# E-scrap recovery



## ebjackson30 (Mar 1, 2016)

Hello all,

New to the site here. Literally have just been reading over the past few days about e-scrap recovery. I've been wanting to do this as a hobby as I have access to loads of scrap PCB. I wanted to attach a couple of pictures and see if anyone had any ideas as to what type of PMs I could possibly receive from the boards I have an overabundance of. I know this is probably vague and you probably can't tell just from pictures but I figured I would give it a go anyways.

Thanks!

Eric


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## Smack (Mar 1, 2016)

Low grade boards, not much there. Those would be best saved up and sent out to a refinery.


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## ebjackson30 (Mar 2, 2016)

Any ideas on a good refinery to ship these to?


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## FrugalRefiner (Mar 2, 2016)

I'm far from an e scrap expert, but I think shipping would cost as much or more than they're worth. There's just not much on there. I see one medium size IC that may or may not have gold bond wires and _maybe_ a few MLCCs. My advice would be to shop them around to local scrap yards and take the highest bid.

I could be wrong.

Dave


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## Anonymous (Mar 2, 2016)

ebjackson30 said:


> Any ideas on a good refinery to ship these to?




Hi there that would probably depend upon how many tonnes you have. 

Jon


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## Barren Realms 007 (Mar 2, 2016)

Key word there is TONS. And make sure they pay on the copper.


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## ebjackson30 (Mar 2, 2016)

Thanks for the replies. I inspected them a little further and noticed that the little white plug piece seems to have gold plating on the prongs. I might just take some sheet metal shears and cut the plugs off and scrap the rest.


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## Pantherlikher (Mar 2, 2016)

I would take a nice sharp flat chisel and tap all those chips and the pins off for later processing and low grade scrap the rest...

I have a 2x4 with screws at the bottom so the boards rest against them while tapping the chisel with a hammer n they go pop and fly into the plastic bin surrounding them. Quick and easy way to go through boards and catch all the little things...Well, 90% of them I'd say.

B.S.


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## Grelko (Mar 2, 2016)

FrugalRefiner said:


> I'm far from an e scrap expert, but I think shipping would cost as much or more than they're worth. There's just not much on there. I see one medium size IC that may or may not have gold bond wires and _maybe_ a few MLCCs. My advice would be to shop them around to local scrap yards and take the highest bid.
> 
> I could be wrong.
> 
> Dave



If those are LEDs in picture 1 on the right, they might have a gold bonding wire in each 1. Also, It's hard to tell, but in picture 3 on the far left, a couple of those look like black tantalum boxes with the grey line on one end. I could be wrong though and those would be resistors. If you break one open, tantalum will be in layers, if it's the certain type of resistor, it'll be 2 folded copper wires.


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## ebjackson30 (Mar 3, 2016)

Grelko said:


> FrugalRefiner said:
> 
> 
> > I'm far from an e scrap expert, but I think shipping would cost as much or more than they're worth. There's just not much on there. I see one medium size IC that may or may not have gold bond wires and _maybe_ a few MLCCs. My advice would be to shop them around to local scrap yards and take the highest bid.
> ...



The LEDs do have a gold bonding wire. Those black boxes...I crushed one open and it had one small piece of metal in the middle that is silver in color. What could that be?


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## ebjackson30 (Mar 3, 2016)

Also, I attempted to deconstruct one of the LEDs (the parts that looks like all 8s) and there appears to be gold connectors throughout. I have searched, unsuccessfully, to find a method to extract this. When I split the indicator, it actually splintered some of the gold. I want to prevent this from happening again.


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## upcyclist (Mar 3, 2016)

Your best option for now is to do some reading, there's a lot of info here on the forum about e-scrap and the value of various types of components. Of course, read Hoke (see the Library). 

If you do some scraping/component removal, all you really have to worry about is not throwing anything out until you're sure it's of no value to you.

For the bonding wires, broken doesn't matter--at some point you'll either dissolve it all and precipitate it back out, or melt it together. Many processes involve incineration and/or pulverizing your material (as I suspect your bonding wires in the LEDs will see). I highly suggest not melting anything until you know your full process and how it works. If you spend some time reading the forums, you'll see quite a few people come in with "I made this yellow ball of metal after melting some e-scrap. Is it gold? Is some of it? How do I get it out?"  

Consider value as you learn, too. Yes, many forum members are "only hobbyists" or refining on the side. But even if you're only doing it to learn, you should still know the costs involved. Will you be spending 8 hours and $50 on acid to recover $3 in gold from a certain type & amount of component? You might want to know before you start.


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## ebjackson30 (Mar 3, 2016)

Is it possible that the digital display contains platinum?


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## Anonymous (Mar 3, 2016)

On that grade of cheap consumer equipment that sells for pennies each? I doubt it but I am more than willing to be proved wrong.


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## Smack (Mar 3, 2016)

Possible yes, probable no. Electronic scrap is not the place to be looking for Pt. I'm sure you will find light emitting diodes behind the plastic of that display and they will either have an aluminum or gold bonding wire, most likely gold.


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## ebjackson30 (Mar 3, 2016)

Still investigating this...appears that scraping the top layer reveals copper underneath.


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## UncleBenBen (Mar 3, 2016)

ebjackson30 said:


> Still investigating this...appears that scraping the top layer reveals copper underneath.



That will be the case with at least 95% of boards that most people come across.

The great thing about all this is that the learning curve is sooooo long that you will have plenty of time to research all the countless devices found on circuit boards, while you spend countless hours studying over what to do with them.

Just takes time, dedication, and ton of love for it!


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## ebjackson30 (Apr 26, 2016)

So I've been doing reading. Lots and lots of it. Here on the forums and the books that are recommended to read. On to my interrogatives...

I cut one of the LED displays open from the first picture I posted. I can't really observe anything that may be of value in the middle. The reason I'm making this post is that I'm thinking of just taking the small LED lights for processing and just low grade scrapping the rest. I know there isn't much value in these guys but still I'd like to do as much as I can with them.

Any thoughts on this?


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## Smack (Apr 26, 2016)

Refer to my first post.


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## Anonymous (Apr 26, 2016)

OP- - you still haven't answered the question as to how many you have? So how much do you have>? 

I'd use these to learn how to process if I were you.


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## ebjackson30 (Apr 26, 2016)

@Spaceships a lot. Talking hundreds possibly a thousand or two. Not tonnes tho.


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## Thatsfunny (May 4, 2016)

My original question Is anyone familiar with this type? The insulator material seems to have a reaction to acid. I collected several hundred this last weekend.


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## acpeacemaker (May 4, 2016)

Thatsfunny said:


> My original question Is anyone familiar with this type? The insulator material seems to have a reaction to acid. I collected several hundred this last weekend.



That specific chip? Or are you making a joke?


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## g_axelsson (May 4, 2016)

Thatsfunny has been banned, he's the second coming of Toddntucson7. Don't believe a word of what he is writing.

Göran


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## Barren Realms 007 (May 4, 2016)

I hope he surely didn't process that chip. That is an expensive piece of eye candy to destroy.


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## g_axelsson (May 4, 2016)

Don't worry, it's the first picture in this article.
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/105029-intel-4004-the-first-cpu-is-40-years-old-today

As I said, Todd is not to be trusted. No one I would like to deal with.

Göran


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## FormidableRogue (May 19, 2016)

We have our irons in the same fire it seams... I two have access to Many older P.C. component. I'm in a good roll though, I don't purchase them. There given to me. My production/refinement cost is again next to 0. Only investment is oh so precious time... (And my lady's nerves) though most of my "goods" do seem a bit more promising. Let us compare, yes?


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## FormidableRogue (May 19, 2016)




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## FrugalRefiner (May 19, 2016)

Welcome to the forum. I hope you'll share your methods with us. We can all learn from each other. You can get a good introduction to the forum in the Tips for Navigating and Posting on the Forum thread.

Dave


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## FormidableRogue (May 19, 2016)




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## rewalston (May 19, 2016)

Not enough platinum in them to make it worth your while.

Rusty


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## patnor1011 (May 20, 2016)

FormidableRogue said:


> Side note. Hard drives are platinum plated....



Nope. They are not.


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## goldsilverpro (May 20, 2016)

For Pt in hard drive disks, check my posts on the 1st page of this thread.
http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=14608&p=146892&hilit=hard+drive+disk+cobalt#p146892

To make a long story short, my conclusion is that, at today's Pt price, the disks that do contain Pt only contain about $.007 - $.035 of Pt per disk.


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## kurtak (May 20, 2016)

goldsilverpro said:


> For Pt in hard drive disks, check my posts on the 1st page of this thread.
> http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=14608&p=146892&hilit=hard+drive+disk+cobalt#p146892
> 
> To make a long story short, my conclusion is that, at today's Pt price, the disks that do contain Pt only contain about $.007 - $.035 of Pt per disk.



Per the underlined above - AND the problem with the fact that only SOME in fact have Pt & IF they do it is such a small amount --- there is the fact that there is no way to tell which ones do & which ones don't --- which means you would have to process ALL of them (including those that don't) to get the Pt from those that do

So you can cut that 7 tenths of a cent to 3.5 cents in half - "at least" 

I guess if it's just a hobby there is nothing wrong with spending a dollar to get a return of 10 cents worth of Pt (probably more like spending 10 plus dollars to get 10 cents worth of PT)

Kurt


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## Anonymous (May 20, 2016)

There's actually way more value in the rare earth magnet in the HDD than in the coating on the platter.

The boards are also very high yields per Kg. I'd take Chris' and Kurt's advice and forget it. 

Jon


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## ettran (Jul 11, 2016)

hi , the aluminum is worth more than the plating , ed.


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## goldsilverpro (Sep 21, 2016)

Only some of those HD disks contain platinum. The ones that do contain only about 1 to 5 cents worth per disk.


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## Geo (Sep 21, 2016)

The film that the Pt is in is extremely toxic when heated. It's not like heating plastic.


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