# Gold in HP Inkjet printers



## powerbuy (Jun 13, 2009)

I process hundreds of HP printers each week (parting out for resale). I have been saving the ribbons on the HP inkjet printers, as they contain visible gold. I am attaching photos..... anyone have experience on these or have any idea of yield? The gold is primarily on the ribbon connectors that make connection with the ink cartridges. There are multiple small beads on each ribbon.... Solid gold or plated? It appears to be a small amount of gold per ribbon of course, but I have already accumulated a large quantity of ribbons that I have set aside.


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## leavemealone (Jun 13, 2009)

Wow those are pretty to look at.Somehow I missed those in my stock,I will go look in a few minutes.If that is gold solder it would be very nice,yet I doubt it very much.First off they came from HP.Hp is not known for thier excess use of gold in consumer products.Next they came from printers,and those are about as inexpensive as they come.However on the offchance that this is gold solder(again I doubt it so don't get your hopes up yet)they would be very nice to process.Do you have any chemicals at your disposal to run a couple of small/simple tests?
Johnny


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## powerbuy (Jun 13, 2009)

I actually DO have a test kit..... I guess that's the first thing I should have done.... I will run some tests and post results in a few minutes....


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## goldsilverpro (Jun 13, 2009)

The solder itself isn't gold (cut into it with a knife and look at the color with a magnifier) but the plated circles around the solder, if yellow, are gold. The only other yellow metal possibility is brass plating and I have never seen brass plating on electronic materials, ever. The gold plating is most probably very thin and I would guess it to be worth about $0.10/square inch of surface area. It would take a lot of those spots to equal a square inch.


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## powerbuy (Jun 13, 2009)

I tested one of the beads with my nitric test kit..... no change with 10kt or 18kt testers..... dissolved after 10 seconds or so with the 22kt tester bottle, so it appears if I am correct that it is gold plated at least.


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## powerbuy (Jun 13, 2009)

So pretty much not worth my time to save..... that answers my question! I'm learning as I go here..... I appreciate your help!


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## john witt (Jun 13, 2009)

You can run the printer ribbon you have in AP


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## leavemealone (Jun 14, 2009)

> You can run they printer ribbon you have in AP



Very bad idea John.You are defeating the entire purpose preprocessing material.The least amount of base metals in your solution the better.
Johnny


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## john witt (Jun 14, 2009)

On the ones i run in AP i cut only the gold area of to be run. Is this the wrong way , help please i might be doing thing wrong.


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## glorycloud (Jun 15, 2009)

I soak my printer cables that look like yours in AP as well. It's not much gold but I just drop
them in with other similar "ribbonesque" type cables that may have touchpads from hand held
scanners, etc. I just let them soak and soak and soak until the gold comes off with a spray
bottle of water. 8)


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## Strider (Jun 18, 2009)

no matter if it is worth now...you should save this things..when they pile up you will have a better stash and use chemicals you would waste on this small amount...

anyway man we are all rich! having gold all around you! no even kings were that wealthy :mrgreen:


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## nicknitro (Jun 19, 2009)

Johnny,

I think you "saw" AR in your reply. A P would be a descent approach if the item was plated. 

Just out of curiosity, how would you process Gold solder. I have no idea what the metals involved in gold solder are. 

I agree with Strider. Save all your gold. If you deal with a lot of these, why not. Seems like they would be an easy process too. 

Good Luck,
Nick


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## sunsetcliff (Jul 18, 2009)

Amazing. I hAD not thought of that.


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## Strider (Aug 30, 2009)

nicknitro said:


> I agree with Strider. Save all your gold. If you deal with a lot of these, why not. Seems like they would be an easy process too.
> 
> Good Luck,
> Nick


If there are benefits why not...It's gold we talk about, not napkin collecting


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## sunsetcliff (Aug 30, 2009)

As expensive as ink is- the ink is worth more then the gold as of the current time. (COMEX is fixed)


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