Fun With Some Hard Drives (they're Not all created equal ; )

Had a steady dripping rain today so I started tearing down some old hard drives I'd had setting for a while. Five were Seagate full height 50GB 80-pin SCSI drives (had 11 platters in each), 7 were Seagate 73GB 80pin SCSI, (4 platters each), and seven were old Maxtor 160GB IDE drives(which were a bigger PITB to tear down ; )

1. 7 more to go
http://i.imgbox.com/adsH1Zab.jpg

2. Heads from the SCSI Seagates (the best ones were on bottom ) Still need to figure what to do with these
http://i.imgbox.com/acwtf4iG.jpg

3. Gold Pin Connectors from the SCSI Seagate drives
http://i.imgbox.com/abquegqL.jpg

4. Magnets
http://i.imgbox.com/adrwIiv4.jpg

5. SS and AL cases
http://i.imgbox.com/adpetpXj.jpg

6. Platters The older 50GB SCSI had more much larger platters. I thought 3.5" drives had 3.5" platters, but the big ones here are 3.75" and the smaller ones are 3.25"
http://i.imgbox.com/abgSN3IS.jpg

7. whole mess
http://i.imgbox.com/abdcZeqi.jpg

I took the boards off a while back. had
Boards 3lb
SS 7lb
Al cases 9lb
Magnets 5.5lb
Heads 1lb-3oz
Gold pin connectors 1.3oz
Platters/motors still mixed 6lb

Funny you mention that. I spent all day breaking down hard drives yesterday. I was an emotional wreck after it was finally over with.

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Originally Posted by billygoat

Funny you mention that. I spent all day breaking down hard drives yesterday. I was an emotional wreck after it was finally over with.

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I can sympathize with ya there Billy. The old Seagate SCSIs were actually a piece of cake. When I got to the last 7 which were Maxtor IDE drives, those were more of a pain. I still have about 40 or 50 mixed IDE drives to tear into another day

In #6 the larger ones look to be what I call 5".

I have some 5" ones Mech, from some old bigfoot drives

http://i.imgbox.com/adiMTKuK.jpg

Those top ones both came from 3.5" hard drives(even tho one's bigger than the other), and the bigger ones came from an old Quantum Bigfoot 5" drive

The one on left is from an earlier 50GB Seagate SCSI
In the middle is a later 73GB Seagate SCSI
On right is a later 160GB Maxtor IDE

http://i.imgbox.com/acnY2VaC.jpg

http://i.imgbox.com/abzESF3c.jpg

Those magnets on the left are monsters!

that's a serious magnet, if you had that in your pocket and walked through a computer store,
you'd probably wipe out all the data from the pc's on display.

or if you put one in each shoe, and held one in each hand, you could take free rides on the bus.

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Originally Posted by weeeben

or if you put one in each shoe, and held one in each hand, you could take free rides on the bus.

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That wouldn't work. You'd be stuck to the bus stop.

http://i.imgbox.com/acrvqYAH.jpg

Reckon any of that's worth digging out of there?

Found some very tiny, but very strong magnets, in some of the working pieces. I had to set the pieces apart to photograph because they'd fly together. While I was removing the tiny round one, I noticed the small rectangular one moving which caught my attention. I found it to be the tip of some needle nose pliers passing within 3 or 4 inches above it

http://i.imgbox.com/actG3gGD.jpg

I was halfway through these before I started taking photos but luckily found a couple more of the best ones back there. They're what I think was called a "full height" drive, and the later ones were called half height. Anyway, the tall one is the 50GB Seagate 80 pin SCSI(had full size boards too, and 11 platters), and the other one here is just a shell of the 73GB Seagate SCSI and had only half size boards(and 4 platters), but they also had thick SS bands around the top

http://i.imgbox.com/abyY5Yhg.jpg

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Originally Posted by Bear

Found some very tiny, but very strong magnets, in some of the working pieces. I had to set the pieces apart to photograph because they'd fly together. While I was removing the tiny round one, I noticed the small rectangular one moving which caught my attention. I found it to be the tip of some needle nose pliers passing within 3 or 4 inches above it

http://i.imgbox.com/actG3gGD.jpg

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Found a good place for the tiny square one today, in the toolbox. A couple days ago I repacked a wheel bearing, without the use of a torque wrench, and today gave it a quick check to see if it was snugged up enough, and guess what, it wasn't. I started taking it down to snug it up a bit more but had forgotten where the long thin magnet I'd used to pull the drift key out before was at, then I remembered this tiny super magnet stuck atop my workbench. Stuck the little square magnet on the tip of a flat tip screwdriver and it yanked that lock pin right out of there

In the 2nd photo, the brown/silver "wire" at the end of the head, isn't copper?

Heh, I find some good tunes makes breaking down a bunch of HD's so much more fun. When I get a good size stack I crank up the stereo, load up the cooler an go to town. Goes by fast. Only ones that bug me is popping the lil gold dot out of the center of the casings. lol.

Dendoh..I was curious on the same if the colored ones were copper to. I've just been assuming they are, tho that can get ya in trouble. ;)

Sure someone will set us straight!

Sirscrapalot - Learns something new every day.

Are you talking about like in these Dendoh?

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Originally Posted by Bear

http://i.imgbox.com/acrvqYAH.jpg

Reckon any of that's worth digging out of there?

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I asked about that in post #10 but never did get any replies on it

I was talking about these

http://i44.tinypic.com/mrfcx0.png

It looks like copper, even the silver one, i've read about "colored" copper, they both got the same shape, they are used with the magnets for generate the magnetic field that moves the HD head

It'd be great if they used gold wire there, or silver...but yea..I'm pretty sure it's copper.

One time I wouldn't mind being wrong...lol.

Sirscrapalot - If it's gold he has about 4 ozt worth!

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Originally Posted by billygoat

That wouldn't work. You'd be stuck to the bus stop.

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omg, i'm laughing so hard I'm crying after reading the previous posts and then yours!

Just out of curiosity, how much do you think you would get out of that mess. I had a bunch of old hard drives and I broke them down pretty far just because I do it while watching TV at night so I'm not spending a lot of time on it. I've been told it is still a waste of time though. Are the platters worth anything. One yard I was dealing with said no. Are the magnets worth keeping separate? again the yard said no. If they are worth separating is it worth it to remove the magnets from the base?

Sorry for all the questions its just that I am getting a lot of conflicting information.

I find them well worth my time to break down.

Your mileage may vary.

Sirscrapalot - Good tunes, big hammer, short work day.

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Originally Posted by sschind

Just out of curiosity, how much do you think you would get out of that mess. I had a bunch of old hard drives and I broke them down pretty far just because I do it while watching TV at night so I'm not spending a lot of time on it. I've been told it is still a waste of time though. Are the platters worth anything. One yard I was dealing with said no. Are the magnets worth keeping separate? again the yard said no. If they are worth separating is it worth it to remove the magnets from the base?

Sorry for all the questions its just that I am getting a lot of conflicting information.

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The real answer is its up to you. There is a market for the platters, we have a buyer on the forum. The rest is good reading in the old threads, so I suggest you take the time to educate yourself. Also there is currently one buyer who pays for hard drives that test good and others who will buy them whole. Mike.

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Originally Posted by sschind

Just out of curiosity, how much do you think you would get out of that mess. I had a bunch of old hard drives and I broke them down pretty far just because I do it while watching TV at night so I'm not spending a lot of time on it. I've been told it is still a waste of time though. Are the platters worth anything. One yard I was dealing with said no. Are the magnets worth keeping separate? again the yard said no. If they are worth separating is it worth it to remove the magnets from the base?

Sorry for all the questions its just that I am getting a lot of conflicting information.

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Hey Schind, it was worth it to me, rainy day, older drives etc, as was stated, your mileage may vary, but if you look at the totals on the first post you'll get a better idea. The old Seagate drives had a lot of stainless making that a nice pile, the aluminum also added up well.
I haven't done anything yet with the platters or the magnets. There was a buyer for the platters here on SMF but I think that's on hold as it's a slower market now. The magnets were selling well on Ebay but I think that's slower now too.
The heads I'm thinking have enough gold to sell, but haven't got any real info on those either

I hate parting with my magnets, but I do once my toolbox gets filled all over on the outside with them. lol. I got one of those old metal craftsman ones, great for being a magnet holder! Huge surface to cover. My techie friends just love the magnets, makes for good swapping material. Hell everyone loves the magnets once they see the strength of them. I usually don't sell mine as like I said above, they make good trade material for me. Couple magnets will get me some ewaste, or metal. I only break down the older drives, as I get bunches of them. The newer I save for shipping. Sadly those don't come to me as much as the older ones.

An I really do enjoy breaking them down, minus popping out the silly gold piece in the middle. Heck of a lot less screw then the LNBs I got a butt load of. I think it's the music. Music makes everything more fun.

An no..I don't use a hammer on the hard drives. That's just a tagline..felt i should clarify before people had heart attacks over the thought me bashing them with a BFH.;)

Sirscrapalot - When unhappy, one doubts everything; when happy, one doubts nothing. - Joseph Roux

Hey SSA, what gold piece in the middle, and uhmmm, what's an LNB? : D

Some hard drives have a nice gold plated dot under a sticker on most the ones I've seen. Will take a pic when I go down to the shop. I think folks call it the eye? where the dot is. But again I'll take a pic for ya bear, if someone doesn't explain it better before hand.

An lnbs are from satellite dishes. ;) Included a link, as it explains it better then I ever could. More info in my direct tv thread from earlier in the year to! Low-noise block downconverter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hope that helps buddy!

Sirscrapalot - Love the LNB's...hate the screws. Grrr.

SSA: love lnbs hate the screws. Amen to that. got behind on taken mine apart. I have 200ish in the shed. it is daunting even thinking about all the screws

Indeed trot. I love'm but man the screws suck! lol..anyhow..Bear if you remove the platters on the other side of that metal piece is where i find what I call the gold dot. Trying to send the pic from my phone to the computer but my cell is having issues, doesn't want to connect to the computer. Bleh.

Sirscrapalot - Bout ready to break out the BFH an get a new cell phone.

Bah, just after I threatened it with the BFH it worked..pic incoming! Not the best pic but if you look close in the center you can see the dot. An yes that's one of my messy work tables...lol.

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img189/8660/hekg.jpg[/IMG]

Sirscrapalot - Speak softly an carry a BFH.

I've never seen that one SSA (be sure to get the remote out the way before you start swingin that hammer ; )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sschind

Just out of curiosity, how much do you think you would get out of that mess. I had a bunch of old hard drives and I broke them down pretty far just because I do it while watching TV at night so I'm not spending a lot of time on it. I've been told it is still a waste of time though. Are the platters worth anything. One yard I was dealing with said no. Are the magnets worth keeping separate? again the yard said no. If they are worth separating is it worth it to remove the magnets from the base?

Sorry for all the questions its just that I am getting a lot of conflicting information.

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If you look in our buyer's section, you will find that we have buyers for both the platters and the magnets.

Not worth a fortune after shipping, but better than tossing them in the shred pile.

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Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

Bah, just after I threatened it with the BFH it worked..pic incoming! Not the best pic but if you look close in the center you can see the dot. An yes that's one of my messy work tables...lol.
Sirscrapalot - Speak softly an carry a BFH.

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That's the mylar off the back of the motor. About 60/40 that it will be gold over a "silver" one.

Talking bout the gold dot in the middle..not that green strip with the gold. If your referring to the same, then ignore this post. ;)

Stupid dots.

Sirscrapalot - hum de hum

Welcome back SSA : )

Hard Drive circuit boards should go for about $10.00/lb!