# Is this a mini E-waste gold mine?



## war_child (Apr 10, 2021)

Hello everyone,

Earlier today I posted this same question, but I think I put it in the wrong place. I don't yet know how to move my post, but I think it might belong in this area.

I came across this posting for a lot of old computers and computer parts. I was wondering if any eagle eyed e-scrap members here could tell me anything by just these pictures. In particular, I'd like to know if you are able to tell if any of these computers look like they may be housing some of those old sweet, gold covered, ceramic processors. 

The guy said he is asking $1,000 dollars for everything in the locker. I wouldn't be in the market for that price, but I thought I might offer $350-400 for the whole lot. I usually like to pay somewhere around $0 for old computers and electronic scrap, but I think if I grab this stuff, I wouldn't need to look for anything else to scrap for the rest of the year.

I am just a new hobbiest in this field, and I am not concerned as much about profit and loss. I'd just like to get a hold of some gold bearing scrap so I can cherry pick bga's, ic's, fingers, pins, ect. I do not yet have a good eye for values/ yields & i'm not familiar with the units pictured, but I'm assuming a competent gold recovery specialist could squeeze a half ounce or more out of this scrap. What do you think? What do you see?


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## g_axelsson (Apr 11, 2021)

Since there were no replies yet on your first post I just deleted it.

In the future, please don't double post. A single thread can be moved easily but combining two threads with posts in both takes more time.

There are a couple of old computers there and some stuff that can be sold on ebay for more than the gold content. For example the top shelf with one or two atari 810 disk systems and a bunch of 5.25" floppy drives. I think that the PS/2 systems could also have a higher value for the classic computer crowd. Even some cabinets in good conditions have a value without mother board and drives, as long as it is complete with plastic details and mounting screws.

Göran


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## glorycloud (Apr 11, 2021)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder or so I have heard. :lol: 

I like old computers like these because I was around when they were 
first introduced. To someone like me, Mr. Nostalgia, they are beautiful.
To a scrapper they are beautiful as well. To the woman whose husband 
has stored these relics, they are junk and need to be thrown away.  

What I would do with them and what you would do with them are 
probably two different things. I like to tinker with old stuff, so I would
turn it all on and test them and resell them for a nicer profit than you
might by chasing the sweet ceramic golden CPU's. But that's just me.

Have fun!


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## nickvc (Apr 11, 2021)

As glorycloud has pointed out there are several ways to make money in e waste, not everyone can or wants to refine so buying and selling and investing in gold is another way to go.


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## war_child (Apr 12, 2021)

Thank you very much guys!

I am very encouraged to get such a fast response from several members on my 2 posts. I don't know if the processors can be identified from just these pictures, but I figured I'd ask. I think I'll end up trying to get at least some of this stock so I can have something to break down while I continue my learning. If the processors aren't anything special, there's still bound to be some decent slot fingers, pins, ect.

Yes...the wife. I'd have to make some arrangements. So far she has been very understanding about this stuff, including my stack of printers I've brought home from other peoples trash. Mabey I'll take this new stack to work and keep it at the shop. I think I'd rather surprise my boss with a big stack of awesome vintage computer equipment.

Thank you goran for taking care of my double posting. I saw a large post somewhere on the forum that appears to cover a lot of questions I will probably have in terms of posting messages on the forum. It probably deals with moving a post as well. I will find that post and learn the how-to's. 

Thanks again-
Mike


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## glorycloud (Apr 12, 2021)

There appears to be a lot of clone towers and Compaq Proliant servers.
Look up Compaq Proliant on eBay and look at the pictures until you
see the kind of servers that you have. Get an idea of what people ask
for them in those listings and then check and see what they may have
actually sold for on eBay.

I look for the Intel inside badges to see what CPU is in the PC or server.
Look at this picture and you will see what I mean. From there you can
probably determine if the processor is old and possibly ceramic if you
do some more research. 8)


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## jimdoc (Apr 12, 2021)

I wouldn't count on a processor in everyone, unless you check. I got a few pallets of old towers from an auction, and checked two that had pentium pros. When I got them those were the only two that had pentium pros. Many of them had no processor. Memory and processors are missing a lot of times.

I used to get "nerd hoards" like that for free many years ago. I miss those days.


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## glorycloud (Apr 12, 2021)

*"nerd hoards" *

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## war_child (Apr 12, 2021)

Ahh yes, jimdoc. I've thought about the whole stack of those units holding nothing more than power supplies and ribbon wire. Mabey a rat's nest or two, just for good measure. The open box gives me mixed feelings too: yes, I see slot cards, circuit boards and power supplies, but are those extra parts, or is that what's left of what was in the towers and servers?

I searched eBay as glorycloud suggested. I found several Proliant servers for auction. ML and DL models mostly (360g2 380g7 880g2). People seem to be asking anywhere between $25-$500 depending on what models. DL 380g7 seems to be most popular. The thinner models of servers seem to be going for $25-$100ish, but the fatter looking units seem to be selling for $125-$400.

I've never sold anything on eBay, but I suppose I could learn if I believe I had something valuable. I would have to rely on a buddy of mine who would probably be able to verify the working condition of these units, and who also enjoys a 100% seller rating on eBay. He has helped quite a bit so far. I once found a lot of 12 pc's mostly, and a couple servers for $15! The guy was almost 50 miles away, but I offered him $40 if he would wait till after lunch for me. I'm glad I went. Turns out some of the pc's were built with still relevant cards and some kind of phenom processors. My friend built 3 working computers and sold another one of the motherboards with cpu and ram on eBay for $114 at auction.

Either way, I think I will end up making the seller an offer. 60+ miles away isn't exactly a joy ride, so I will contact him and see if I can any more details then just the pictures. Perhaps he can at least snap a pic of the processor label on the case (thanks glorycloud, for the idea), if he isn't willing to open any up & confirm if there is, in fact, any _ intel inside_

Thanks again forum. If I'm able to make a deal with the guy, I'll show you what I get. I also have some chemistry questions and pictures to post here; Ill look to find where would be the best topic to post it. Mabey chemical processes? I have some dirty gold powder and cemented values to be refined.


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## jimdoc (Apr 12, 2021)

Ebay asking prices are generally irrelevant. You need to check recent sold prices.


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## galenrog (Apr 12, 2021)

I only pick up hoards like that if everything is free. Not knowing the contents of each case, or the working condition, paying anything is, in my opinion, risky. My assumption is that everything will be scrapped.

The last hoard I picked up fits my typical assumption. Lots of cases. Lots of motherboards and power supplies. Very few CPUs. Very little RAM. Lots of water damage from outside storage. That was last week. Still sorting through over 80 boxes. Yep, I am busy.

In the end, do what you think is best for you.

Time for more coffee.


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## glorycloud (Apr 12, 2021)

Indeed, if you want to resell them then you had better be sure they are "complete". 8) 

I also get most everything for free. Recycling with a purpose with reuse in mind
primarily. What I can't reuse after refurbishing, I recycle last after selling tested
working parts like memory, power supplies, CPU's, wiped hard drives, etc.

It keeps me busy and I enjoy what I do like many here. Sadly, I don't get to
do any refining anymore as I am in the "city" with neighbors in very close
proximity. I do enjoy reading about the refining exploits of others and I try
and chime in when I may have something worthwhile to say. Of course, that
is subject to debate.


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## etack (Apr 12, 2021)

Saw this on the FB group. I doubt there's $1000 in PMs in it. Theres alot of good collectors stuff.

Eric


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## war_child (Apr 13, 2021)

etack said:


> Saw this on the FB group. I doubt there's $1000 in PMs in it. Theres alot of good collectors stuff.
> 
> Eric



Yup, a face book market place add. I don't have a FB account, but my buddy said he would make contact for me. I lurk on there as well as craigslist and let go. I couldn't willingly pay $1,000 for his nice looking "nerd hoard" of E-waste, and I can't imagine any successful scrapper or refiner could either. Although, my very large and untrained noob eyes keep telling me they are "pretty sure" there is almost an ozt of recoverable Au in that man's magic locker there.

Hopefully he is willing to budge a whole bunch on his price, or at least allow me to take my choice of half the stuff for $200-$300 (don't tell my wife :wink: ). I will justify the expenditure to myself by telling you guys its just to feed my hobby and it will keep me interested and busy until 2022. Better to end this year with a stunning bar of *pure gold instead of filling the den with tiny ships in bottles, or even a back yard full of those trippy little bonzi trees, or jogging or whatever people do- Gold from trash is awesome! ...even if you get overly excited and end up paying cash for some of that said trash. 

I had better get cracking on this one and send him a message tomorrow. This post is getting pretty long to end up not having any pictures to post at the bottom. I'm still a bit eager to get older scrap and I think I will regret it if I don't at least take a poke at it.

Mike


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## nickvc (Apr 13, 2021)

The biggest problem most newbies in this field have is sourcing decent regular materials to refine and that includes even buying material which leaves room for some profit.
My advice for what it’s worth is to start telling everyone you know or meet you are looking for materials to work with, you never know where it can come from, it’s out there but the trick is finding it, with e scrap you need to get most of it for free if you are a hobbyist and even then it takes time to recover the costs of the necessary equipment and chemicals, if it’s just for the learning experience then cost is less important but it can make your gold very expensive.


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## war_child (Apr 21, 2021)

Woe is me! Looks like some one else took the prize. The lot was still posted Saturday, but by the time I was able to use marketplace on Sunday afternoon, it was nowhere to be found. 

I'm feeling a bit heart broken right now. Being new to E waste gold recovery & refining, I am coming to the harsh realization that newer common computer scrap and electronics will have less and less recoverable PMs. Perhaps not even worth collecting for a hobby. 

I just find it hard to believe I will ever be able to find a stash of older goodies like that ever again. Now that it's gone, I feel like I would happily scrape up enough cash to meet the asking price. That amount of scrap would have lasted me quite some time to process.

I keep looking to see if, for some reason, the posting comes back up. Just hoping the buyer backed out or something. I've been looking on CL and other sites to see if someone is trying to flip the lot, but alas, I'm afraid I've lost my chance.

I'm trying to get the bad taste out of my mouth and I figure sour grapes is more palatable than salty tears. I tell myself those towers were empty! Yah, some scrapper already riffled through those machines, taking the goodies out and painstakingly reassembled the cases and stacking them on shelves in a storage rental. Yup, all that was left was was the stuff in the boxes! :lol: 

Well, I'm done crying for now. Off to search the postings for more unicorns!


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## Ohiogoldfever (Apr 22, 2021)

It’s a long game. Keep your feelers out. Post in craigslist that you’re looking for vintage electronics. You will end up following up on tons of crappy leads and eventually hit the mother load. It’s still out there, it just takes a little work to find it.

As far as money for scrap, it’s probably best you didn’t get that pile. It is fun sorting through all of this stuff and collecting recoverable values but if you’re trying to get back to zero it takes a lot of fun out of it. The right deal will come along.


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## war_child (Apr 23, 2021)

Thanks guys, I appreciate the advise. I'm feeling a bit better already. In the past I had considered a very small scale advertisement campaign including craigslist postings as well as contacting local retailers, computer repair shops, friends and family. I decided not to, aside from word of mouth, for a couple reasons. I didn't want to use up available storage on newer, lower yielding, scrap like printers, cheep DVD players, AM/FM cassette CD stereo players, etc. Another reason is I didn't want to end up having to make cancelations or turn down people who gathered or sat on scrap, waiting for me. I didn't want to burn any bridges or get a bad name for my self in case I wanted to put my name out there again, in the future.

I think the keys I'll take away from the advise you guys gave me is: More word of mouth. Tell more people. Pretty much anyone who will listen :lol: Another is specifying that I am looking for older, *vintage* computer scrap. Thanks again guys.

Mike


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## jadedalex (Nov 2, 2021)

Warchild, did you know that some ribbon wires are silver?


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## war_child (Dec 17, 2021)

No, Alex. I did not know that. Please, do tell. I will have to do some research on silver ribbon wire. I'd appreciate any other specific details or links you may have. My experience with ribbon wire is mostly from desktop computers. If they have gold edges, I'll snip them off and add them to my "next AP" can. The remainder, and any other ribbon wire I have without gold edges goes in my low-grade wire pile.

I currently set aside all recognizable silver bearing scrap I get. I keep all switches, buttons, contacts, keybord mylars, etc. I don't quite know how to refine yet; heck, I don't even know all the places to find silver yet (obviously), but I'll keep scrapping, collecting and learning. Hopefully one day I'll be able to pour myself a nice 5+ ozt silver bar to go along with my future gold button family. Maby even some little platinum or palladium BB grand children!

Thanks for the tip! Merry Christmas!
mike


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