television

Someone set out a large old television on trash day, is this worth picking up?

You can get some out of it, but not much, and then you have to dispose of all of the non-metal materials. Not really worth it in my humble opinion.

Thanks for the reply. I think I'll let it sit.

I would not bother with it either. I see free TV's all the time on craigslist, and I do not bother answering them. If there was a way to get something for the old heavy tubes, then I might change my mind, but until then I avoid them.

I pick them up all the time. There is about 2 lbs of copper in each tv or old computer monitor. There is a big heavy coil on the back of the tube and a degaussing cable that goes around the tube. There are also, copper chips, heavy aluminum cooling fins, and transistors that you can either strip or just take in as electric motors plus the cords. I find I usually get about $6-7 worth of material out of each one. It adds up fast. The garbage man doesn't like me much though when I throw out 5-6 tvs at a time.

My brother in law and myself will pick them up. Right now, we are just starting to really get deep into scrapping and will take anything we can. He brought over a 1960's tv and we stripped it down and pulled the wire and the little bits of metal. The motors we are keeping as is to take in.

I hope that everybody realizes that tv's contain hazardous gases and materials. You can get a huge fine if you get bagged disposing of tv's improperly.

What you guys should do, since EVERYBODY and their brother needs to get rid of junk TV's, is just charge them for it.

Charge them by the hour for your driving and gas...on top of what it costs you at the local dump or landfill.

I've seen places charge $20 per tv, or 10-15 cents per pound for tvs.

My advice would be to just charge people to take it, if you have the chance.

Is it really worth it to bang up TV's for 6-8 dollars each? Not in my opinion.

Would that include setting them by the side of the road on garbage day. They allow 1 big item per week so that is what I have been doing with the TVs. Open up, strip down, close up, place next to trash receptacle. Done.

I don't break the glass to release the compressed gasses in the picture tube. Our garbage service picks up anything we put out. That is where I pick them up. If you don't want to go through a lot of effort then just open the back. Unscrew the coil on the back of the tube. They are held on by 1 or two hose clamps you will need a flat head or phillips. And gut the degausing cable from around the picture tube with a pair of snips. They are usually wrapped in electrical tape. Sometimes they have a rubber casing around them and are about 6 feet long. close it up and put the rest to the curb. Just these two items, I have collected up to 32lbs in a week of Clean copper and it takes about 2 minutes per tv. At $2.60 a lb. to me it's worth it. I picked up a Sony 27 inch tv last week and the degaussing cable alone was 2lbs. After you do a few of them you can strip everything out you need in about 5 to 10 minutes. Had a great night last night. Filled my truck in about 20 minutes. 1 house got a dryer. next house got an aluminum gazebo and the 3rd house got a 700lb home gym.

Not bad for 20 minutes work. I got a dryer last night too and riding lawn mower parts.