Empty Computer Towers

Wanted to find out if once you’ve broken down a tower - is it ok to leave some of the miscellaneous plastic / fans/ steel inside ? Ive broken down over 100 so far , with about 100 more to go , and none of them are technically “empty”. Just wondering if this is alright to turn in when I eventually do go to the yard , or if it will impact the price if they aren’t completely empty. Thanks

Originally Posted by MrSmith887

Wanted to find out if once you’ve broken down a tower - is it ok to leave some of the miscellaneous plastic / fans/ steel inside ? Ive broken down over 100 so far , with about 100 more to go , and none of them are technically “empty”. Just wondering if this is alright to turn in when I eventually do go to the yard , or if it will impact the price if they aren’t completely empty. Thanks

Hi there! There will be a small price difference when you sell the iron as "prepped" (clean, just the steel) or unprepped (with plastic or other contaminants). But iron prices are so low that it's not gonna make any real difference on anything but massive scales. Scrapyards will take them like that no problem. Just don't stuff them full of additional plastics or anything but more steel.

That’s good to hear. Not that I’m lazy but it’s a big time saver. Basically have been keeping the various blue plastic clips , the heat sink covers , screws & such inside. Thanks for responding to this post & the other ones. I appreciate all the insight , it’s been a lot of work lately but I wanna make sure I do everything right to maximize this return
- Preston

No one has ever said anything to me about the plastic left on the tower body. It’s all shred here.

Any plastic on the outside stays and any plastic that was inside goes back and then I fill the tower with smaller pieces of metal.

Computer towers are used for smaller metal pieces. If it doesn't matter that a fridge and vacuum have plastic on them, a computer tower is no different. I don't go out of my way to put plastic in them, but I don't go out of my way to make sure there is none.

I have always made sure theres no plastic in my computer & miçrowave cases.

I can get rid of the plastic in my wheelie bin for 'free' & nobody buys plastic here anyway.

My cases get filled with misc steel & screwed shut. On the ither hand i dont think I have ever got better than 'Lightgauge' prices & im not even sure if we have a 'Shred pile' in NewZealand.

I just got through scrapping a Dell PowerEdge 2800. Like I said above, the plastic that comes out, goes back and the case is filled the rest of the way with small pieces of metal. The plastic I put back in was 1.5 pounds at the most, the rest was metal. The case weighed about 90 pounds when I was finished.

I like to take the approach that the scrap yard was going to buy the complete unit with the plastic before I took it apart so why would adding the plastic back into the case be an issue? I would clean the plastic out if the prices were better, but the highest price here for both clean shred and plastic covered shred is sitting at a whopping 2.5 cents per pound.

I remove what plastic I need to. Whats still in or attached stays as is.

Thanks for all the replies. Hoping to rent a box truck and get to the yard this Saturday for a pretty decent return

Originally Posted by MrSmith887

Thanks for all the replies. Hoping to rent a box truck and get to the yard this Saturday for a pretty decent return

With the price of shred so low, I would shop around for the best price and have a game plan ready. Renting a truck can often kill profits.

Yea I’m thinking I can get a truck for under 100 once it’s all said and done. Have about 20 boxes (18 x 16 x 18 I think - the Lowe’s medium sized box) full of components and 100 plus towers for shred. Part of me wants to wait until I break down the other 150 towers left , but part of me wants to get paid this weekend and get more space. But you’re right , that 100 will hurt the bottom line

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Originally Posted by MrSmith887

Yea I’m thinking I can get a truck for under 100 once it’s all said and done. Have about 20 boxes (18 x 16 x 18 I think - the Lowe’s medium sized box) full of components and 100 plus towers for shred. Part of me wants to wait until I break down the other 150 towers left , but part of me wants to get paid this weekend and get more space. But you’re right , that 100 will hurt the bottom line

100 empty tower cases won’t even pay for your rental truck and gas ($100). Shred is low right now. It would be better to wait until you can get more.

Where can you live and scrap without a truck? Old, small, cheap, used truck. Even an old cheap car with a small trailer. Your world will open up....