# tantalium question



## Bjl84 (Dec 27, 2013)

doing my depopulating of boards i have ended up with quite a bit of these tantalum capacitors i think they are called, little tan or black colored rectangular things, seem to not be affected by much, i tried incinerating them like chips and various acids dont do much eather, what am trying to figure out is there and value to them as e-scrap on their own, or should i just mix them in with my low grade leftovers i bring to my local recycler


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## Lou (Dec 27, 2013)

I think I'd save them. A forum member named Etack buys them.


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## FrugalRefiner (Dec 27, 2013)

Here's a link to his tantalum thread: tantalum capacitors

Dave


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## niteliteone (Dec 27, 2013)

Bjl84 said:


> doing my depopulating of boards i have ended up with quite a bit of these tantalum capacitors i think they are called, *little tan or black colored rectangular things*, seem to not be affected by much, i tried incinerating them like chips and various acids dont do much eather, what am trying to figure out is there and value to them as e-scrap on their own, or should i just mix them in with my low grade leftovers i bring to my local recycler


Those little ""tan or black colored rectangular things"" are commonly called MLCC's (multi Layered ceramic capacitors [tan] and resistors [black] not "tantalum capacitors"
For the most part the black resistors are worthless, though a few high grade ones might have some silver in the solder ends.
The tan capacitors will usually contain silver and sometimes palladium inside the ceramic bodies and solder ends. They are like saving pennies (and worth about as much).
The caps do have value and many people buy them, including myself. They even sell them on ebay.
There is a few threads on here that deal with recovering the PM's from these types of capacitors. Try searching for ""MLCCs" or ceramic capacitors.


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## Findm-Keepm (Dec 27, 2013)

niteliteone said:


> Those little ""tan or black colored rectangular things"" are commonly called MLCC's (multi Layered ceramic capacitors [tan] and resistors [black] not "tantalum capacitors"
> For the most part the black resistors are worthless, though a few high grade ones might have some silver in the solder ends.
> The tan capacitors will usually contain silver and sometimes palladium inside the ceramic bodies and solder ends. They are like saving pennies (and worth about as much).
> The caps do have value and many people buy them, including myself. They even sell them on ebay.
> There is a few threads on here that deal with recovering the PM's from these types of capacitors. Try searching for ""MLCCs" or ceramic capacitors.



With no pictures, your post is misleading. Kemet and Sprague DO manufacture Tan and Black Tantalum capacitors. 











To the OP: Compare your capacitors using a Google search for SMD Tantalum - use their image search feature.

As for Etack, I sold him several pounds of tantalums earlier this year and can confirm he is honest, quick, and communicative - and a great guy!

Cheers,
Brian


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## necromancer (Dec 27, 2013)

I also have about 12 pounds to send to Eric, forgot all about them


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## etack (Dec 27, 2013)

Thanks Guys happy to serve.

If you have any questions on Ta caps I can and will help.

On MLCCs I can help with them too.

I have a blog with lots of pics for Ta caps. check it out and if this is what you have and you strip them I will buy them.

http://recycletantalumcapacitors.blogspot.com/

Eric


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## bmgold2 (Dec 28, 2013)

Slightly off topic here but...

I assume these are removed with a heat gun? Does that destroy them as components? I haven't tried removing any surface mount components but I have (at one time) been into building electronic projects as a hobby and was wondering if that method of removal could be used to salvage components for personal reuse.

bmgold2


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## butcher (Dec 28, 2013)

Many components can be removed with heat and reused, I can remove sensitive to heat transistors, or integrated circuits with a torch, and not ruin them by heat, although using a heat sink can help, one key is not to heat the component too hot or too long, sometimes higher heat that will de-solder faster will work better than a low heat that has to take longer and lets the heat soak into the component before the solder melts.

I think the heat gun would take longer and would heat up the more sensitive components, some components can take a lot of heat and still be good, some can be ruined by heating easier.


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## etack (Dec 28, 2013)

As far as I am concerned they are all scrap metal to me. Break them, pull them, heat them I don't care.

Eric


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## bmgold2 (Dec 28, 2013)

I was only asking about reusing components for hobby use but if you check out the price of some of these components new you can see that they range from a couple cents to several dollars each. I don't think it is worth trying to sell the components (at least most of them) for reusing them but if you had a project that needs them, I wouldn't be against scrounging some scrap parts instead of paying for them new plus paying the shipping. (Reduce - Reuse - Recycle)

Thanks for the info. I agree, if you are just saving them for scrap, remover them the fastest way you can.

bmgold2


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## butcher (Dec 29, 2013)

Actually I have a very large stock of parts bins, of parts for reuse, electronic parts can be valuable to an repair shop or electronic hobbyist, some of this stuff they do not make any more, a lot of it is common, and then again a lot is obsolete, but the equipment that needs those parts can still be running machinery, I have seen times where I needed one obsolete component to repair a machine worth many thousands of dollars.


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## Bjl84 (Dec 29, 2013)

thanks al for the input the things i am talking about are what findem-kepem put in his post i probably shout have put pictures instead of my poorley informed description, my way depopulating is a heat gun or sand bath depending on the size of board i guess i wil jlust keep saving up til i have enough to sell


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