# Protein analyzer



## MGH (Mar 31, 2015)

Our lab finally let go of this old protein analyzer. We’d been using the newer generation for a couple of years now, and there are a couple of gas chromatographs coming in from assorted plant locations (which they never use and which we’ll be sure to get more use of), so the boss finally gave in and let me take this home.

The controller portion is a system of cards, and there are a few more in the furnace module. There are some assorted lower grade boards throughout, many of the parts are made of milled aluminum, and of course there’s a good bit of steel. If it comes out in one piece, the furnace may see a second life incinerating chips down the road. As a bonus, we had a couple of cardboard boxes with what looks to be at least one spare for each card that is installed in the analyzer. 

It must have been unofficial trash day in the building. A couple of guys were helping me load my pickup, and I turned around to find a large water bath already loaded up that the microbiology lab was throwing out. It won’t have much in the way of circuit boards, but the stainless steel reservoir might make a decent silver cell – though that would also have to be later on.

All this probably still doesn’t have as much value per pound as a PC tower, but it’ll be an interesting tear down.


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## glorycloud (Apr 1, 2015)

You can probably get a penny or two from the Okidata printer as well.
Fairly easy to self test and companies still print on multi part forms. 8)


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## MGH (Apr 1, 2015)

glorycloud said:


> You can probably get a penny or two from the Okidata printer as well.
> Fairly easy to self test and companies still print on multi part forms. 8)


I thought about that. I grabbed the few packages of unopened printer tape that go with it. I'm just not much into the reusable aftermarket sphere. But I certainly won't tear it apart before doing some kind of checking. Thanks for heads up.


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## user 12009 (Apr 3, 2015)

MGH said:


> All this probably still doesn’t have as much value per pound as a PC tower, but it’ll be an interesting tear down.



That looks like fun to tear down, if I lived close i would love to help. Already bored with PCs.


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## user 12009 (Apr 3, 2015)

glorycloud said:


> You can probably get a penny or two from the Okidata printer as well.
> Fairly easy to self test and companies still print on multi part forms. 8)



do you mean like these that i just shot a pic of 5 min ago.
those guys are work horses around here. I think they are older than some employees here. :lol:


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## MGH (Apr 3, 2015)

cyberdan said:


> ... if I lived close i would love to help. Already bored with PCs.


You'd be more than welcome. It's slow going digging through this maze of wires and gas lines.

Here's an interesting part. It's an analog to digital converter. I found a datasheet for it, but I can't tell what's on the inside as far as the possibility of any bonding wires. Please forgive me if that seems like an ignorant thought; I've never been well versed on the electrical engineering side of things.

It's a ceramic package with gold plated legs, and I assume gold braze around the lid. Does anybody have an idea what a yield might be? I only have three pieces like this. I'm wondering if it's worth de-soldering from the board and running them with a batch of ceramic processors, or just leave it on and sell the whole board. Are these collectible?


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## macfixer01 (Apr 3, 2015)

Actually that ADC chip is in a socket and can be unplugged, no need to unsolder it. I would definitely assume based on the outer package that it has gold bonding wires also. I have no idea on the total yield though?


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## glorycloud (Apr 4, 2015)

cyberdan said:


> glorycloud said:
> 
> 
> > You can probably get a penny or two from the Okidata printer as well.
> ...



The Oki 420's and 421's can go for $150 to $200+ to the right buyers. 8)


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## MGH (Apr 5, 2015)

macfixer01 said:


> Actually that ADC chip is in a socket and can be unplugged, no need to unsolder it.


Thanks for that. It was just so tight that I assumed it was soldered all the way through. With some leverage they did slide right out. I'll probably just hold on to these for a while. Thanks again.


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