# What are keyboard mylars worth a pound?



## silversaddle1 (Jun 18, 2012)

Just what the title says. What are they worth a pound if you were buying them from a customer? Don't care about what the yield is on them, plenty of topics on that.

Have a guy that has about 50 pounds of mylars he wants to trade for some scrap laptops.


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## MMFJ (Jun 18, 2012)

silversaddle1 said:


> Just what the title says. What are they worth a pound if you were buying them from a customer? Don't care about what the yield is on them, plenty of topics on that.
> 
> Have a guy that has about 50 pounds of mylars he wants to trade for some scrap laptops.


If you know the yield, then it is pretty easy to figure out "worth".....

YIELD 
- (Time + Chemical) 
- (Time + cost) to gather i.e., delivered to you or pickup
- Time to tear down material
- a bit of profit (nobody SHOULD work for free!)
================
MAXIMUM Offer

Since he's already got the mylars (i.e., you don't have to tear the keyboards apart, etc.), that may eliminate the 'Time to tear down material' part, unless you have to separate them or further process.

Now, you have to look at what he is wanting to trade for.......

Time/Money/Effort to acquire
Time put into getting the material to current state (in this case, you tore down the laptops?)
What you can get for it at the scrap yard as is
What you can get for it from ANY other source
Anything you have taken off the laptops that had value (sometimes, you get a Pentium chip that is worth much more than what you paid for the thing...)

Taking all that into account, you can decide how many scrap laptops it would be worth trading.

Without all that info, though, I'm not sure just how anyone could make that decision for you. To me, though, there is also one other thing to consider, which is just what you think the price of silver will be in the near future vs. the value of the laptops. That, again, is a private thing, though does weigh in this decision.

I would think that, presuming the laptops are still intact (i.e., no work put in to tear down), I'd be looking at only a few laptops anyway (maybe 10 max, I'd start lower.....) as there is some immediate value to be had from the laptop scrap (sell to boardsort, etc.) while the mylars still need processing and can have loss, etc.

The final decision is up to you, though I trust this post gives you a couple ideas to pinpoint some answers.


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## EpicSilver (Jun 18, 2012)

well from what ive seen each Mylar is worth .30 each on average and around what 68 make a pound? or am i wrong?


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## jimdoc (Jun 18, 2012)

EpicSilver said:


> well from what ive seen each Mylar is worth .30 each on average and around what 68 make a pound? or am i wrong?




Are you saying that is what the silver content is worth? If so you can't call that their value unless your time and nitric acid are free.

Jim


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## EpicSilver (Jun 18, 2012)

jimdoc said:


> EpicSilver said:
> 
> 
> > well from what ive seen each Mylar is worth .30 each on average and around what 68 make a pound? or am i wrong?
> ...



so true, my bad. kind of hard to help the original poster in the way he stated it though


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## Geo (Jun 18, 2012)

lazersteve has outlined a process to recover the silver without using nitric acid. he used a heat gun to reduce the mylar to a solid mass. one mylar at a time making small plastic balls with silver. then using borax to reclaim the elemental silver by melting the silver directly without the need of dissolving the silver first.


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## CBentre (Jun 18, 2012)

Geo said:


> lazersteve has outlined a process to recover the silver without using nitric acid. he used a heat gun to reduce the mylar to a solid mass. one mylar at a time making small plastic balls with silver. then using baking soda and borax to reclaim the elemental silver by melting the silver directly without the need of dissolving the silver first.



That is an interesting post Geo.


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## EpicSilver (Jun 18, 2012)

found the post  



lazersteve said:


> Is anyone following this thread? :?
> 
> It's so quite you could hear a pin drop.
> 
> ...


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## Marcel (Jun 22, 2012)

Geo said:


> lazersteve has outlined a process to recover the silver without using nitric acid. he used a heat gun to reduce the mylar to a solid mass. one mylar at a time making small plastic balls with silver. then using baking soda and borax to reclaim the elemental silver by melting the silver directly without the need of dissolving the silver first.


He is king.


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## kjavanb123 (Jul 5, 2012)

Can dilute oxalic acid heated to 95c be used here to drop the pure silver? I assume the gelatin used in x-ray films are the same as the ones in mylars.

Thanks 
Kevin


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## resabed01 (Jul 6, 2012)

There doesn't appear to be any gelatins used in keyboard mylars. The traces look to be silk screened on the sheet.


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## Anonymous (Jul 24, 2012)

Geo said:


> lazersteve has outlined a process to recover the silver without using nitric acid. he used a heat gun to reduce the mylar to a solid mass. one mylar at a time making small plastic balls with silver. then using baking soda and borax to reclaim the elemental silver by melting the silver directly without the need of dissolving the silver first.


I was reading the thread because I have over 40 lbs of mylars I'm going to process, but where in the post does Steve mention using baking soda?

Kevin


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## MMFJ (Jul 24, 2012)

testerman said:


> Geo said:
> 
> 
> > lazersteve has outlined a process to recover the silver without using nitric acid. he used a heat gun to reduce the mylar to a solid mass. one mylar at a time making small plastic balls with silver. then using baking soda and borax to reclaim the elemental silver by melting the silver directly without the need of dissolving the silver first.
> ...


He doesn't (and, actually, moderators, what should be done on this mis-quote???) - a quick SEARCH of +baking +soda +lasersteve shows he never said anything about baking soda - only melting it down - see http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=6388#6388


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## Anonymous (Jul 24, 2012)

MMFJ said:


> testerman said:
> 
> 
> > Geo said:
> ...


That's the thread I was speaking about that I've read and never saw baking soda mentioned.

Kevin


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## Geo (Jul 24, 2012)

i apologize about the misquote. i read the post a long time ago and was quoting from memory (which isnt that good sometimes). im just now re-reading this post and will edit out the misquote.


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## Anonymous (Jul 24, 2012)

Geo said:


> i apologize about the misquote. i read the post a long time ago and was quoting from memory (which isnt that good sometimes). im just now re-reading this post and will edit out the misquote.


No problem...I just don't want to have myself or anyone else corrupt the processing and recovery of the goods!!

We all make mistakes (I do it everyday), but in this field, just one mistake can cost you and your values.

Kevin


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## Geo (Jul 24, 2012)

MMFJ, really? is that something it takes a moderator to address? ive have never been argumentative or combative, wouldnt it be better to just ask me to fix the misquote which i would have done eventually anyway because i try to read each response.i usually take great care not to offend anyone on the forum because its the human thing to do and i just cant understand why you would think it would take a moderator to have it fixed.

theres no hard feelings on my end and this doesnt upset me. it takes much more than something like that to ruffle me up but it just doesnt seem too friendly.


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## Anonymous (Jul 24, 2012)

Geo said:


> MMFJ, really? is that something it takes a moderator to address? ive have never been argumentative or combative, wouldnt it be better to just ask me to fix the misquote which i would have done eventually anyway because i try to read each response.i usually take great care not to offend anyone on the forum because its the human thing to do and i just cant understand why you would think it would take a moderator to have it fixed.
> 
> theres no hard feelings on my end and this doesnt upset me. it takes much more than something like that to ruffle me up but it just doesnt seem too friendly.


Geo, don't get worked up on it. I know now that you made a misquote and you understand it. No problem at all. Actually a moderator isn't normally needed for this typo, but after a certain period of time (seconds, minutes, days, weeks and months...etc,.), the actual poster can NOT change/edit anything of that post, which would mean it would need a moderator to do. I'm a webmaster myself and I know how it is.

It's all good.. I just was wanting to point out that I didn't read any baking soda in the thread. One thing for sure though.... I'm learning and I'm seeming to retain quite a bit from what I'm reading here on this forum.

Much Love to all of you!!!

Kevin


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## jimdoc (Jul 24, 2012)

I don't think there is a time limit on editing a post. Just with deleting a post, that must be done before anyone responds to it.

Jim


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## Anonymous (Jul 24, 2012)

jimdoc said:


> I don't think there is a time limit on editing a post. Just with deleting a post, that must be done before anyone responds to it.
> 
> Jim


That depends on how the admin setup the forum.... There are forums that once you post, and even make a mistake..... it's there, and a moderator will have to fix it. Ask any moderator here.... they'll surely agree that forums can be setup that way.

In other-words, *review* *before posting*. That's how some forums keep people from editing posts.

Kevin


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## Harold_V (Jul 24, 2012)

testerman said:


> jimdoc said:
> 
> 
> > I don't think there is a time limit on editing a post. Just with deleting a post, that must be done before anyone responds to it.
> ...


That may or may not be true (moderators having the answer). Unless a moderator is given the permissions of an administrator, he/she has no access to that side of the software. They may not understand what is available. Considering I was granted that permission on the Chaski board, many things that were once a mystery to me are now better understood. Administrative permissions are all powerful---in the hands of the wrong individual, complete havoc can be induced. 

A comment on editing or deleting posts. 

We discourage posts being deleted, especially in a case such as this one. Doing so often renders a thread useless, for it may not make sense any longer. 

When a topic is being discussed and misinformation has been provided (regardless of the reason), so long as there is a rebuttal to make a correction, the original comment should remain. Readers learn from both good and bad statements, so long as anything less than valid is followed by the correct information. Clearly, that is the case here, in particular with the thought of editing to remove improper information being discussed. The very idea that Geo is willing to edit should be evidence enough that he has the proper attitude and is not trying to mislead readers. 

Harold


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## FrugalRefiner (Jul 24, 2012)

Harold_V said:


> We discourage posts being deleted, especially in a case such as this one. Doing so often renders a thread useless, for it may not make sense any longer.
> 
> Harold


As someone who has spent the last 6 months reading through old topics on the forum, I couldn't agree more! Even in this case, now that Geo has edited his original post, subsequent posts don't make as much sense. Without other members' quotes of the original post, many of the comments wouldn't make sense at all. This is likely one of the reasons other forums restrict editing. 

When editing a post, all members should take care to retain their original content while correcting any mis-statements.

Dave


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## Anonymous (Jul 24, 2012)

Harold_V said:


> testerman said:
> 
> 
> > jimdoc said:
> ...


Harold, I should have also mentioned that the administrator has to grant permissions for moderators to do editing of posts. You're correct that moderators can, and do have limited abilities on a forum. 

Kevin


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## MMFJ (Jul 25, 2012)

Geo said:


> MMFJ, really? is that something it takes a moderator to address? ive have never been argumentative or combative, wouldnt it be better to just ask me to fix the misquote which i would have done eventually anyway because i try to read each response.i usually take great care not to offend anyone on the forum because its the human thing to do and i just cant understand why you would think it would take a moderator to have it fixed.
> 
> theres no hard feelings on my end and this doesnt upset me. it takes much more than something like that to ruffle me up but it just doesnt seem too friendly.


Geo,
Sorry if you took my comment in any unfriendly manner. I was asking what SHOULD be done with it, as I was concerned modifying it would cause confusion (which, reading other posts, it has). I didn't know you could still edit, nor did I even once think about asking you to do so (though I did think the moderators/admin could). I didn't even consider who made the comment, only that it was pointed out there was confusion, and my comment was more to provide a link back to the original post (which I actually had tried doing with some mylars I got, though melting them in my electric melting oven - not the result lasersteve got, for sure.....) and help clarify since someone brought it up - no personality involved in it at all. I was actually thinking that my 'pile of ash with a couple small silver-looking bits in it' needed further action with baking soda, though I wasn't sure how and had it on my 'to do' list to, one of these days, go review that original post and see what I missed.

Well, anyway, I certainly had no ill intent and sorry if my short answer was interpreted as unkind (I've tried to provide a more verbose one here, for clarification). My thoughts were for the overall forum - a lot of chatter about mis-quotes and such lately and I wondered if there was some policy about it.

You making an edit (or not) was fine by me - I simply wanted to know the best way to move forward. From the reaction posts, it appears that "let it ride", but just point out the correction is the current consensus, which I think a fine method (I also like cautious editing as an option for those qualified to do it). This one, either way, as long as we can find some way to get those stinking keyboards processed (I have about 100 of them sitting in my back corner and the pile is growing!).

Perhaps I should go and edit my post that was taken as argumentative? It certainly wasn't intended to be! 

At any rate, I would like to get back on topic and actually, if anyone has an answer to the question (qualified as it must be since there are so many different keyboard mylar variations), I don't recall seeing it - a POUND price for mylars, either a 'buy' or 'sell' price. Perhaps someone has a link and/or info on how many mylars (on average...) are in a pound?


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## Palladium (Jul 25, 2012)

There are many types of them(normal,small and large)...from my own research one kilogram of these maylars have 17 gr. of silver.This silver content (17,000 gr/Ton) is better than any silver mine.Some of these maylars,specially the biggest have 0.5 gr of silver each.

I hope it helps.

Regards

Manuel


I can't weigh the BB on my scales due to it's size , but I estimate it is no more than a quarter of a gram. If it is a quarter gram then a single pair of keyboard mylars should produce approximately 1/2 gram of silver per keyboard 
Steve


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## Geo (Jul 25, 2012)

dont worry about it. as far as im concerned, it was a mis-communication all the way around. i do remember the subject that i had my wires crossed about. theres another type of scrap that yields silver thats in older electronics (i think they are referred to as "dog bones") and someone said to melt them with baking soda and borax. again, this is from what appears to be faulty memory. these "dog bones" have a layer of silver metal and a layer of silica or mica. i believe the baking soda was to thin the silica when melted. its been awhile and the two might have merged together. i have a large pile of mylars myself and will be looking to do something with them before long. it looks attractive to me, the idea of baking the resin from the film.


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## gold4mike (Jul 25, 2012)

From all the reading I've done on the forum I came to the conclusion that mylars are roughly 3.5% silver by weight. 

When silver was at $30.00 per ounce I figured mylars to be worth $14.00 to $15.00 per pound.

I have about 40 pounds or so saved up to process but haven't been able to carve out enough time to do the work yet.


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## Rodthrower18 (Jul 25, 2012)

One issue of contention, since these mylars in the OP are from laptop I thought it might be nice to illustrate the difference in size between standard mylars and those from laptops. Id imagine in the long run the yield will be about the same just because the smaller laptop mylars will require more quantity to get the same weight. On the same note could this not potentially yield more just because you arent missing that many keys compared to a fullsize keyboard? The silver traces are just closer together and more compact, not fewer in number (did this make sense?).


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## gold4mike (Jul 25, 2012)

Rodthrower,

The mylar you have pictured from a standard size keyboard probably has more silver than most. I always get a big smile when I tear one apart and find one of those.

The Dell QuietKey keyboards seem to be in that category.


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## Rodthrower18 (Jul 25, 2012)

gold4mike,

My friend YOU have a good eye, that is indeed an old Dell keyboard that my aunt gave me not to long ago. Compared to some of the others i've torn down it did make me giggle a bit haha. I've been lucky enough to run across alot of dells out here since they seem to be the most popular in my area.


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## dcorley001 (Jul 28, 2012)

Geo, I'm curious about the reference to "dog bones". I'm getting mental images of some older capacitors. Is this accurate? Does anyone have any shots of these? I've got some older boards and I'm trying to make sure I'm not losing any values... Thanks..


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## jimdoc (Jul 28, 2012)

dcorley001 said:


> Geo, I'm curious about the reference to "dog bones". I'm getting mental images of some older capacitors. Is this accurate? Does anyone have any shots of these? I've got some older boards and I'm trying to make sure I'm not losing any values... Thanks..



I think he is referring to what is called "silver mica capacitors"

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=9163&hilit=silver+mica+capacitors

Jim


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## dcorley001 (Jul 28, 2012)

Thanks Jimdoc. Very interesting. I've got to pour over some boards in the next few days.


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## patnor1011 (Aug 2, 2012)

Well I can provide my data on this. (average from opening about 200 keyboards for sake of this post :mrgreen: ) 
Weight of Mylar varied from 5,4 to 11,7g the most heavy ones were from keyboards with single Mylar.

These are numbers I consider as safe. One Mylar weight 7.4g
Therefore you need roughly 135 Mylar to kilogram.
If you calculate 4 Mylar to one gram of Ag then yield from one kilogram of Mylar can be up to 33g Ag
If you calculate 5 Mylar to one gram of Ag then yield from one kilogram of Mylar can be up to 27g Ag (safer to expect)

So for one ounce of Ag I will need about 150 Mylar so at least 75 (and bit more if there is single Mylar inside) keyboards.


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## eesakiwi (Aug 3, 2012)

I have been saving the mylar boards for a while.
Also saving the microwave keyboards, TV remote controls, boards silver contact strips etc.

Do varible resistors have silver in them?
all google gives me is {. One example will be the use of silver to coat copper in some electrical items like in variable resistors as silver has lower electrical resistance.}

Well, maybe in the contacts, but in the resistor strip?


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## patnor1011 (Aug 3, 2012)

eesakiwi said:


> I have been saving the mylar boards for a while.
> Also saving the microwave keyboards, TV remote controls, boards silver contact strips etc.
> 
> Do varible resistors have silver in them?
> ...



Do a forum search. Your answers are here.
:idea: :arrow: 
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=10502
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=9138
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=9131&p=86853#p86853
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=10215


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## malfeces (Apr 7, 2015)

Just when I thought I had searched everywhere for an alternative, leave it to Lazersteve to champion a new idea!! But with this idea of controlled melting my brain (small as it may be) fills up with loads of questions. Why not just incinerate the mylars? What would happen if you put them in a pressure cooker where it would be O2 deprived and not burn but be hot enough to melt several at a time? Can poor mans AR AKA HCL and Bleach be used? Still so much to learn!! Thanks you guys for posting all this great info!


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## FrugalRefiner (Apr 7, 2015)

malfeces said:


> Can poor mans AR AKA HCL and Bleach be used?


Just to clarify, HCl and bleach is not poor man's AR. Poor mans AR is made with HCl and a nitrate salt like sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate. The nitrate salt replaces the nitric acid used to create AR because it is usually less expensive and somewhat easier to obtain than nitric acid.

HCl and bleach is still a good method for dissolving gold as long as it is finely divided like precipitated powder from a first refining, or thin like the foils from fingers.

But this thread is about keyboard mylars, which are silver. AR of any type or HCl/bleach will not dissolve the silver. They will turn it into insoluble silver chloride.

Dave


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