# organs



## kelly (Jun 1, 2009)

Hey Jimdoc you out there? I just wanted to say thanks on the hammond organ tip! Great source of palladium. I just took apart my first m-3 and got 3.5 grams from the buss bars and have the contact tips soaking in HCL, so I'm expecting around 4 grams. 
I took apart a Kimbal m72 the other day, palladium contacts only on the foot pedals and the silver contacts are plated, not quite the yield I was hoping for, but I think it was made in the mid 70's so that may have something to do with it. I still haven't figured out what the key contacts are made of, nitric doesn't seem to touch them. When you punch the key, a spring bends and hit the contact bar. Anyone know what they could be made of?
Anyone know of models other than Hammond with palladium in them? I heard older Conn's had some, but haven't gotten one yet. Free organs seem to be fairly plentiful, but I don't want to load up my garage with them.....just yet.


----------



## jimdoc (Jun 1, 2009)

I just got a beatup C3 the other day, it has been months since the last organ I have picked up. There are 22 bussbars counting the ones for the pedals, and I measured about .3 grams of palladium per bussbar. So that should be 6.6 grams total for the bussbars besides
the other smaller contacts. I turn down other types of organs all the time, because I have read that Hammond's were the only ones to use palladium. Also on Ebay the amps and other parts sell really good, so you should be able to make some money there. As you now know it is alot of work, but you kind of get a routine when you
get familiar with them. And Palladium is something I will build up when I can get it for free anyday.
Here are my other Hammond results from the bussbars only;
-M2 2 DWT
-M3 2.1 DWT
-E182 3.4 DWT
-L100 2 DWT
-L102 2 DWT
-CV 5.4 DWT
-S8 .6 DWT
-T163 2.1 DWT
-C3 (should be 4.2 DWT) when I am done
Jim


----------



## kelly (Jun 2, 2009)

Nice, thanks. I'm going to pick up a couple of other brands of organs to see what shakes out. I'll post what I find out. By the way, the buss bars from the m-3 is alloyed with silver. (figured something had to up when I soaked them in HCL and they shined up.)
Still playing around with the Kimball.
K


----------



## kelly (Jul 17, 2009)

Add E312 5+ grams
model 126 I think, gold plated, don't have the yields, but looks to be 1gm+
I took apart an old Conn tube organ. Silver plated buss bars and contacts wires, Pd on foot pedal contacts. More $ in copper than pm's. Samething with a Lowery. Did a Kimball model M-72 (not a tube organ) Pd on the foot pedal contacts, Gold plated on the rest, but about 2gms, so I'd do that again. Waaay easier to take apart than a Hammond lol.


----------



## Strider (Aug 30, 2009)

Pardon me, but are you reffering to Organs made of flesh and blood? My english isn't that good so I misunderstand things you know


----------



## qst42know (Aug 30, 2009)

Organs with a key board like a piano.


----------



## Strider (Aug 31, 2009)

Oh...now I see, an instrument...I would be surprised to hear someone playing the organs ^^


----------



## oldtimmer (Sep 1, 2009)

I have just been given an old Yamaha Organ that is around 25 years old.

What if any PMs can I expect to find in it, if any?

Thanks,

dave


----------



## jimdoc (Sep 1, 2009)

Dave,
I have never tried a Yamaha, but if you want to look for palladium check the contacts that each key will have and the bussbar that it contacts. Hammonds seem to be the best. Let us know what you find. I usually only pick up Hammonds because I know whats in there. Organs are kind of large to be dragging home and having to dispose of after you dissect it.
Jim


----------



## Bgray7177 (Mar 31, 2020)

Jey guy's im Brian. New to this. Have a question. Does anyone know what the bussbars from a Conn organ are made of. And theres a wire on each one with what looks like a copper nail at the end.


----------



## Rob666 (May 26, 2022)

Bgray7177 said:


> Jey guy's im Brian. New to this. Have a question. Does anyone know what the bussbars from a Conn organ are made of. And theres a wire on each one with what looks like a copper nail at the end.


I took apart a conn 721 and the buss bars were solid silver actually they were 97% silver when I tested it with the essay gun. I got a total of 25 ounces of silver from it and that was a little over $400


----------



## cswaggart (Sep 3, 2022)

hello everyone, I just took apart a Baldwin Fantasia model 230 D, and believe I scrounged some Palladium out of it, mostly very small wires about the size of a cats whisker, and about 15 larger wires that were bout 7 inches long, and big around as the wire in a wire coat hanger, those weigh over 2 grams apiece, all together, a total of about 105 grams. that is to say, I THINK its palladium. havent found anyone yet who knows how to test it, even the pawn shops here. I also think the circut boards have Palladium fingers, but not sure if those will be worth messing with.. The metal is a white silver looking metal, but with a slight yellow tint to it. when I polish it, the yellow gos away. Ive read that Palladium was used in a few older organs, something to do with the way they carry sound.


----------



## snail (Sep 4, 2022)

Sorry to say they are not palladium, it is mostly used in Hammonds pre 1973.

Slight use in other brands, most Hammonds are about 3 grams to the best at 10 grams.

Your larger wires could be plated, the whiskers gave me a very slight gold return with a little silver chloride.

Lucky to get $30 worth of precious metals.


----------



## Alondro (Sep 4, 2022)

Strider said:


> Pardon me, but are you reffering to Organs made of flesh and blood? My english isn't that good so I misunderstand things you know


My heart is made of palladium-gallium alloy... (Terminator theme song plays...)


----------



## Alondro (Sep 4, 2022)

cswaggart said:


> hello everyone, I just took apart a Baldwin Fantasia model 230 D, and believe I scrounged some Palladium out of it, mostly very small wires about the size of a cats whisker, and about 15 larger wires that were bout 7 inches long, and big around as the wire in a wire coat hanger, those weigh over 2 grams apiece, all together, a total of about 105 grams. that is to say, I THINK its palladium. havent found anyone yet who knows how to test it, even the pawn shops here. I also think the circut boards have Palladium fingers, but not sure if those will be worth messing with.. The metal is a white silver looking metal, but with a slight yellow tint to it. when I polish it, the yellow gos away. Ive read that Palladium was used in a few older organs, something to do with the way they carry sound.


It's easy. Dissolve some of the wires in a little bit of nitric. You don't need to dissolve much for a test, but make sure it's enough acid to dissolve ALL the metal. If metal if left behind, the PM's will cement on it and give you a false negative. Denox the solution. Add a little salt water or HCl drop by drop to see if white silver chloride drops out. When no more precipitate forms (assuming some formed in the first place), do a stannous chloride test. Dark black-greenish color means palladium.


----------



## Alondro (Sep 4, 2022)

Rob666 said:


> I took apart a conn 721 and the buss bars were solid silver actually they were 97% silver when I tested it with the essay gun. I got a total of 25 ounces of silver from it and that was a little over $400


What would an old Wurlitzer have in it? I don't have the organ here to check the model, but I know it was made in 1961. It's still sitting at our church until I can transport it (still need to get a dismantled 1972 Triumph GT6 out of the garage where my dad has had it for 40 years, lol). The circuit boards also look very promising. I'm seeing very large resistor arrays and old-style orange and yellow square ceramic capacitors.


----------



## Ohiogoldfever (Sep 5, 2022)

Alondro said:


> What would an old Wurlitzer have in it? I don't have the organ here to check the model, but I know it was made in 1961. It's still sitting at our church until I can transport it (still need to get a dismantled 1972 Triumph GT6 out of the garage where my dad has had it for 40 years, lol). The circuit boards also look very promising. I'm seeing very large resistor arrays and old-style orange and yellow square ceramic capacitors.



I did one around that era. Some gold plated points and a bunch of boards. It wasn’t awesome but I’d surly do another.


----------



## EAR74 (Sep 20, 2022)

I seriously doubt the Conn had solid silver bars,maybe you got over on buyer that used gun and only saw outer metal,but solid silver doesn't seem to be used.Wurlitzers have palladium coating on metal wire attached to some white plastic,Conn have plated silver with a few having gold plate on the silver stripe exposed out of a plastic sleeve around it,Kimball or Lowery had 10K plated wire contacts,the other had silver plate with zinc,lead,etc being a common mix with nickel.Hammonds have the palladium,some with copper and some with nickel ,I believe,as the support for spot weld palladium attached.The problem I have is dishonest buyers,and I need nitric and experience not to get screwed.Sure,there is occasion you can sell some plated material for solid but it won't be bought after the processing unless they threw it in with dental scrap or other good metals and do not know.I have one trusted man that refines it himself,he gave me a part of one of the Conn busbars that was melted,It's crap.I have not had him melt the wurlitzer palladium coated wire but I can tell you that the idea of wurlitzer using palladium that weighs a lot more than Hammond is very unlikely.Other than Hammond,the odds of palladium,gold in solid form is something from fantasy island.Next someone will sell me on the Thomas copper inside black plastic being valueable..I think I have taken apart over 12 different organs,most have plate,Hammond's have palladium wire if u get tonewheel older organs,but for the most part others are not something that pays.I have more questions over components included in all the boards from organs..The gold three legged transistors,the old style capacitors with silver palladium,and the dlp chips along with gold cap resistors.This takes more work than the money received.


----------



## Alondro (Sep 21, 2022)

EAR74 said:


> I seriously doubt the Conn had solid silver bars,maybe you got over on buyer that used gun and only saw outer metal,but solid silver doesn't seem to be used.Wurlitzers have palladium coating on metal wire attached to some white plastic,Conn have plated silver with a few having gold plate on the silver stripe exposed out of a plastic sleeve around it,Kimball or Lowery had 10K plated wire contacts,the other had silver plate with zinc,lead,etc being a common mix with nickel.Hammonds have the palladium,some with copper and some with nickel ,I believe,as the support for spot weld palladium attached.The problem I have is dishonest buyers,and I need nitric and experience not to get screwed.Sure,there is occasion you can sell some plated material for solid but it won't be bought after the processing unless they threw it in with dental scrap or other good metals and do not know.I have one trusted man that refines it himself,he gave me a part of one of the Conn busbars that was melted,It's crap.I have not had him melt the wurlitzer palladium coated wire but I can tell you that the idea of wurlitzer using palladium that weighs a lot more than Hammond is very unlikely.Other than Hammond,the odds of palladium,gold in solid form is something from fantasy island.Next someone will sell me on the Thomas copper inside black plastic being valueable..I think I have taken apart over 12 different organs,most have plate,Hammond's have palladium wire if u get tonewheel older organs,but for the most part others are not something that pays.I have more questions over components included in all the boards from organs..The gold three legged transistors,the old style capacitors with silver palladium,and the dlp chips along with gold cap resistors.This takes more work than the money received.


I'll be dismantling the dead Wurlitzer I'm getting from my church over the winter. I'll test some components and report what I find. 

It's a model 4070, 117V, 60 cycle, 125 Watt, VA 155 setup


----------



## war_child (Sep 22, 2022)

EAR74 said:


> I seriously doubt the Conn had solid silver bars,maybe you got over on buyer that used gun and only saw outer metal,but solid silver doesn't seem to be used.Wurlitzers have palladium coating on metal wire attached to some white plastic,Conn have plated silver with a few having gold plate on the silver stripe exposed out of a plastic sleeve around it,Kimball or Lowery had 10K plated wire contacts,the other had silver plate with zinc,lead,etc being a common mix with nickel.Hammonds have the palladium,some with copper and some with nickel ,I believe,as the support for spot weld palladium attached.The problem I have is dishonest buyers,and I need nitric and experience not to get screwed.Sure,there is occasion you can sell some plated material for solid but it won't be bought after the processing unless they threw it in with dental scrap or other good metals and do not know.I have one trusted man that refines it himself,he gave me a part of one of the Conn busbars that was melted,It's crap.I have not had him melt the wurlitzer palladium coated wire but I can tell you that the idea of wurlitzer using palladium that weighs a lot more than Hammond is very unlikely.Other than Hammond,the odds of palladium,gold in solid form is something from fantasy island.Next someone will sell me on the Thomas copper inside black plastic being valueable..I think I have taken apart over 12 different organs,most have plate,Hammond's have palladium wire if u get tonewheel older organs,but for the most part others are not something that pays.I have more questions over components included in all the boards from organs..The gold three legged transistors,the old style capacitors with silver palladium,and the dlp chips along with gold cap resistors.This takes more work than the money received.


Hello EAR74 & welcome to the forum!

I have disassembled a Hammond organ before (...and a Conn organ). I was wondering, with your apparent knowledge of Hammond organs, would you be able to answer a couple questions I have about the components? I think the small wire pieces are possibly palladium. Do you know if there are any PM's in, or on the larger contact rods above the palladium wires? I also wonder if there are any PM's the long rods in pic 012421. I think those flat round contacts are probably silver. Do you know what the smaller, shinier bar-shaped contacts in my hand are composed of? I do not have any nitric acid or Schwartzer's solution.

Thank You
mike


----------



## war_child (Sep 22, 2022)

Also, here are pictures of some of the component and the buss bars that I removed from my Conn organ. One of the buss bars seems to have failed completely. Looks like it got cut by an electrical short or something. Those many, wire-like reeds sticking up appear to have been gold plated at the tip. Many of the wires have had some, or all the gold scratched off. I assume from contact ware over time. I think some of the worn off gold plating has migrated to other surfaces, including the buss bars. 
I found several contact points, similar to the shiny, bar-shaped contacts I found in the Hammond, only these are much smaller. I would think they are silver, but there seems to be no signs of tarnish over the decades. I think they may be plated in some PGM.

Enjoy your organs, everyone!
mike


----------

