any PM in any of these capacitors?

[Fixate]

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?

 

[artart47]

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

 

[macfixer01]

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

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?

 

[goldsilverpro]

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

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.

 

[Long Shot]

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.

 

[goldsilverpro]

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

 

[g_axelsson]

Crush and look inside!

Göran

 

[etack]

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

That looks like the bottom of a CRT.

Eric

 

[Fixate]

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.

 

[shmandi]

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?

 

[kurtak]

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

Kurt

 

[shmandi]

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

 

[MarcoP]

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.

 

[Fixate]

Are any of the others a good source for silver?

Thanks again for all the replies

 

[kurtak]

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

 

[jason_recliner]

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

 

[macfixer01]

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?

 

[TantalumRecycle]

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.