that its not a tanti, but a normal Ali foil capactor.

---------
Some of what I am sure should be tanti's, little red or orange pellets, have turned out to have a multi layer foil lump inside them. Are any tanti's similar to the multi layer construction?

**etack** · 02-04-2013, 12:56 AM

eesakiwi I believe what you are talking about are though hole monolithic capacitors. Just like the Smd MMLC they more than likely contain some PM. but they are not Tantalum Ta caps will have the distinctive wire coming out of the pellet. Also the though hole MMLC have the wires on the ends and Ta caps one is in the center and the other is on the side. Take a pic and let me know if I can help.

Eric

**eesakiwi** · 02-04-2013, 01:19 AM

Originally Posted by etack

eesakiwi I believe what you are talking about are though hole monolithic capacitors. Just like the Smd MMLC they more than likely contain some PM. but they are not Tantalum Ta caps will have the distinctive wire coming out of the pellet. Also the though hole MMLC have the wires on the ends and Ta caps one is in the center and the other is on the side. Take a pic and let me know if I can help. Eric

Most of what I'm picking of boards is this sort>

I don't like this pic as it has the ali foil caps on the left & is a little confusing.

But I'm getting the yellow ones too. The black ones look like diodes & are hard to tell apart & I don't see many anyway.

The only other sort I have seen are a grey solid block with two tabs under them. They look exactly like a tungsten carbide lathe tool tip, & are just as heavy....

I don't see many of the 'Can' sort of tanti's but I do remember seeing them in older B&W TV's. Older electronics seem to have the 'pellet' shaped tanti's too, I get the ones that are plainly marked with the polarity '+' sign.
-------------

Really, its a bit of a joke that I am collecting them (the block SMD sort), they are so tiny & after several months collecting them I only have a couple of pill containers full so far. But hey, its fun.

**savage85** · 02-04-2013, 09:00 PM

I dropped a piece in of the material in question in HCl and I had no reaction I then added nitric and got a very very slow reaction. Eric I would like to send you a piece so you can run some tests and see if you come to the same conclusion as me.

**etack** · 02-04-2013, 10:01 PM

Sent you a PM

**Gravitar** · 02-11-2013, 08:52 PM

Originally Posted by savage85

These guys are buying tantalum for 130 - 200 but next to it says Air-Vac melt IDK what they mean by that................. Scrap Metal Prices | Iron Mike Enterprises

That is the market price, not what he is paying. I honestly have no idea what air-vac melt is, but from what I read on the good old Wikipedia:

Vacuum Induction Melting (VIM) utilizes electric currents to melt metal within a vacuum (a space that is void of both matter and electrical charges). The inside of a spherical conductor is a great example of a vacuum. The first prototype was developed in 1920.[1] One of the only ways to induce a current within a conductor is through electromagnetic induction. Electromagnetic induction induces eddy currents within conductors by changing the magnetic field. Eddy currents create heating effects to melt the metal.[2] Vacuum Induction Melting has been used in both the aerospace and nuclear industries

So it sounds like they melt the tantalum inside of a vacuum and use an arc of electricity to melt it. I don't have any idea about the whole refining of metals, but I'm sure one of the refiners on here will clear this up.

**etack** · 02-11-2013, 09:53 PM

I sent them an email a while ago and said I had 10# of tantalum pellets. I asked them what they would pay for them they told me to let them know when I had 200+# to sell. The price they list is for melted billets that are .999% pure Ta and melted in a vacuum so that it doesn't create tantalum oxide. This would be the ends of Ta bar stock or maybe even chips. The refiner I send to wants 350# to even talk to me and then he said he might take a chance. If you want to find large amounts of Ta the look inside SS pipes that handle acids. They are some times Ta clad. or look in aircraft engines. If you find a source for them let me know I have some buyers for the parts. Tantalum is high hanging fruit. It takes allot for anyone to talk to you and its hard to come by in any quantity unless you deal in refractory metals.

Only specialty refiners refine Tantalum this is because in order to melt it it you need a furnace that reaches 5500F with a vacuum.

Eric

**JosephLeo** · 02-12-2013, 05:49 PM

PM Sent, I may be able to do something with them.

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