# any PM in any of these capacitors?



## Fixate (Mar 15, 2015)

Hello I am new to the forum and have been lurking a while. I tried extensive searching and on Google as well but it's hard to find a list of all components, even just for tantalum. I did see a good thread from a tantalum refiner on here though so I have started sorting some things.

Anyway in this photo are various capacitors out of an old vacuum tube TV as well as the back of the tube. I labeled what they were marked as on the board but realized it wasn't too useful.

Which of these contain useful metals and which are trash?


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## artart47 (Mar 15, 2015)

Hi Fixate!
Not 20mins. ago I was going through components from circiut boards out of bowling alley machines (Brunswick). I like to test anything on the boards just to see if there is hidden gold. The last component I crushed with a pliers and examined was the little ,black transistor thing (bottom right in your picture round with a flat side and three legs) there is what appears to be gold inside. I'm going to crush a handfoll, dissolve them and then test for gold.
Some timing eh!
I don't know if all of those contain gold.
Good luck!
artart47


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## macfixer01 (Mar 15, 2015)

artart47 said:


> Hi Fixate!
> Not 20mins. ago I was going through components from circiut boards out of bowling alley machines (Brunswick). I like to test anything on the boards just to see if there is hidden gold. The last component I crushed with a pliers and examined was the little ,black transistor thing (bottom right in your picture round with a flat side and three legs) there is what appears to be gold inside. I'm going to crush a handfoll, dissolve them and then test for gold.
> Some timing eh!
> I don't know if all of those contain gold.
> ...




If those plastic transistors don't have visible gold plating on the external pins, they might still have a tiny bit of gold plating on the elements inside but not often. Also it's a pretty miniscule amount of gold. The capacitors in the picture don't appear to be worth anything, a couple electrolytics, a polyester, some ceramics. Nothing there is recognizable to me as a tantalum. What is that strange vacuum tube device, maybe a small Nixie tube? Is that white end some sort of hot glue or silicone they used to keep it in place?


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 15, 2015)

artart47 said:


> Hi Fixate!
> Not 20mins. ago I was going through components from circiut boards out of bowling alley machines (Brunswick). I like to test anything on the boards just to see if there is hidden gold. The last component I crushed with a pliers and examined was the little ,black transistor thing (bottom right in your picture round with a flat side and three legs) there is what appears to be gold inside. I'm going to crush a handfoll, dissolve them and then test for gold.
> Some timing eh!
> I don't know if all of those contain gold.
> ...


How are you going to test for gold? What procedure?

That black transistor with one flat side is what I call a TO-92, which is the package nomenclature. It was one of the things I looked for on a board in the 80's. Of course, back then most had gold plated leads.

Unless some of those contain tantalum, I doubt if any are worth a plugged nickel. Except for, maybe, the TO-92 and, maybe, the tube looking thing.


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## Long Shot (Mar 15, 2015)

Fixate - there is a fellow on here, Etack I believe, that has good pdf downloads of cap types - also buys tantalum caps, very difficult for the average slob (which I am) to recycle.


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 15, 2015)

On many tantalum caps, you can simply heft them in your hand. If they "feel" heavy for their size, they might just be tantalum.


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## g_axelsson (Mar 15, 2015)

Crush and look inside!

Göran


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## etack (Mar 15, 2015)

goldsilverpro said:


> Except for, maybe, the TO-92 and, maybe, the tube looking thing.



That looks like the bottom of a CRT.

Eric


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## Fixate (Mar 16, 2015)

Etack you are correct. Would you happen to have that pdf for the tantalum capacitors? As for the white stuff it's a very rubbery and soft.

Thank you all a bunch. I'm definitely an amateur and am currently just in the collection stages. It's very exciting though, like a treasure hunt or a real life RPG lol. I found a new-in-box Element 40" LCD flat screen on this trip too! Screen is busted but I can't seem to locate a replacement screen online.

What I've learned from this thread: 

-when in doubt smash it and see what it's insides look like.

-nitric acid testing

-hefty capacitors probably tantalum

I've found some leads in components have a light silver (whitish silver) coating.. any easy ways of testing for precious metals besides gold? I guess I can Google that.


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## shmandi (Mar 16, 2015)

As far as I know, most (if not all) plastic/epoxy transistors contain gold bonding wires.
Does anyone know if there is any silver in those ceramic capacitors?


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## kurtak (Mar 17, 2015)

No PMs at a in anything in that pic except for the TO-92 which does have gold bond wires

Kurt


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## shmandi (Mar 17, 2015)

Could the small orange capacitor, 5th in top row, be silver mica cap?


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## MarcoP (Mar 17, 2015)

shmandi said:


> Could the small orange capacitor, 5th in top row, be silver mica cap?


I think you got that right, it really looks like one. Thus my experience is very limited and i only saw those pictured and never saw a real one.


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## Fixate (Mar 17, 2015)

Are any of the others a good source for silver?

Thanks again for all the replies


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## kurtak (Mar 18, 2015)

shmandi said:


> Could the small orange capacitor, 5th in top row, be silver mica cap?



No - these are the silver mica caps - they are a brownish/burgundy color & have a kidney shape to them

second one from the left bottom row "might" be one - but I don't think so - hit it with a hammer - it will look like the broken one in my pic

Kurt


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## jason_recliner (Mar 18, 2015)

No tantalum caps there I'm afraid, which look more like alien heads.
Different types of low and high voltage polyester caps, electrolytics caps and ceramic caps.
I thought C511 was a poly too, but could be wrong.
Datasheet for your transistor: https://www.futurlec.com/Transistors/C2482.shtml


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## macfixer01 (Mar 18, 2015)

C511 is a type of capacitor I used to see a lot in old radios and televisions, they have a brown waxy surface. The outside is pretty similar in appearance to some of the old ceramic disc capacitors, but I'm not sure what it's internal construction is. I would guess the orange one is a dipped ceramic also but a different design than the red one next to it, or it could possibly be a small polyester?


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## TantalumRecycle (Apr 10, 2015)

Fixate said:


> Hello I am new to the forum and have been lurking a while. I tried extensive searching and on Google as well but it's hard to find a list of all components, even just for tantalum. I did see a good thread from a tantalum refiner on here though so I have started sorting some things.
> 
> Anyway in this photo are various capacitors out of an old vacuum tube TV as well as the back of the tube. I labeled what they were marked as on the board but realized it wasn't too useful.
> 
> Which of these contain useful metals and which are trash?



None of these are Tantalum unfortunately.


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