New to Scrappig and loving it-Great find on my first night, but need advice

So I'm new to the scrapping business and I'm doing as much research as one can do and it's slowly coming together. But all the reading in the world cannot replace practicle experience. So the other day I decided to take a scouting mission and if I found anything I'd come back with my trailer. Well needless to say about 30 minutes into my search I saw part of a copy machine sitting outside a dumpster so of course I pulled over looked into the dumpster and low and behold there was about 10-15 printer/scanners in there and a couple of tower pcs..I rushed home, hooked up my trailer and high tailed it back to the dumpster and started loading up. After picking through that dumpster I moved on to the back one and that was even better than I could have ever of hoped, there were mother boards and wires and printers in there. Needless to say I filled up my trailer. Now comes the task of breaking them all down.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should be looking for when I break them down?

How should I seperate the materials?

Are there any good websites that give current metal prices?

I need to make the most out of my find so I don't mind breaking them down to maximize my profit.

Thank you in advance for your advice.



CJ2 Services

dunemaul is down in your area, he could probably help you out, he seems really knowledgeable in the ewaste dept

Welcome to the forum. What town are you in? I'm in west central Fl. just north of Tampa. If your near me I would help you out.

Not so sure about the copier or scanners but I can shed some light on the towers. Towers are like your pan of gold when panning for gold. Sometimes you find a good nugget. Open up the tower. Remove and separate individual components. Drives, power units, memory cards (ram), once these are removed, work on the heat sink. Remove heat sink and fan and underneath you'll find the goodies, this is where you'll find your CPU. Usually a square shaped chip with gold pins and if you're lucky the back may be gold as well. Then remove your mother board. Sometimes individual boards may also be connected to your mother board, these contain gold too. Everything in the tower is worth something. Keep reading on the forum and you'll find ample information. As for selling stick to three and you'll be perfectly fine. Easy Recycles, Boardsort, and Cash for electronic Scrap. Enjoy the fever and welcome to the game.

First you might should check with the dumpster owners ; )