# GRF guide to acronyms for e-scrap



## 4metals (Apr 21, 2017)

*What we hope to accomplish with this thread* Ideally any member can look through the materials listed and add any that have yet to be added. 

We are not looking for discussion, just an acronym, what the acronym means, any variations of materials covered by the same acronym, and some pictures. (which I have copied from the internet)

I have listed MLCC in the next post as an example of how this may work. I am open to suggestions.

Do we want to list what PM's are contained in each scrap type?
Do we want to list which process is effective at recovery?


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## 4metals (Apr 21, 2017)

*MLCC*

MultiLayer Ceramic Capacitors


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## 4metals (Apr 21, 2017)

*Hybrid Kovar Packages*




These come in Kovar, (magnetic) and copper.


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## snoman701 (Apr 21, 2017)

*ENIG*

Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold - Very Thin Gold Plating where gold is cemented on copper overlay




A Mod is more than welcome to add to this.


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## snoman701 (Apr 21, 2017)

*BGA*

Ball Grid Array (integrated circuit or microchip)







It's the actual microchip. Called a Ball Grid Array because on the base of the chip there are solder balls that form the bond between pcb & chip


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## 4metals (Apr 21, 2017)

*SIMM*

Single inline memory module


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## 4metals (Apr 21, 2017)

*SMD IC*

Surface Mounted Device Integrated Circuit


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## 4metals (Apr 21, 2017)

*PCI Connectors*

Peripheral Component Interconnect


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## 4metals (Apr 21, 2017)

*ISA Buss*

Industry Standard Architecture Buss


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## kernels (Apr 21, 2017)

I think your picture for the PCI connector is wrong, the very very common PCI connector is the white one on computer motherboards. These days PCI-e (express) is more common, but we still process thousands of motherboards with PCI sockets and PCI gold finger cards.


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## glorycloud (Apr 22, 2017)

The first PCI picture looks more like a female connector for a telecom board
that pushed info a chassis with pins on the back plane.

PCI bus card partially inserted



ISA bus modem card


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## philddreamer (Apr 22, 2017)

*TRANSISTORS*


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## Findm-Keepm (Apr 22, 2017)

May I make a suggestion? Use Wikipedia images - copying/posting images without ownership or expressed permission is illegal. I'd hate to lose GRF or some of it's members to a DMCA takedown, lawsuit, or assessment of damages.

Using Wikipedia images, in the public domain, is encouraged....

Been there, done that, and won the lawsuit with damage award...


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## 4metals (Apr 23, 2017)

So you are saying using Wikipedia images is OK but clipping an image from images on a Google search is not? 

If any of our members have better photo's of any scraptype, taken from their own stash, I invite them to PM me an image and I will put the image in the appropriate post. That would likely be the best of both worlds.


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## finegold (Apr 23, 2017)

Well now ive come to a full stop in collection as I have a high respect for op's opinion, however the image for mlcc looks like a ceramic to me, Ive been collecting the small brown cubes...am I wrong?


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## 4metals (Apr 23, 2017)

Finegold,

Post pictures of what you are talking about. With most of these components, there is no "one fits all" photo to describe all of them. This is the thread to work out what is what, and any moderator can copy and paste photo's of additional examples into the proper posts.


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## g_axelsson (Apr 23, 2017)

finegold said:


> Well now ive come to a full stop in collection as I have a high respect for op's opinion, however the image for mlcc looks like a ceramic to me, Ive been collecting the small brown cubes...am I wrong?


This is the problem when going down to component level for refining. There are millions of different components with slight variations. The component on the picture 4metals posted is a MLCC but with metal pins connected to the ends and dipped in plastics. When surface mount became popular the legs were skipped and the component were soldered directly onto the terminals. So the small brown blocks you have collected are also MLCC:s, unless you picked up some other small brown surface mounted components that has something else inside.
Most pictures on the forum is of the surface mounted type.

PCI connectors is usually the white connectors used on mainboards in PC and Apple computers among others, but also small connectors used for connecting PCI mezzanine boards or larger connectors with pins and sockets used in rack mounted systems. The PCI standard mainly centers around the signals and protocols used, not the exact type of connector used and certainly not the plating. It is up to the designer to select the type of connector with the surface treatment suitable for the product created.
PCI, ISA, EISA, VME-bus, VGA, IDE, PCM-CIA, USB, IEEE 1394... and so on are all standards that uses connectors made of a base metal and plated fully or selectively with nickel and gold. There is no need to know what a component been used for as long as you know what it's made from. The only thing important here is what the cheapest or most effective way to recover the gold is. And that will vary depending on your price of chemicals, how fast you need the gold, what value you put on your time, what methods are available to you and so on.
From the refiners point of view there is no big difference between a PCI or a ISA connector. One contains bigger but fewer contacts, the other smaller but more. Depending on age the plating thickness can vary as the area plated

I've seen several attempts over the years to create guides and collections of descriptions and it always ends up with a messy thread that sinks into oblivion. I don't know if that fate will come to this thread too or not.

Just as with jewellery we need to focus on what basic types of scrap there is and then use more general descriptions and how to sort components into those basic types. We should also try to describe how some simple testing could decide how to treat scrap, what value it might have and if it's worth to recover.

I realize I'm part of the problem here, I sometimes write PCI-connector or ISA-connector when just connector would have sufficed. To me it's second nature since I've worked with it most of my life. I will try to think of it in the future and do better.

Göran


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## Findm-Keepm (Apr 23, 2017)

4metals said:


> So you are saying using Wikipedia images is OK but clipping an image from images on a Google search is not?


Google image search finds images - other peoples images, who own the rights to those images. Using them in any way without permission is illegal. 
Wikipedia images are in the public domain, a requirement for appearing in Wikipedia. Citations when you use such images are customary, such as "From the Wikipedia Commons" or some other statement showing Wikipedia as being the source of the image.

Digital images are often watermarked - visually, digitally, or both. It is the digital watermarks that do not appear that still show the true ownership of the image. *Digimarc*https://www.digimarc.com/about/technology/about-digital-watermarking is one - you can't delete it, you can't overwrite it. Simple sleuthing around the web with the Digimarc software, and you can see the extent of the "_copied from Google images, used for my own purposes_" problem. Heck, there are forensic specialists that earn a living finding filched images, and assisting the rightful owner in seeking payments, damages, or a DMCA takedown. It's sunk many a website and even a few small businesses. Getty images and other stock photo houses make millions each year selling rights to images, and millions more collecting damages from those that use them without permission.

It is not legal to use anyone else's images without permission - period.

Me? Just trying to protect our priceless resource - GRF


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## Findm-Keepm (Apr 24, 2017)

finegold said:


> Well now ive come to a full stop in collection as I have a high respect for op's opinion, however the image for mlcc looks like a ceramic to me, Ive been collecting the small brown cubes...am I wrong?



*M*onolithic *L*eaded *C*eramic *C*apacitor - yes, it's an MLCC, and yes it's a ceramic capacitor. MLCC been an industry term for more than 3 decades now - it appears in my 1988 Aerovox Capacitor Design Guide...

MLCC can also refer to the small brown cubes - Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors: http://www.koaspeer.com/pdfs/MLCC.pdf
Confusing, isn't it? :x 

The surface mount small brown cubes - "MLCCs/MCC's are just that - Surface Mount MCCs. Kemet, AVX, Kyocera, Matsushita, Murata, and many others make them in about 12-15 different sizes, such as 0402, 0603, 0803, 1206, and many other dimensional sizes. Industry also calls them "Chip Capacitors" - http://www.koaspeer.com/products/capacitors/ceramic-chip-capacitors/npo-x5r-x7r-y5v/

There are a lot of industry terms that are mangled here on the forum, but we ain't in the industry....I've always been fine with the terminologies used here. As long as we all agree....and I have "no dog in the hunt"....so I go with whatever the forum/recovery/refining experts so choose.


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