Good Day Finds

The County I live in has some electronic drop off sites. One of my managers at work is married to one of the County maintenance guys. While I was talking to him one day, he told me to go take whatever I want. Said they have to pay to get rid of it, and other people do it too. So I have only been by there twice since we had that talk about a month ago. I went by today and it was filled with small appliance type stuff. I didn't really see any PCs to grab, but i did see an Executone phone system sitting there.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/R4...w=w850-h637-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bJ...r=w850-h637-no

So I was pretty excited to get that. I also still have a bunch of computers to break down that I got from a local repair shop. I decided to scrap out and old HP server today. Not sure of the age, but it was a real plain looking cabinet. This is what I got from it:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gX...m=w678-h637-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gn...R=w625-h637-no

That's both sides of the same memory rack (for lack of a better term)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/c8...u=w850-h637-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/r8...g=w850-h637-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/za...q=w478-h637-no

Unfortunately those gold CPUs are soldered to the board. I may have to sell that one on eBay.

Any suggestions on what I should remove, if anything, from those telecom boards would be a big help. I'm not sure what those copper capped things amid all the small transformers are. I think I read though that some of you pull of some of the transformers and capacitors to get an upgrade on price.

I haven't been scrapping much latley. Was feeling kind of bored with it recently. I have to say though that today turned that around for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HipoGear

The County I live in has some electronic drop off sites. One of my managers at work is married to one of the County maintenance guys. While I was talking to him one day, he told me to go take whatever I want. Said they have to pay to get rid of it, and other people do it too. So I have only been by there twice since we had that talk about a month ago. I went by today and it was filled with small appliance type stuff. I didn't really see any PCs to grab, but i did see an Executone phone system sitting there.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/R4...w=w850-h637-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bJ...r=w850-h637-no

So I was pretty excited to get that. I also still have a bunch of computers to break down that I got from a local repair shop. I decided to scrap out and old HP server today. Not sure of the age, but it was a real plain looking cabinet. This is what I got from it:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gX...m=w678-h637-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gn...R=w625-h637-no

That's both sides of the same memory rack (for lack of a better term)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/c8...u=w850-h637-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/r8...g=w850-h637-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/za...q=w478-h637-no

Unfortunately those gold CPUs are soldered to the board. I may have to sell that one on eBay.

Any suggestions on what I should remove, if anything, from those telecom boards would be a big help. I'm not sure what those copper capped things amid all the small transformers are. I think I read though that some of you pull of some of the transformers and capacitors to get an upgrade on price.

I haven't been scrapping much latley. Was feeling kind of bored with it recently. I have to say though that today turned that around for me.

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Send a message to Sledge. He may be interested in that board with the 2 CPUS as it is.

mthomasdev:
Thanks for sending HipO my way.. we are exchanging PM's now! Thanks for looking out.

I was looking to check value on those gold CPUs and came upon this auction on eBay. It is ending today, but wanted to share it due to the interest in my board. It will be fun to see where that auction ends. When I first saw it the bid was at $100
https://www.ebay.com/itm/22287187293....N36.S2.R3.TR3

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HipoGear

I was looking to check value on those gold CPUs and came upon this auction on eBay. It is ending today, but wanted to share it due to the interest in my board. It will be fun to see where that auction ends. When I first saw it the bid was at $100
https://www.ebay.com/itm/22287187293....N36.S2.R3.TR3

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$809! Woe Sledge better sharpen his pencil! LOL

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-con...carving-og.jpg

I never can figure out why those auctions go for so much. Ain't no way there is even CLOSE to $800+ worth of gold in that lot!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HipoGear

The County I live in has some electronic drop off sites. One of my managers at work is married to one of the County maintenance guys. While I was talking to him one day, he told me to go take whatever I want. Said they have to pay to get rid of it, and other people do it too. So I have only been by there twice since we had that talk about a month ago. I went by today and it was filled with small appliance type stuff. I didn't really see any PCs to grab, but i did see an Executone phone system sitting there.

Any suggestions on what I should remove, if anything, from those telecom boards would be a big help. I'm not sure what those copper capped things amid all the small transformers are. I think I read though that some of you pull of some of the transformers and capacitors to get an upgrade on price.

I haven't been scrapping much latley. Was feeling kind of bored with it recently. I have to say though that today turned that around for me.

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You've got a good opportunity at the drop off site. It might help if you were more attentive to it. Maybe check it every day or two if it's not too far out of your way ? Maybe expand your repertoire a little bit ? The computers are a dying thing, but there are other items in the pile that are just as worthwhile if you know what to look for. A lot of it is trial and error to see what works best for you. Some phones are good and others aren't worth bothering with unless you have a local buyer of brown boards.

Last time i experimented with upgrading the board ... it seemed to confuse the sorter and ended up as a downgrade. That didn't go well. Maybe it's just as well not to mess with em'. A complete electronics board by itself doesn't seem to pose much of a job hazard. You can rile up some toxic nasties as you're plucking things off the board though. Can't imagine that the little bit of gain could ever be worth the potential health risk on that one.

It seems like we're slowly coming out of the winter doldrums. This time of year there isn't much on the pile. People are downright stingy about throwing anything away in the winter. LOL ... just wait till the warm sunny days of spring and the mood shifts. They're more apt to pitch that old computer that's been sitting in the closet for the last ten years once they get into the spring cleaning mode.

Nice score on the server ! Once in a while you get a nice surprise when you open up the case. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sledge

I never can figure out why those auctions go for so much. Ain't no way there is even CLOSE to $800+ worth of gold in that lot!

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Maybe it's just gold fever ? That kind of greed causes all kinds of foolishness ?

I sometimes wonder if the refiners buy them at an inflated price so that they can get a better idea of what the actual yields are. I would imagine that kind of thing is a closely guarded trade secret. It's not that you would get the money but you might gain the knowledge ? (That could be far more valuable over the long run.)

I dunno ... doesn't make sense to me either. The boards are pretty and all but i'm not seeing 800.00$ + in material value there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hills

Maybe it's just gold fever ? That kind of greed causes all kinds of foolishness ?

I sometimes wonder if the refiners buy them at an inflated price so that they can get a better idea of what the actual yields are. I would imagine that kind of thing is a closely guarded trade secret. It's not that you would get the money but you might gain the knowledge ? (That could be far more valuable over the long run.)

I dunno ... doesn't make sense to me either. The boards are pretty and all but i'm not seeing 800.00$ + in material value there.

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Hills:
I have a soft spot for Alphaserver boards. Every so often a "lot" of this nature will pop up on Ebay as well. I saw one lot go for near $1K. Even if you were to de-solder all the chips in the lot offered, remove all the tantalum on the boards and then were able to sell the remaining boards for $6/lb.. The payout was about HALF of what they paid. Knowing those chips very well and their market value, as well as, doing e-waste for 4 years.. whomever bought them lost.

Even if you have all the money in the world to do a "buy and hold" Gold would have to get in upwards of $2,000/troy to even begin to make money back.

I always say "you can't outbid stupid" this auction is case in point. I see it a lot. Local auctions with skids of desktops- first 3 rows are P4 and DuoCore, with 1-2 i5 or i7 processors in them on the skid, scant RAM and No HD's in them and they will sell for $500-$750. I've done the math, I've asked other e-waste folks if I'm missing something- everyone agrees that $500-$750 is just insane and a lose-lose proposition.

So to each his or her own I suppose.

Hills, you are right that it is a great opportunity. For me it is a matter of time and space right now. I'm currently sitting on 30+ PCs with no time to break them down between work and school. The county is pretty small, but there are also two other drop off locations that I should also scout out. Just no time <sigh>

I was shocked that auction went that high myself. If you look at resale of those gold chips though it start to make more sense. I counted 50 gold CPUs in the pics shown. There is another auction on there for two of the same chip for $44. So if you had the patience ... 50 x $20 = $750, closer but still not quite there for any profit.

@ H.G. I hear you. I don't have as much time for e-waste & scrapping as i used to. My day job has been physically taxing this winter. I'm worn out by the time Friday rolls around. The stuff has been building up in the shop. Have a couple of water heaters and a 275 gallon fuel drum to pressure test and clean out along with some sky boxes to break down. Don't even want to think about it till the weather warms up.

Did manage to refurbish a core i 5 dell tower a couple of weeks ago and sell it for 160.00$ but otherwise haven't done all that much over the last couple of months.

@ Sledge It just puzzles the heck out of me sometimes. Most obvious thing is that they just don't know how to bid the auctions. The best way to lose your money is to charge headfirst into an investment that you know little or nothing about. Sometimes they learn and other times they don't. There's one of the local scrappers here that goes straight for the power supply & the processor heat sink then tosses the rest on the metals pile. He's been doing it for years. Makes me wince when he gets his hands on a core i machine but it is what it is. He just doesn't see a difference between one and another. Can you imagine how many power supplies he has to break down for the copper to make a 160.00$ at the scrap yard ?

( Sorry ... i should try to be more positive and not speak ill of another scrapper but ???? )

Nice boards there.

[QUOTE=hills;287927 There's one of the local scrappers here that goes straight for the power supply & the processor heat sink then tosses the rest on the metals pile. He's been doing it for years. Makes me wince when he gets his hands on a core i machine but it is what it is. He just doesn't see a difference between one and another. Can you imagine how many power supplies he has to break down for the copper to make a 160.00$ at the scrap yard ?

( Sorry ... i should try to be more positive and not speak ill of another scrapper but ???? )[/QUOTE]

Why don't you try to offer to buy all the RAM and CPU's from him? Offer around 1/2 of what you get from your buyer and it would be easy profit, plus you can sort out the resellable parts for more. Or offer to buy the whole tower after he is done with them.

I did this with a few local scrappers and it works out very well. Most have become regular suppliers for me.

It's a good suggestion. :)

I did buy for a couple of years but it gradually dwindled down to nothing as metals prices dropped. As far as i know,there's only one scrapper left in the area. All the rest have dropped off the radar.

The last man standing is sort of like an old oak tree. He tends to poison the ground around him so that nothing else can grow there. He's quite one way. His view is that he wouldn't sell locally because then somebody else would be making money off him. It's hard to do business with people like that because they're so contrary.

That's just the local scene though. Our economy is slow and the scrapping resources are scarce. I can definitely see it working in a less cut throat environment. There's more value in cooperation than there is in cutting one another down.