Hammond L102 Organ

[skeeter629]

I have been offered a free Hammond L102 organ. Does anyone have any experience with them? I am wondering what is the approximate PM value to be expected. Jimdoc, I know you have in the past, but any further information would be nice.

 

[jimdoc]

I have been offered a free Hammond L102 organ. Does anyone have any experience with them? I am wondering what is the approximate PM value to be expected. Jimdoc, I know you have in the past, but any further information would be nice.

I would guess about 2 dwt of palladium, it should be similar to an M-2 or M-3.

Jim

 

[jimdoc]

I just checked my notes, and the L102 has two 44 key sections like the M-2 and M-3. So I think the 2 dwt guess for palladium should be a good one.

There may be palladium wire contacts in the foot pedals also, so don't forget to check them.
Organs are a hassle to deal with, but free palladium makes it worth it for me. The newer ones aren't worth going to far out of your way for. The last one I did had 1978 dates on it, and had very little palladium in it. The older ones have palladium all along the bussbars and each contact. The newer one had smaller contacts on the bussbar that are not pure palladium.

Jim

 

[skeeter629]

Thank you very much for the information. I stripped the L102 and picked up a Lowrey model DS this evening. This one is pretty old. I haven't seen this many tubes in quite a long time. So far I haven't found anything inside this one worth saving....Oh well free is still free. If you have any notes on this model, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.

 

[publius]

The tubes will be worth more on eBay and other vintage electronic sites than as potential PM scrap...

 

[skeeter629]

That is what I am planning on. I don't want to mess with the tubes. I will put them in a lot on ebay and see where they go.

 

[element47]

Also see if there is a separate chassis that is an audio amplifier. Those are popular on ebay with hobbyists who want to modify them into guitar amps. Include the tubes. By the way, most of those tubes are 12AX7s, which are popular tubes, especially if they are all the same brand (which they will be) SPECIAL value if they are RCAs.

 

[skeeter629]

I finish the Hammond L102. Here is the bright and shiny palladium button that I recovered from the contacts like in the picture posted by pimpneightez here;
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=14161#p142185.

I just want to say again thank you all for inspiration and information.

 

[manorman]

if you get the organs with the leslie speakers, those speakers can be worth some money last time i checked.
Mike

 

[pimpneightez]

Nice button. Is that just off the bussbar or is it from the copper tips as well. How did you do your melt. Did you do a HCL wash first or just melt it as is? what kind of torch did you use?

 

[skeeter629]

The button is just from the copper tips. I snipped the tips with wire cutters, then I put them into a 50/50 nitric solution. It only took about 2 minutes for the copper to be eaten away and left the palladium strips sitting in the bottom of the beaker. I rinsed them 5 times with hot water, then placed them in a ceramic dish. I heated them in the dish to drive off the water. I then placed them into a lightly glazed melting dish, and melted them with a Oxy/Propane torch. I used the cutting torch head to get the most heat possible. I don't have a oxy/hydrogen torch yet.

 

[pimpneightez]

This button was just from the bussbar not the copper tip pieces. I will drop them In HCL at a later date. I was going to do a wash with HCL but the wire looked really clean after I gave it an incineration. There was some grease residue or flux still left on the bussbar when I stripped the wire off.
OXY-Acetylene melted it right quick. I used an old 2x4 for a melting dish. It's total weight was 2.8 grams.

 

[nickvc]

I hope you tested your nitric solution or added it to your stockpot as it will dissolve palladium.

 

[goldsilverpro]

Nitric will definitely dissolve some of the Pd.

The only thing I found to dissolve the copper without dissolving the Pd was a combination of sulfuric acid, water, and chromic acid. It's been 25 years, but I'm thinking it was 50/50 sulfuric (it may have been slightly weaker than this) with about 300g/l hexavalent chromic acid. This is a very, very dangerous solution, BTW. I don't think the solution was heated but it may have been. If so, that makes it even more dangerous.

After using the above solution, there will still be nickel of the back of the Pd point. This can be dissolved without dissolving Pd by using hot concentrated HCl.

 

[skeeter629]

I hope you tested your nitric solution or added it to your stockpot as it will dissolve palladium.

Nick, I did put the solution into the stockpot.

I love to scrap organs. Once I pull everything out of them, I take them out back and start swinging an 8lb sledge hammer at the remains. It is a good way to take out stress.

 

[jimdoc]

I love to scrap organs. Once I pull everything out of them, I take them out back and start swinging an 8lb sledge hammer at the remains. It is a good way to take out stress.

If any of the people who have donated a Hammond to me would have a chance to see it within two to three hours after, they would be in total shock.

Jim

 

[pimpneightez]

I just had my button analyzed by one of those x-ray testers at the junk yard. I used no chemical processes to get the palladium off the contact points and bussbar. Alot of people have been saying there is some nickle in the bussbar contact. I mixed all the wire together and made one big button. The results were 99% pure palladium.

 

[kurt]

What was the total recovery - I just picked one up a couple days ago

Kurt

 

[jimdoc]

What was the total recovery - I just picked one up a couple days ago

Kurt

What model # did you pick up?

Jim

 

[pimpneightez]

Mine was something like an e-111. I didn't wiegh it but its about 5-6 grams