# Pins from ribbon cables



## gold4mike

I've saved up about 15 pounds of these pins with the idea in mind of processing them using the stripping cell. Now that I'm busier and finding time to mess with the low yield stuff is getting harder I decided to see what I can get for them on eBay.

The listing (for one pound of them) is honest, stating that most are plated only on the contact surface.

We'll see where it ends up!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140566827598&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT


----------



## patnor1011

I was testing market there too :mrgreen: 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140560057683&ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT#ht_1466wt_1139


----------



## Claudie

I see these sell as 2 OZ packages for $9.95 buy it now, and they sell. That would be $79.60 a pound shipping included....
http://cgi.ebay.com/2oz-Gold-Plated-Computer-Pins-4-Scrap-Recovery-/220798831516?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3368a2cb9c

I'm thinking you guys should bag them in 2 oz packages.... :|


----------



## gold4mike

I had already seen Patnor's listing but not the 2 ounce ones. We'll see how this one goes and adjust from there. 

I've never processed any of them yet but expected to see a yield of .25 to .50 grams per pound of pins. eBay buyers will probably assume they can get 2 to 3 grams per pound out of them :roll: 

I'll get my wife started pulling some more pins - I have another 200 pounds or so of these cables to pull the connectors off of.


----------



## dtectr

I just processed some fully plated, 2 row, ribbon connectors in Poor Man's AR, & yield, METAL weight, was 0.005. Or, 1/2 of 1%, still decent. These were pre-plated, then inserted. I know there's an industry term for that, but I don't know if I ever knew it. 

Ain't gettin' old a B**CH!!??

Here's numbers from my notes - feel free to double check me:
Weight/connector, before processing: 2.48g
Weight/connector, after processing: 1.76g
Total metal weight/connector: .72g
Yield: 0.0057g Au/ g metal.


----------



## rasanders22

dtectr said:


> I just processed some fully plated, 2 row, ribbon connectors in Poor Man's AR, & yield, METAL weight, was 0.005. Or, 1/2 of 1%, still decent. These were pre-plated, then inserted. I know there's an industry term for that, but I don't know if I ever knew it.
> 
> Ain't gettin' old a B**CH!!??
> 
> Here's numbers from my notes - feel free to double check me:
> Weight/connector, before processing: 2.48g
> Weight/connector, after processing: 1.76g
> Total metal weight/connector: .72g
> Yield: 0.0057g Au/ g metal.




Sooooooo

1 pound=~454 grams=14.58 troy ounces
.0057*454=2.587grams of gold in one pound of connectors

2.587*.0321=.083 troy ounces of gold per 1 pound of pins=.0831*$1500=~$124 per pound. Not bad.


----------



## Anonymous

I got a completely different total.
454 / .72 =630.55 thats how many connectors it will take to make one pound of pins.
630.55 x .0057g = 3.59g I believe that is the final number you are looking for.
But either way,both of those figures look high to me.Ribbon cable ends are selective plated.Most selective plating covers 1/3 to 1/2 of the pins,on ribbon cable,it covers about 1/6 to 1/8.


----------



## seawolf

On some of the older cables they were fully plated.
Mark


----------



## dtectr

Here's a quick scan. Better photos later.


----------



## Anonymous

Ahhh those are nice.I have a *very* large amount of them here,and I just purchased 20 more pounds on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=280702163426&si=x7vlHQ%252F1niFVh1aIAN%252BLdYkvZQE%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT
So I will try to get a more accurate yield from a homogenous mixture.


----------



## patnor1011

I am not convinced that those on picture from your auction where seller claim "fully plated" are in fact gold plated. I never tested them. Well I did not bothered to test as I do not hear often about gold being plated directly on brass and they appear to be brass as no matter how deep you file or scratch them they are the same color like on top. If they are plated there will be nickel underneath of plating IMHO.


----------



## Anonymous

patnor1011 said:


> I am not convinced that those on picture from your auction where seller claim "fully plated" are in fact gold plated.


I located some from my stash here and found that there are some that are certainly fully plated,not brass.You can clearly see the color difference between the pins and a piece of yellow brass.


----------



## gold4mike

The final bid on my auction was $7.50. My wife says she won't pull any more pins if I'm going to sell them that cheap!

I guess I'll hang on to the rest of them for now and build a rotating basket reverse plating cell along the lines of what Firewalker posted a year or so ago.


----------



## Claudie

I'm telling you, if you put them in 2 ounce bags for $9.95 Buy It Now with free shipping, they WILL sell. Look at completed auctions, there are a lot of them sold that way already. :|


----------



## gold4mike

Claudie - I'll give it a shot in a couple of days. 

Thank you for the suggestion.


----------



## dtectr

Claudie said:


> I'm telling you, if you put them in 2 ounce bags for $9.95 Buy It Now with free shipping, they WILL sell. Look at completed auctions, there are a lot of them sold that way already. :|


You need to high-grade your pins - Pop retainer off & pull the ribbon cable. Look at the ends, with the teeth (not the connector) - if you see gold "all the way down there" they would be worth processing IMHO.

If all you see is nickel, find some other way to dispose of them.


----------



## Anonymous

dtectr said:


> You need to high-grade your pins - Pop retainer off & pull the ribbon cable. Look at the ends, with the teeth (not the connector) - if you see gold "all the way down there" they would be worth processing IMHO.
> 
> If all you see is nickel, find some other way to dispose of them.


If you ran them in thio,it would not matter.But then again,if you are running thio you don't really need to pull any pins.The percentage of gold not exposed,is miniscule compared to the amount recovered.


----------



## radical351

i dont wanna side track this post. the person that is selling the pins in 2 oz packages for 9.95. i looked at his feedback and there was an acution for the 2 oz pins that went for 31.00. 


the question now arises sell/or process. hmmm. let me think.


ray


----------



## Claudie

E-Bay Gold is a completely different element than real world Gold. It is much more expensive, but it isn't nearly as rare, go figure.... :|


----------



## jimdoc

Claudie said:


> E-Bay Gold is a completely different element than real world Gold. It is much more expensive, but it isn't nearly as rare, go figure.... :|



Ebay Gold is a notch above fool's gold. I think. Maybe?

Jim


----------



## dtectr

jimdoc said:


> Claudie said:
> 
> 
> 
> E-Bay Gold is a completely different element than real world Gold. It is much more expensive, but it isn't nearly as rare, go figure.... :|
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ebay Gold is a notch above fool's gold. I think. Maybe?
> 
> Jim
Click to expand...

Only "Fools" would pay those prices, so maybe :roll: :shock:


----------

