Deep depopulating - How do YOU do it?

[Fox32]

So, hello guys, i just stripped down my last cellphones and i ended up with a lot of bits and pieces that have gold and gold conectors on them like, charging ports, sim ports, speakers etc, they are made from some sort of plastic, my problem is, how to get the gold out? What tehnique do you use? maybe incineration? Thanks! I addeds some pictures too.

Oh yes, the site GoldRecovery.us dosn't appear to work when i insert the Username and password, just saying that information is incorect, and ai copy pasted both...

 

[Acid_Bath76]

I've taken apart ribbon cable heads to find little plating at best. I recall taking apart a large box full over one weekend when I first started doing this type of stuff. It was like Christmas each time I cracked one open. The juice was not worth the squeeze though. My vote is for incineration, and then a ball mill. I'm sure someone else will throw in their opinion. Check out Noidea's posts. He has some real ingenious ways of getting to the goods without breaking the bank.

 

[skippy]

I was doing some reading and I would advise caution in burning any plastic from any electronic equipment - most every bit of plastic in a computer has brominated fire retardants in them, which when burned turn into some very toxic stuff. There are guidelines that are followed in commercial incineration with regards to temperature of the combustion chamber and retention time to ensure that the polycyclic hydrocarbons, brominated hydrocarbons, dioxins, etc are entirely decomposed. I think some of the pyrolysis retort techniques that have been touted here are good in that they are going to give a much cleaner and controlled burn than, say, throwing something in a fire, but the mere fact that the material is retorted and the exhaust is burned is not a magic bullet. You need the gases to be fully combusted, reach 850C and stay at that temperature for at a bare minimum of one second from what I have read. There's likely going to be volatilized metal halides in the exhaust and maybe particulate metals too that should be scrubbed out, maybe even a significant amount of PMs. Maybe all this is going over board for someone who is going to burn up few pounds of connectors the odd time, but it seems there is more discussion of incineration here than there used to be, especially as it relates to e-scrap and I think we need to keep the issue of hazards and damage in the forefront when and while people are discussing this.

edit I looked a nodiea's retort design again and it's not so bad really. I don't think it would meet the prescribed retention time but if the firebox was taller and insulated it might though. Also provisions for a combustion zone above the retort seems like a good thing to add, as it would help ensure exhaust gases were still reaching an adequete temperature while the retort is still heating up Some sort of scrubber would be nice too.

 

[Fox32]

I dunno, buliding a klin and retort seems like a lot of work for 10 kg of plastic bits... maybe somone has tryied a diffrent aproapch? i was thinking (for ide adapters and cellphone parts) to grind them and up put in water so the plastic will float, also maybe magnets to get the gold plated metals, but i really have no idea on how to process those thin gold plated foils.

 

[Pantherlikher]

Just a poor man's thoughts...
Put the plastic pieces into and AP into a rock tumbler... Like the kits you buy for kids...Little plastic drum rolling for a week to make rocks shinny...
Open now and again to let fresh O2 in. Give it a few days, Drain and AP again.
Getting rid of as much as possible. Wash then use Hcl and bleachin the tumbler drainning and adding more each day? untill the solution is clear.

It'd take alot of goes to get everything in the tight spots but AP would get most non PMs and bleach would disolve everything else.

I wonder if it'd get everything stuck in the tiny crevases of the plastic holders...

BS.
Time and patience might actually be on our side...

 

[ilikesilver]

hammer

 

[Captobvious]

I vote incinerate, at least those are the plans I have for the 30lb bag of bits from boards/cables/etc that are a pain to pull the pins from by hand. Also note that as long as the heat is high enough and there's enough oxygen (ie cooked in open air/no lid) the vapors shouldn't be an issue.

 

[patnor1011]

I vote incinerate, at least those are the plans I have for the 30lb bag of bits from boards/cables/etc that are a pain to pull the pins from by hand. Also note that as long as the heat is high enough and there's enough oxygen (ie cooked in open air/no lid) the vapors shouldn't be an issue.

But the smoke will be an issue.

 

[Captobvious]

I vote incinerate, at least those are the plans I have for the 30lb bag of bits from boards/cables/etc that are a pain to pull the pins from by hand. Also note that as long as the heat is high enough and there's enough oxygen (ie cooked in open air/no lid) the vapors shouldn't be an issue.

But the smoke will be an issue.

Not planning on running all 30 lbs at once but yes it is a concern, however I'm planning on experimenting with a few different ways of incinerating on the cheap once it gets warm enough outside. I also figure I'll do it at night when folks aren't out and about and wouldn't notice the smoke anyway.

 

[necromancer]

I vote incinerate, at least those are the plans I have for the 30lb bag of bits from boards/cables/etc that are a pain to pull the pins from by hand. Also note that as long as the heat is high enough and there's enough oxygen (ie cooked in open air/no lid) the vapors shouldn't be an issue.

But the smoke will be an issue.

Not planning on running all 30 lbs at once but yes it is a concern, however I'm planning on experimenting with a few different ways of incinerating on the cheap once it gets warm enough outside. I also figure I'll do it at night when folks aren't out and about and wouldn't notice the smoke anyway.

they will if there windows are open on a nice warm summers night

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I also figure I'll do it at night when folks aren't out and about and wouldn't notice the smoke anyway.

Whether you do it at night or during the day, you'll still dump the same amount of polution into the atmosphere we all share. If you want to incinerate chips, that's fine. But do it responsibly!

If you don't want to devote the time, effort, and money to refine responsibly, I would encourage you to sell your materials to someone who will and move on to something else to occupy your time. If enough people are found to be handling their refining wastes irresponsibly we can expect further laws and regulations that will make it impossible for any of us to practice this art.

Dave

 

[Captobvious]

I also figure I'll do it at night when folks aren't out and about and wouldn't notice the smoke anyway.

Whether you do it at night or during the day, you'll still dump the same amount of polution into the atmosphere we all share. If you want to incinerate chips, that's fine. But do it responsibly!

If you don't want to devote the time, effort, and money to refine responsibly, I would encourage you to sell your materials to someone who will and move on to something else to occupy your time. If enough people are found to be handling their refining wastes irresponsibly we can expect further laws and regulations that will make it impossible for any of us to practice this art.

Dave

Relax guys you'll note I said "EXPERIMENT" this does not mean going whole hog, this means taking a couple of old style memory sockets where it is literally impossible to pull the pins out by hand..... you totally make me sound like a dumba$$ :roll:

 

[butcher]

Wait till you see the toxic gases coming off the burning circuit boards then you too will understand the concerns, also look up what the gases and what they would consist of, and the dangers of burning them, look up the laws concerning burning circuit boards and polluting our air and soil with the toxins produced, then you can see the members were trying to help you not call you dumb, it would only be dumb not to listen to good advise.

 

[wrmahaff]

Wait till you see the toxic gases coming off the burning circuit boards then you too will understand the concerns, also look up what the gases and what they would consist of, and the dangers of burning them, look up the laws concerning burning circuit boards and polluting our air and soil with the toxins produced, then you can see the members were trying to help you not call you dumb, it would only be dumb not to listen to good advise.

How do the big boys do it? I'm guessing SIPI/EDI etc probably crush/shred the boards, sort and process?

 

[Captobvious]

Wait till you see the toxic gases coming off the burning circuit boards then you too will understand the concerns, also look up what the gases and what they would consist of, and the dangers of burning them, look up the laws concerning burning circuit boards and polluting our air and soil with the toxins produced, then you can see the members were trying to help you not call you dumb, it would only be dumb not to listen to good advise.

No where in this thread or anywhere on this board or anywhere else for that matter have I EVER condoned or even mentioned open burning of PCB. I said experiment on a few small bits in different ways with different fuel sources in a controlled fashion. This is still in the research phase and that is IT for now!

Ok seriously and I DO understand why you all tend to react this way and with who knows how many people sign up each day, read a few articles, and watch a few videos and think they know everything and do something incredibly STUPID. Allow me to make this PERFECTLY clear, I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE! I know I'm still relatively new here but allow me to assure you I am NOT advocating or recommending tossing a bunch of PCB boards into a fire and walking away, exactly the opposite. I advocate months of research before attempting ANYTHING potentially dangerous to either myself, my family, my neighbors or the environment.

Put simply I am NOT the arch nemesis of Captplanet! (even if he is lame! :lol: )

 

[FrugalRefiner]

No where in this thread or anywhere on this board or anywhere else for that matter have I EVER condoned or even mentioned open burning of PCB. I said experiment on a few small bits in different ways with different fuel sources in a controlled fashion. This is still in the research phase and that is IT for now!

I vote incinerate, at least those are the plans I have for the 30lb bag of bits from boards/cables/etc that are a pain to pull the pins from by hand. Also note that as long as the heat is high enough and there's enough oxygen (ie cooked in open air/no lid) the vapors shouldn't be an issue.

Well, actually you did.

Ok seriously and I DO understand why you all tend to react this way and with who knows how many people sign up each day, read a few articles, and watch a few videos and think they know everything and do something incredibly STUPID. Allow me to make this PERFECTLY clear, I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE! I know I'm still relatively new here but allow me to assure you I am NOT advocating or recommending tossing a bunch of PCB boards into a fire and walking away, exactly the opposite. I advocate months of research before attempting ANYTHING potentially dangerous to either myself, my family, my neighbors or the environment.

Perhaps you aren't one of those who will do something stupid. We can't tell that based on what you posted. The problem is that you posted incorrect and dangerous information. I am mostly concerned for the new member who reads what you posted and decides to give it a try. When you post on this forum, always keep in mind that if you post inaccurate information and someone follows your advice, they could be injured or worse.

Dave

 

[Captobvious]

The problem is that you posted incorrect and dangerous information. I am mostly concerned for the new member who reads what you posted and decides to give it a try. When you post on this forum, always keep in mind that if you post inaccurate information and someone follows your advice, they could be injured or worse.

Dave

Fair enough, and I'll admit that sometimes the ideas in my head don't exactly translate 100% to a fair description in text. I'll be more careful in my wording in the future and please accept my apologies for the misunderstanding.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Captain,

No need to apologize, but it's accepted.

Incineration has it's place in what we do. The big boys use it when they process boards, but they do it in very expensive equipment with afterburners to destroy the toxic chemicals that are created and they have to constantly monitor their waste gasses. That's likely beyond the capabilities of most of us.

Notice that Acid_Bath76 mentioned incineration before you did, but he also mentioned checking out Noidea's posts. Deano (Noidea) has written extensively on the subject of pyrolization and incineration. He's provided drawings of his system numerous times and his ideas are the basis of what I have planned for my chips. Search for the term pyrolization by author noidea and be safe.

Dave

 

[Captobvious]

Thanks I'll look it up, but I'll say it again, just as I said before, I was referring to memory/cpu sockets OLD ISA slots, things where you cannot pull the pins out NOT whole/partial/pieces of circuit boards. I'm not trying to pick a fight ok? I'm only trying to clarify.

 

[Captobvious]

Now that that whole kerfuffle is done (please let it be done) For things like the aforementioned items (memory/cpu sockets, expansion slots, etc. How would you process them then in a time expedient manner that don't involve incineration or spending months plucking pins out one at a time with pliers?