circuit boards

[jennija]

I have been looking for the answer to this question with no success, can I take the aluminum heat sinks and copper wound transformers off my mid grade circuit boards and still get mid grade price for them?? what do you guys do?? thanks!

[Bear]

Some have claimed after they removed a lot of that the boards went to high mid grade or better

[Gravitar]

Talk to your buyer. Every buyer is different, just like every scrap yard.

[DWJ]

If you strip items of value from a board, by default, you can only degrade that board. Just my .02

[webuyselltradestuff]

I would not say that is the case always...in GENERAL, low grade metals (aluminum and copper) get removed BEFORE processing anyways. The reason being is that you don't want that contaminating the precious metals that make up the VALUE of the boards. Every buyer I know wants the heavy AL heatsinks removed at LEAST...or at least appreciates it. I DON'T remove copper bearing as the $$ I get for copper bearing material is WAY less than what I am getting for even midgrade boards. I would pull the Al heatsinks however (but just ask your buyer...they may not care and the $$$ for extruded Al is way less than what you get the the board, so more weight the merrier). Just wanted to point that out.

[waredu]

If you strip items of value from a board, by default, you can only degrade that board. Just my .02

I disagree. If the items of value you take from the board are of lower value than the rest of the board and stuff on it, you are upgrading the board. Why else do the buyers want you to remove the big heatsinks and steel backing plates from motherboards? The heatsink and steel have value, but they're lower in value than a gold-etched motherboard with high-value chips containing gold, silver, palladium, tantalum, etc.

With a low-grade board, removing aluminum and copper windings will degrade the board - those are the only things of value on the board after all.

It's all relative.

[jennija]

I disagree. If the items of value you take from the board are of lower value than the rest of the board and stuff on it, you are upgrading the board. Why else do the buyers want you to remove the big heatsinks and steel backing plates from motherboards? The heatsink and steel have value, but they're lower in value than a gold-etched motherboard with high-value chips containing gold, silver, palladium, tantalum, etc.

With a low-grade board, removing aluminum and copper windings will degrade the board - those are the only things of value on the board after all.

It's all relative.

this was my thought, now boards that are green on both sides, are usually mid grade boards correct?? the brown ones are low grade?

[jennija]

thanks for all the info guys, I'm just getting into the electronics part of the biz, and quickly learning I should have dealt with this stuff from the get go!

[Mechanic688]

this was my thought, now boards that are green on both sides, are usually mid grade boards correct?? the brown ones are low grade?

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/elect...rds-parts.html

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/elect...ification.html

[BRASSCATCHER]

Buyers want steel and Al removed to save time and labor on their end to prep boards before sending to a refinery. Most shouldnt mind the small copper bearing parts since they should be getting paid for copper content as well as precious metals. I have never heard of a refinery paying out for Al but I could be wrong.
Also remember that steel adds weight to there loads. The refineries charge a per pound fee to refine, so the less steel the better.

[jord0690]

If you strip items of value from a board, by default, you can only degrade that board. Just my .02

With a low-grade board, removing aluminum and copper windings will degrade the board - those are the only things of value on the board after all.

Iv read in alot of threads that removing copper and aluminum off low grade boards did not hurt the value of the board. Thats what iv been doin with them anyways. Someone Correct me if im wrong.

[waredu]

The place I go to with low-grade has two classes: low-grade (power board) and low-grade. The power board pays $0.21/lb and regular low-grade pays $0.07/lb. For power board think of TV and monitor brown boards, for regular think of VCR boards. If you yank off the big aluminum heatsinks and transformers from a power board, you turn it into a regular low-grade board. At least, that's what one of my yards does. Since motors/transformers go for $0.20/lb it doesn't make since for me to yank them off.

[jord0690]

The place I go to with low-grade has two classes: low-grade (power board) and low-grade. The power board pays $0.21/lb and regular low-grade pays $0.07/lb. For power board think of TV and monitor brown boards, for regular think of VCR boards. If you yank off the big aluminum heatsinks and transformers from a power board, you turn it into a regular low-grade board. At least, that's what one of my yards does. Since motors/transformers go for $0.20/lb it doesn't make since for me to yank them off.

That makes sense then. I just get one price for any low grade, with higher value metals removed or not. So I yank anything of value.

[EcoSafe]

not necessarily, some boards like mother boards increase value when you remove copper, or aluminum, both have value.

[Gravitar]

The place I go to with low-grade has two classes: low-grade (power board) and low-grade. The power board pays $0.21/lb and regular low-grade pays $0.07/lb. For power board think of TV and monitor brown boards, for regular think of VCR boards. If you yank off the big aluminum heatsinks and transformers from a power board, you turn it into a regular low-grade board. At least, that's what one of my yards does. Since motors/transformers go for $0.20/lb it doesn't make since for me to yank them off.

So that's the difference between the two. I forgot to ask last time I was there. Thanks for the clarification!

[DWJ]

The place I go to with low-grade has two classes: low-grade (power board) and low-grade. The power board pays $0.21/lb and regular low-grade pays $0.07/lb. For power board think of TV and monitor brown boards, for regular think of VCR boards. If you yank off the big aluminum heatsinks and transformers from a power board, you turn it into a regular low-grade board. At least, that's what one of my yards does. Since motors/transformers go for $0.20/lb it doesn't make since for me to yank them off.

That is the same situation I've got with my local buyer. Higher grade boards, like mother boards are a completely different situation, in that case you would certainly want to strip excess AL/CU/FE weight. I guess it all comes down to asking your buyer(s) how the would prefer boards to be prepared.

[directrecycle]

power boards can generally be classified as power supplies with no wire. they just dont have the metal casing on them. Basically being bought for aluminum/copper breakage. Remove the copper and aluminum they are just low low grade.

[directrecycle]

Boards with heavy transistors, metal, and aluminum heatsink can generally have those items removed to increase the value of a board (think of a battery back up board)



This can easily be achieved with an air chisel, hand chisel, or a few whacks of a hammer

save money on shipping with your boards now being lighter and more valuable while still have the motors and aluminum to sell locally

removing valuable items will cause potential to be downgraded (ic's, gold pins)

[directrecycle]

some reason that picture only shows up if you open in a new window

[Sirscrapalot]

Vice grips, an hammer usually remove any heat sinks,metal, or plastic I need gone. An on the higher end boards, all my buyers ask for that stuff to be removed. That stuff being...metal, heat sinks, etc. Now if ya start popping of soldered stuff like ic's, e proms, etc..then your asking to be down graded, lest going by my buyers.

As said before tho..only your buyer can tell you what they want, an what they'll classify it as. Their answer should be what you go by.

Sirscrapalot - Walking in a not so winter wonderland