Gold Finger Yield from Gaylord of PCI cards

[MMFJ]

So, for 23.4 pounds of MIXED PCI cards, I got .5 of 'clean' gold fingers (mostly 'clean' - less than 2% waste, I'd guess, so I'm calling my .6 as .5 'clean') in 30 minutes work.

Therefore, as a "BALLPARK" number (something to keep in your head, NOT as real expectations!), it would seem from this sample that approximately 4% of the total weight of the lot could be counted as gold fingers.

0.5 finger / by 23.4 = 2% not 4%........
just to make your math correct

guess I got 'fat fingers' from all that work! :shock:

Thanks for the correction - yes, about TWO PERCENT, which does trim that 'profit' part down as well - but still good info to start estimating with.

 

[mls26cwru]

if it helps any, i have been keeping a running tally of what i have been finding, and i am averaging ~2.75% of fingers to pci weight. I look at it this way:

600lbs pci cards w/ fingers: (4.00*600) $2400

16.5 lbs gold fingers: ($72*16.5) $1188
583.5 lbs pci cards w/o fingers: ($3.10*583.5) $1808.85
total: $2996.85

difference: (net gain for taking fingers off): $596.85

that is assuming you don't refine the fingers yourself and just sell everything to boardsort...

16.5 lbs gold fingers * 2 grams Au/lb = 33 gr of Au * ~$50 /gr Au = $1650 if you self refine.
Seems like decent money, but I do not know the shipping costs, labor costs, or much of the investment costs.... they could eat into those profits in a hurry.


sorry, i like to do math hope this helps.

 

[MMFJ]

Thanks, mls26cwru!

This is just the kind of data I was hoping for, from as many as could provide something.

Of course, every lot is different, but from your numbers and those previous, it seems that a number somewhere around 2% - 2.5% is a good way to estimate.

you mentioned shipping, etc. - I've found that from 89130 (Las Vegas, NV) to boardsort, it costs about $.80 to ship just about anything less than 100 lbs and the only savings is then dependent on the total bill to the shipper until you get to a truckload (8000 - 10,000 lbs), when it drops quite a bit to around $.48.

Labor costs - I like to pay myself at least $15/hr which is not great, but 'decent' - at least, a good figure to consider when calculating ($20/hr is a nice round number that is better to check against - then, if you still have profit, you know you did well).

Again, thanks for the data - I think it helps a lot!

 

[mls26cwru]

yeah, shipping sucks.... im lucky, as i live about 5 miles from where boardsort is located

M

 

[Synuae]

16.5 lbs gold fingers * 2 grams Au/lb = 33 gr of Au * ~$50 /gr Au = $1650 if you self refine.
Seems like decent money, but I do not know the shipping costs, labor costs, or much of the investment costs.... they could eat into those profits in a hurry.


sorry, i like to do math hope this helps.

im glad so many of you like to do all this math. in my world math is voodoo only to be performed by a certified sachem in the confines of his holy place...scary stuff that math.

but from what my simple mind can gather here i believe you are using an average of about 2g of Au recovered per pound of fingers, correct? also i have been searching for the post i thought i saw when i first joined about pin recovery data but i cant find that one ( if i saw it at all....so much valuable info here). is there a "safe" average to use on pins?

i plan on home refining and have a local computer repair guy that has boxes of stuff already out and sorted, ready for me to buy when i get a good idea of what will be fair for both of us. i dont want to rip him off nor me in the process.

also i think i am getting the vibe that it may be better to collect the premium parts for myself to refine and sell off the other stuff that is much more difficult to recover for the home hobby refiner. any thought on this?

 

[MMFJ]

it may be better to collect the premium parts for myself to refine and sell off the other stuff that is much more difficult to recover for the home hobby refiner. any thought on this?

Yep - I'd agree with that 100%

Seems you are coming along in your studies - keep it up.

 

[Anonymous]

I've got approx 7Kg (or 15.4 pounds in american) of fingers to process, and with the excellent help of some of the guys on here already I'll get those processed over the next couple of weeks.

I'll post up yield details with pleasure as a higher volume batch should be a little more accurate than a small one. FYI these are from server grade VRMs and PSU.

I don't bother stripping from PCI cards as I get more per pound as a card than it's worth cutting the edges off.

Jon

 

[jnrock]

I am a newbe but I uaed to plate gold fingers in a P.C. plant. Gold thickness on fingers was 35 to 65 mil. There we had a formula to figure the finger areas per board to ajdust the amps. Part of the formula was laying a clear plastic sheet over the fingers and counting the dots on the sheet. We had a machine to measure thickness also which was 5 or 10 mils. over spek. Of coures you would already have to have the parts to measure so it probably wouldn't do any good for buying. If you already had the material it could be possible to be very precis. But probably not nessecary.

 

[etack]

Gold thickness on fingers was 35 to 65 mil.

That seems excessively thick. Are you sure its not also taking into account the Cu?

1 micro inch is 0.000001 http://www.vermontgage.com/tech/qa/q6.html
1 mil to inches is 0.001 http://www.asknumbers.com/InchesToMil.aspx

Gold plating at 30 micro inches is good plating 35 mil plating seems like rolled gold thickness.

Eric

 

[Anonymous]

The plating depends on the grade of the equipment though.

Server grade gold plating on some components is far in excess of that you'd expect from domestic applications.

(Also, the scrap tantalum price is WAY in excess of what you're offering as a good deal on this forum.)

 

[ericrm]

(Also, the scrap tantalum price is WAY in excess of what you're offering as a good deal on this forum.)

how much do you pay for tantalum spaceships ?? if you reply you dont buy it at a higher price than etack...i see no point in you previous post

 

[Anonymous]

My apologies if I've caused offense Sir, it wasn't my intention.

I don't buy Tantalum as a raw product however I sell it at far higher than you're offering when I have the quantity. Hence my post. I don't use this forum to profit from other members financially, even though I'm "in the trade" so to speak. If that's the purpose of this forum, then I've misunderstood and again please accept my profound apologies.

 

[goldsilverpro]

I am a newbe but I uaed to plate gold fingers in a P.C. plant. Gold thickness on fingers was 35 to 65 mil. There we had a formula to figure the finger areas per board to ajdust the amps. Part of the formula was laying a clear plastic sheet over the fingers and counting the dots on the sheet. We had a machine to measure thickness also which was 5 or 10 mils. over spek. Of coures you would already have to have the parts to measure so it probably wouldn't do any good for buying. If you already had the material it could be possible to be very precis. But probably not nessecary.

With your background, you should be able to use correct terms. A mil is defined as one thousandth of an inch, .001". A millionth of an inch is .000001" - 1000 times smaller than a mil. Gold plating is measured in millionths of an inch (sometimes called microinches) and not in mils. The numbers you gave above should be 35-65 millionths of an inch, not 35-65 mils. Whatever term you used in the plating shop is one thing. On the forum, try to use the right terms to avoid confusion.

 

[justme2]

Hijack alert: I have to ask. What is a "Gaylord?"

usually it is 4'x4'x4' can be bigger they also come in varied thickness sides. we use double wall and get from 600 to 800 lbs of boards in one. depending on what boards. we use 4 wall for whole hard drives and get 4000 lbs in one 48x48x48 stacked neatly.