# My first score!



## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

I just got my first score from minimal advertising on a free ad service. A guy from the IT department at a local business called me, and I got 7 desktop computers, 8 flatscreen monitors, 8 working CRTs (went straight to Goodwill with those puppies), a laser printer, an all in one fax machine, two UPS, and two keyboards. I know the monitors, UPS, keyboards and printers are not going to yield much (if any) Au, but I didn't want to pick through his stuff, and I really do want to help keep this stuff out of the landfill. 

I've disassembled all of the desktops. I'm posting pics of the 7 CPUs. No idea how much gold I'll get from those. I may wait until I have a bunch more before I even mess with them. 

The IT department had removed all RAM and expansion cards except for one machine, and it only had two DIMMs. That machine had an after market video card attached to an expansion card (PCI riser). So after disassembling 7 computers, I only have four sets of fingers. Everything else will come from pins. 

I'll post pics of the boards and fingers later.


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## Marcel (Feb 20, 2012)

Congrats!
You can remove the memory sockets and the CPU sockets as well. Put them on a hot plate until the tin melts and simply remove them with some pliers. The contacts contain gold and some PM as well. Also remove all board connectors (USB etc.).
While so you can also remove all (larger) ICs.


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## gold4mike (Feb 20, 2012)

The UPS's will have a circuit board, a battery or two (sell for the same as car batteries), and some brass strips that make up the sockets (depending upon UPS model).

It's all good!!


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## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

I'm still learning, so I'll definitely be taking everything apart. I tore down one of the Compaq keyboards last night and the key contacts were the gray stuff printed on clear plastic. I only found one connector in that whole keyboard with four plated pins.

Good tips on the component removal. I was going to use my heat gun, but I might try the hot plate. Might be quicker and easier on my back. There's definitely gold in all of those sockets.


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## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

These are the only fingers I got out of 7 computers. I was mistaken, there were two DIMMs. 

I'll be saving all flatpacks as well. Anyone know if these GPUs have gold? All of the Mobos had integrated video, so there are two of those chips on each motherboard as well.


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## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

Here are the motherboards. The newest computer had that cheap motherboard in it. Hardly any visible gold at all on that one. Anything that is gold plated on that one looks like they barely brushed it.


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## pimpneightez (Feb 20, 2012)

It's my understanding the grey stuff on the plastic from the keyboards are silver. save them until its worth processing. I never did it before but I think it's relativly easy because there are no other base metals to contend with.


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## WEG (Feb 20, 2012)

I'm just starting myself so I've got about a gazillion questions and 1 or 2 answers. With those CPU chips I understand the pins can be heated and will fall out, but is there anything inside the chips making it worth breaking them up?


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## Geo (Feb 20, 2012)

chech that video card against whats on Ebay and see what others are getting for them, assuming it works.

the mother board with the blue plastic and the SATA ports still have gold on the pins. the finish is very bright, pull the plastic sockets off leaving the pins in place and see if the gold shows better.

the fiber CPU's have a small amount of gold other than the pins, they need to be incinerated with the north and south bridge chips.


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## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

Still tearing it all down. Only four flat screens to go. The long skinny circuit board in the LCD monitors appears to have a long set of gold fingers and gold all over the board. 

Does anyone have experience with LCDs? That is gold right? I'll still tear them down for recycling, but these boards may be candidates for the AP pile.


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## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

Geo said:


> chech that video card against whats on Ebay and see what others are getting for them, assuming it works.
> 
> the mother board with the blue plastic and the SATA ports still have gold on the pins. the finish is very bright, pull the plastic sockets off leaving the pins in place and see if the gold shows better.
> 
> the fiber CPU's have a small amount of gold other than the pins, they need to be incinerated with the north and south bridge chips.




That's a very good point Geo. I will certainly test video cards in the future to see if they work before tearing them down. Honestly, the way these computers have been treated, I'd be afraid to stick that graphics card in any of my machines. Besides, although this card would pull way more money from an auction than the gold I'll get, I'm after the experience at this point. From what I see in the photo galleries, experience in this line of work is worth its weight in.....well, you know...


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## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

All done with the monitors. On to the laser printer. 

One question. I have broken everything down to the basic recyclable parts. The only thing I'm not sure on is the lamps from the monitors. I know they contain mercury. I just don't know the proper way to dispose of them. Guess I'll be calling around tomorrow to see what the local laws say.

Steve mentioned that he gets the stuff he wants off of boards, then sells the boards. Is that right? People will actually still purchase the boards after we've pulled all the good stuff off?


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## Claudie (Feb 20, 2012)

Geo said:


> chech that video card against whats on Ebay and see what others are getting for them, assuming it works.
> 
> the mother board with the blue plastic and the SATA ports still have gold on the pins. the finish is very bright, pull the plastic sockets off leaving the pins in place and see if the gold shows better.
> 
> the fiber CPU's have a small amount of gold other than the pins, they need to be incinerated with the north and south bridge chips.



The heat sink has been ripped off. It probably lost a lot of value when that happened. :|


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## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

Example of the monitor boards I mentioned. Looks like gold to me.


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## zuberb (Feb 20, 2012)

Claudie said:


> Geo said:
> 
> 
> > chech that video card against whats on Ebay and see what others are getting for them, assuming it works.
> ...




Yeah, they went a little crazy with the thermal paste. Of course, the value probably went way down once I scraped the paste off with a screwdriver. :twisted:


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## joem (Feb 20, 2012)

zuberb said:


> Example of the monitor boards I mentioned. Looks like gold to me.


Right now I have an auction of these vid boards. I have removed the fingers and they are in A/P. I was also told the ribbon connectors have gold in them, but I learned this after I scrapped them. Oh well I will get more.


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## zuberb (Feb 22, 2012)

Marcel, I'm removing all the sockets as you pointed out. The hotplate idea didn't work out so well. I mean it worked, but I think the heat gun is twice as fast (and less pungent). Now what I'm dealing with is the tedious process of removing all of the pins from the sockets. I can't imagine everyone is doing this with some of the big stockpiles I've seen on here. Is there a better way? I was going to put all of these into my cell, but the two problems I see are 1. The pins still have some solder on them, and as I understand it, I don't want solder getting into my cell. 2. It's going to take forever to get all these pins out, and I'll still have to wash all the solder off of them. I'm guessing with HCl. 

Could I just run these sockets in AP with the pins still in them? Seems like it would be more efficient.


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## Geo (Feb 22, 2012)

the solder wont effect the stripping cell that much, you just don't want that much in your AP. i use a tool called a painters tool, its a scraper type tool that has a metal cap on the top of the handle that you can strike with a hammer. i set the board on its side and use the scraper like a chisel and cut every thing from the board. it keeps solder out of the mix and i can depopulate a MB in a couple minutes by hand. leather gloves are needed because some dexterity is involved holding the board upright and holding the scraper with the same hand. practice makes perfect so don't despair if you cant do it on the first few tries. i use a low profile cardboard box with a small flat piece of steel in the box to keep from destroying the box for cutting in as the components will fly off while being cut. i spread a small tarp to catch these. ive never really counted but im not afraid to say i can cut 1 MB per minute. the real work is sorting through all these parts. a magnet helps some.

some of the plastic sockets will dissolve in strong hcl solutions, i believe its the type of pvc the socket is made of. you may wind up with a black solution with lumps of gooey plastic trapping your gold foils.


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## zuberb (Feb 22, 2012)

Thank God I only did one MB before asking. I know exactly the tool you're talking about. Unfortunately, I don't have one, but I will tomorrow.

I imagine the pins come out of the plastic much easier when they are sheared from the MB.


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## Claudie (Feb 22, 2012)

I live about 7 miles South of Nowhere USA, so we don't have very good access to tool stores here. On my list of things to get when I go to the city is a scraper tool that fits in my Sawzall. I have seen them before at stores like Home Depot & Menards. I think it will make fast work of stripping some of these things. Make sure you are cautious of the dust created. :|


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## Geo (Feb 22, 2012)

zuberb said:


> Thank God I only did one MB before asking. I know exactly the tool you're talking about. Unfortunately, I don't have one, but I will tomorrow.
> 
> I imagine the pins come out of the plastic much easier when they are sheared from the MB.



yes they do. the only down side is your cutting some of your gold and leaving it in the board. im planning on saving my boards and basicly running them through my stock pot (which is a plastic 55 gallon drum). theres still alot of action left in the solution, im out of test strips but the last time i checked the PH is still very low in the solution. im going to make it like one big AP run and add an air supply and run all my deplated boards through it until most of the acid is used up. it means alot of transfering solution because as of right now i may have 4 drums of scrap boards that have been scraped.


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## zuberb (Feb 23, 2012)

Claudie said:


> I live about 7 miles South of Nowhere USA, so we don't have very good access to tool stores here. On my list of things to get when I go to the city is a scraper tool that fits in my Sawzall. I have seen them before at stores like Home Depot & Menards. I think it will make fast work of stripping some of these things. Make sure you are cautious of the dust created. :|




Yeah, I think I'll completely avoid any form of sawing or grinding. I'm making a plenty big enough mess without it. Something else that might work with minimal dust is one of those oscillating tools with the high speed steel cutting blade. I've been wanting one of those anyway. I doubt that would be faster than a sharp, wide bladed chisel though.


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## zuberb (Feb 23, 2012)

Geo said:


> zuberb said:
> 
> 
> > Thank God I only did one MB before asking. I know exactly the tool you're talking about. Unfortunately, I don't have one, but I will tomorrow.
> ...



How much gold are we really talking about here? I probably have some pretty low grade stuff here, but I've seen very few pins that are plated all the way down to the board. Seems like the part soldered to the board is nothing but base metal in most cases.


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## Claudie (Feb 23, 2012)

I think you may have misunderstood which tool I was referring to. Here are some pictures of it:
http://www.google.com/search?q=sawzall%20scraper&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=R2RGT97aKMSuiQKT5qXaDQ&biw=1024&bih=625&sei=SWRGT8X9NLPTiALyh9zbDQ

http://www.ebay.com/itm/49-00-5456-Milwaukee-3-Scraper-Blade-HackZall-Sawzall-/300471309824?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f57c5600

I already have the sawzall, just need that blade!

EDIT: Added link.


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## Geo (Feb 23, 2012)

only the straight pins that the data cable (the flat ribbon type) connect to are plated all the way through the board. as far as percentage wise, its very little compared to the time and effort saved by just shearing them off.


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## trashmaster (Feb 23, 2012)

I have heard about those blades but have not seen them before.. :x Thank you for posting that link ...  

I have to get some of those. :mrgreen:


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## zuberb (Feb 23, 2012)

Claudie said:


> I think you may have misunderstood which tool I was referring to. Here are some pictures of it:
> http://www.google.com/search?q=sawzall%20scraper&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=R2RGT97aKMSuiQKT5qXaDQ&biw=1024&bih=625&sei=SWRGT8X9NLPTiALyh9zbDQ
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/49-00-5456-Milwaukee-3-Scraper-Blade-HackZall-Sawzall-/300471309824?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f57c5600
> ...




Oh wow! Yes, I misunderstood. That tool looks like it would be perfect. I ended up buying something called a 'brick set.' Very similar to that Sawsall attachment and the painters tool, but much more sturdy with a sharpened edge.

http://www.smallparts.com/bostitch-16-222-4-inch-2-inch-brick/dp/B004X9CP6Q?ref_=goo_pf_B004X9CP6Q 

GEO, you were right. That is MUCH faster than heating.


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## zuberb (Feb 28, 2012)

Follow-up for anyone else who wants to know how to depopulate without acid or heat. 

Three tools have been mentioned in this post. 
1. Painters tool
2. Sawzall attachment
3. Brick Set

I've tried the painters tool and the brick set and find that the painters tool is much more efficient. The thickness of the more sturdy brick set would lift the components too far before shearing, then the blade, no matter how sharp, would just bend the pins over without shearing them off. I'll be using the painters tool from now on. A paint scraper would also do well, as long as it will hold up to hammering. Both are the same thickness and have a sharpened edge.


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## zuberb (Mar 13, 2012)

Still slowly picking the pins out of this mess. GEO, you weren't kidding when you said the fun part was picking through all of the components after shearing them off. 

Question, I have a bunch of SMD resistors. I think I read somewhere that these have platinum. I'll be reading up on those to see if that is true. Has anyone processed these?


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## Geo (Mar 13, 2012)

computer boards have a lot of MLCC's or MCC's (multi-layered ceramic capacitor or monolithic ceramic capacitor) which contain palladium. while Pd does not bring as much as gold, an average computer has on average 2X the amount of palladium as gold which equates to about as much money in Pd as gold in a PC. these components are usually small rectangular ranging in size from a grain of sand to a few mm's and ranging in color from light tan to black. I've never heard of Pt in a PC.


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## zuberb (Mar 13, 2012)

On first research via Google, some of the surface mount resistors have thin platinum up under the ceramic. The metal ends are nickel plated tin on most of them, but the ones used as thermal sensors have pt inside. I'm guessing those are the ones mounted under the CPU socket, and the ones along the edge of a RAM module. They are for accurately sensing heat levels. Like you said, they are tiny, so it would probably take a whole bunch to get anything out of it. 

I might try grinding them all to dust and soaking them in AR. A stannous test for pt would show positive if it is present right? At least positive for platinum group?


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## Geo (Mar 13, 2012)

Harold says to test on concentrated solution. so i would think whatever you get needs to be evaporated down quite a bit. Sam has some videos on his site www.goldnscrap.com you might want to check out.


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## kuma (Mar 13, 2012)

Hello all , how are tricks?
I hope all is well!
We all know that the amount is tiny , but I'm supprised that no one's made mention of Pt on hard drive platters.
It may not be econimical to recover at the moment , but who knows where the market will be in five or ten years , :roll: 


zuberb said:


> A stannous test for pt would show positive if it is present right? At least positive for platinum group?


In a word , yes , this should help you out chief ; http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=5271
All the best with it , and kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:


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## zuberb (Mar 13, 2012)

Kuma, I've seen a few posts right here on the forum about platinum on hard drive platters. If I remember right, I think someone actually showed evidence that most of them (except maybe the older ones) had no Pt at all. I think the recommendation was to sell them as aluminum scrap. I'm with you though, until I know for sure, I'm keeping those too.


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## zuberb (Mar 13, 2012)

Ahh yes, I have read that post already, and it makes sense. So, as Harold points out, even if there is very little Pt in solution, I will still see a color change of yellow to some degree. 

Getting the gold out of all of this is going to be priority, but as I get time, I'll do this test on all of the surface mount resistors and let everyone know how it goes. I don't think it will take much AR at all. I'll be using poor man's because to date, I'm a failure at creating a decent nitric acid. I'm already asking questions on that under a more appropriate thread.


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## jimdoc (Mar 13, 2012)

zuberb said:


> Kuma, I've seen a few posts right here on the forum about platinum on hard drive platters. If I remember right, I think someone actually showed evidence that most of them (except maybe the older ones) had no Pt at all.



I think it is actually the newer ones that have small amounts of platinum in them. Very very very small amounts of platinum in them. And you can't tell by looking at them. I don't waste my time with them.

Jim


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## kuma (Mar 14, 2012)

Hello all , how are tricks today?
I hope all is well!


jimdoc said:


> I think it is actually the newer ones that have small amounts of platinum in them. Very very very small amounts of platinum in them.


For sure , the newer ones do seem to actualy have more Pt in them than the older ones , but still in extremely minute amounts.
This from one source , _'Platinum Today'_ (Johnson Matthey) ;


> All disks contain platinum
> 
> Information storage requirements continue to expand at rapid rates, fuelled by the growing use of computers for video and audio applications. Today, all hard disks contain platinum in their magnetic layers, compared with around 50 per cent in 1997. The proportion of platinum in the magnetic alloy has been increasing steadily over time, from less than 10 per cent five years ago to over 35 per cent, on average, today.


Source ; http://www.platinum.matthey.com/applications/industrial-applications/hard-disks/
All the best everybody , and kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:


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## zuberb (Mar 14, 2012)

35% doesn't sound too shabby! :lol:

Of course, I only got five on this first haul, so I've got some time before I need to even think about how to process those.


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## jimdoc (Mar 14, 2012)

zuberb said:


> 35% doesn't sound too shabby! :lol:
> 
> Of course, I only got five on this first haul, so I've got some time before I need to even think about how to process those.



That is 35% of one layer, a very thin layer, not of the whole disk. 

Jim


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## kuma (Mar 15, 2012)

Hello all , how are tricks?
I hope all is well!


jimdoc said:


> That is 35% of one layer, a very thin layer, not of the whole disk.


Jim is spot on , 35% does sound good , but when you consider that it's 35% of less than even 1% of the platter , super tiny , :roll: 
All the best , and kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:


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## joem (Mar 21, 2012)

I just happen to rip a top off a north south bridge and spied what inside, so I took a picture of the gold inside. I do not know if it is plated or gold wire.
enjoy


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## patnor1011 (Mar 21, 2012)

Joe, I would say that what you see are pads where bonding wires are connected. If you want to see bonding wires you have to start looking in that black part. You will need good loupe to be able to see them tiny shiny wires.


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## Claudie (Mar 21, 2012)

What do those tiny shiny wires look like when magnified? Are they silver colored? I ask because most of the bonding wires I see at 100 times magnification, look silver in color.


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## zuberb (Mar 21, 2012)

Hey all, I just finished cleanup. Here's a pic of all the CPU's and North/South bridge chips, CPU pins: small cup (21g), Assorted pins & connectors: larger bowl (418g including a 35g plated bracelet). Also have 260g of assorted flatpacks in the white bucket.

Pulled about $21 in scrap steel and aluminum, nothing for all the plastic. 

Still studying Hoke, Steve's videos I purchased from his site (awesome training material), and several others across the forum to make sure I have all this down before I start trying to refine this stuff. I only got a total of 20.7g of close cut fingers from this haul, and a bunch of boards with flash plating all over. I'll probably hold off on fingers till I have enough to justify running a batch.


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## zuberb (Mar 21, 2012)

Claudie said:


> What do those tiny shiny wires look like when magnified? Are they silver colored? I ask because most of the bonding wires I see at 100 times magnification, look silver in color.



Claudie, they look like gold in my 40x


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## patnor1011 (Mar 22, 2012)

Claudie, they are here outlined in red.
Also when you download my guide, there you will find a lot of pictures some of them magnified, some not of wires how they look in pan and how they look when you have more of them... They are nice yellow gold colour.


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## kuma (Mar 26, 2012)

Hello Claudie , how are tricks?
I hope your all well!


Claudie said:


> What do those tiny shiny wires look like when magnified? Are they silver colored? I ask because most of the bonding wires I see at 100 times magnification, look silver in color.


I took this picture somewhere between 30 and 40 times magnification , showing exposed gold bonding wires inside an IC ;
http://imageshack.us/f/522/dscf4471i.jpg/
All the best for now , and kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:


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## Claudie (Mar 26, 2012)

These are the silver colored wires I am referring to.


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## Geo (Mar 26, 2012)

have you tried to remove a single wire and magnify it? with all the gold around it, its hard to tell from a picture.


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