# LCD screens



## dreammicke (Mar 12, 2012)

hi i was wondering if there are any precious metals in LCD screens

if it is some what the way to go to get them out

thanks in advance Mikael


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## ericrm (Mar 12, 2012)

the best way is a screwdriver


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## kuma (Mar 12, 2012)

Hello Mikael , how are tricks?
I hope your well!
There should be a long and narrow green board at the top of the screen with some visible gold.
On this board there will also be some more gold inside one or two IC's , and some silver and palladium inside the monolithic caps' and resistors.
Once depopulated I'd say that these boards are good contenders for the AP bucket.
The IC's I'd pyrolise and leach , I believe the monolithics and resistors would require crushing and leaching.
Please be aware that the monolithics contain hazardous _Beryllium_.
I hope this can help you some!
All the best with it , and kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:


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## dreammicke (Mar 12, 2012)

Thank Kuma and Ericrm for your help

but I was probably not clear in my question, I wonder if there are some precious metals in LCD screen

and how to go about accessing them

Sincerely Mikael


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## kuma (Mar 12, 2012)

Hello again Mikael , how are tricks?
I hope your well!


dreammicke said:


> I wonder if there are some precious metals in LCD _screen_


Ahh , I see , sorry chief! :lol: 
This has been discussed on the forum before and I believe that there arn't any pm's inside the actual LCD screens themselves.
This is untrue for plasma screens as these contain silver , I got my self confused between these two at one point.
All the best for now , and kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:


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## etack (Mar 12, 2012)

I believe that in LCD screens the only "PM" is indium. Not quit a pm but close. might take a lot of monitors to get any money though.


Eric


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## dreammicke (Mar 13, 2012)

thanks fore the help Kuma and etack


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## Smack (Mar 26, 2016)

Got this flat screen in (I know it's a plasma, knew it when I picked it up) and while taking it apart I got to inspecting it closely and decided to do a test. So I took a piece of the glass that has this ceramic type coating on the back of it and put it in nitric and the ceramic coating lifted off and a drop of HCL gave me a positive result for silver. The other layer of glass has lines in it too but I determined I have no way to get at them to do a test so I put it in with the rest of my lcd screens.


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## lanfear (Mar 26, 2016)

kuma said:


> Please be aware that the monolithics contain hazardous _Beryllium_.
> I hope this can help you some!
> All the best with it , and kind regards ,
> Chris :mrgreen:



Since this post has already bin dug up. Does this statement hold any truth?

Jon


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## UncleBenBen (Mar 26, 2016)

My understanding, beryllium is used in copper alloys to make copper 'springy'. Never heard or read of it in monolithics. They generally don't do any springing and tend to just stay put, till you whack them with a hammer and chisel!

But with all the different manufacturers out there I guess you never know. The main concern is breathing it in as dust, causing berylliosis. Horrible affliction. We all should be wearing a good quality dust mask while depopulating boards anyway. So the risk should be greatly reduced either way.


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## Grelko (Mar 27, 2016)

Smack said:


> Got this flat screen in and while taking it apart I got to inspecting it closely and decided to do a test. So I took a piece of the glass that has this ceramic type coating on the back of it and put it in nitric and the ceramic coating lifted off and a drop of HCL gave me a positive result for silver. The other layer of glass has lines in it too but I determined I have no way to get at them to do a test so I put it in with the rest of my lcd screens.



I've learned to hate those glass panels :lol: I should still have at least a dozen or more sitting in the basement.

If you use a heat gun and paint scraper etc, you can peel the metal off of the back. I wasn't sure what to do with the glass panels, except take it to the waste management building, but if you've gotten a positive result for silver, I might hang on to them a bit longer and see how mine are.

You could always break a piece off of the other layer, crush it into powder and test it that way.

Do you happen to have any information about the newer flat screens? The ones with the flexible black screens that seem to be a thin plastic/glass/plastic? They have a couple other white or clear plastic screens in with them, that shatter when bent, but act like a magnifying glass. I've also read somewhere that a certain types of screens have Yttrium?


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## Smack (Mar 27, 2016)

I used a different tool to separate the glass from the adhesive holding it to the aluminum on the back. I haven't seen any of those screens your talking about. If you have some clear looking plastic that acts like a magnifying glass, it's probably a fresnel lens. I've got a number here somewhere for a company that recycles and sells LCD screens. You can put some in with the circuit boards to be refined but they don't want too many in there so they (SIPI) gave me a number but now I can't find it, might have to call them back. So I put all the little LCD's in with the boards like from phones games and calculators and save the large ones. That other pane of glass I just broke it up and threw it in with my other screens, I ain't messing with it. 

I know the pictures above are of a plasma tv.


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## steyr223 (Mar 27, 2016)

Careful with that fresnel lens ( magnify glass is the understatement of the year)
I have melted 3/8 thick cast aluminum with one.(And the whole side of my truck)

It will get the borax melting but the focal point was just to small to keep it molten
But I would bet someone here has meted hold with one steyr223 rob


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## g_axelsson (Mar 27, 2016)

Smack said:


> I used a different tool to separate the glass from the adhesive holding it to the aluminum on the back. I haven't seen any of those screens your talking about. If you have some clear looking plastic that acts like a magnifying glass, it's probably a fresnel lens. I've got a number here somewhere for a company that recycles and sells LCD screens. You can put some in with the circuit boards to be refined but they don't want too many in there so they (SIPI) gave me a number but now I can't find it, might have to call them back. So I but all the little LCD's in with the boards like from phones games and calculators and save the large ones. That other pane of glass I just broke it up and threw it in with my other screens, I ain't messing with it.


From your description it sounds like you have a plasma screen, not an LCD.

Göran


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## Smack (Mar 27, 2016)

g_axelsson said:


> Smack said:
> 
> 
> > I used a different tool to separate the glass from the adhesive holding it to the aluminum on the back. I haven't seen any of those screens your talking about. If you have some clear looking plastic that acts like a magnifying glass, it's probably a fresnel lens. I've got a number here somewhere for a company that recycles and sells LCD screens. You can put some in with the circuit boards to be refined but they don't want too many in there so they (SIPI) gave me a number but now I can't find it, might have to call them back. So I but all the little LCD's in with the boards like from phones games and calculators and save the large ones. That other pane of glass I just broke it up and threw it in with my other screens, I ain't messing with it.
> ...



Yes I know this. Heck the sheer weight alone was a dead give away, that thing was a beast.

I know the pictures above are of a plasma tv.


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## g_axelsson (Mar 27, 2016)

Just wanted to point it out, the topic was LCD displays, not plasma. There is a lot of differences in the technology and usages of precious metals in the two different technologies.

Plasma screens have more in common with old CRT tubes than with LCD displays.

Göran


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## Smack (Mar 27, 2016)

Didn't feel the need to make a new thread. You want to move it feel free.


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## rickbb (Mar 29, 2016)

Yep, that's a plasma screen. I have about 100 of them sitting in a corner of the warehouse. No one wants to touch them. 

The 42" model has about an ounce of silver in them, but the labor to get the glass off the heat sink backing costs more than the silver is worth.

Now the gold plated connectors all around the edges, different story. 8)


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## hammerdown (Jun 24, 2020)

I realize this thread is a bit older now, but relevance is still there. From what I dug up in trying to research this topic, supposedly Platinum & Rhodium is used in the composition make up of a LCD glass panel... in varying ratios at that. To what end of "being worth" going after, not to mention how to do so, is not something I can answer at this point. A value of worth can differ from person to person, as well as the perspective of worth. Anyways, I just thought I'd post this tid bit and the link to where I found it in case it's helpful to anyone.

http://www.platinum.matthey.com/about-pgm/applications/industrial/glass

Also, I read throughout the forum that supposedly Indium is used as well.


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## jimdoc (Jun 24, 2020)

hammerdown said:


> I realize this thread is a bit older now, but relevance is still there. From what I dug up in trying to research this topic, supposedly Platinum & Rhodium is used in the composition make up of a LCD glass panel... in varying ratios at that. To what end of "being worth" going after, not to mention how to do so, is not something I can answer at this point. A value of worth can differ from person to person, as well as the perspective of worth. Anyways, I just thought I'd post this tid bit and the link to where I found it in case it's helpful to anyone.
> 
> http://www.platinum.matthey.com/about-pgm/applications/industrial/glass
> 
> Also, I read throughout the forum that supposedly Indium is used as well.




Platinum and Rhodium are not used in the composition of the glass, but in the tools used to make the glass.


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## hammerdown (Jun 25, 2020)

jimdoc said:


> hammerdown said:
> 
> 
> > I realize this thread is a bit older now, but relevance is still there. From what I dug up in trying to research this topic, supposedly Platinum & Rhodium is used in the composition make up of a LCD glass panel... in varying ratios at that. To what end of "being worth" going after, not to mention how to do so, is not something I can answer at this point. A value of worth can differ from person to person, as well as the perspective of worth. Anyways, I just thought I'd post this tid bit and the link to where I found it in case it's helpful to anyone.
> ...



Ah... my bad. I must've misunderstood the article.


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