IBM Mainframe Scrap

[homesteadjoe]

Hi, my name is Joseph and I am new to this page. I am interested in collecting IBM thermal conduction modules (TCMs) but I am having trouble finding anything out there. I am looking for help in finding anyone who may deal in scrapping of IBM mainframes.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi, my name is Joseph and I am new to this page. I am interested in collecting IBM thermal conduction modules (TCMs) but I am having trouble finding anything out there. I am looking for help in finding anyone who may deal in scrapping of IBM mainframes.

Welcome to us Joseph.
That was a very specific target of interest.
I hope someone in here may help you an your way.

 

[Darkthirty]

Hi, my name is Joseph and I am new to this page. I am interested in collecting IBM thermal conduction modules (TCMs) but I am having trouble finding anything out there. I am looking for help in finding anyone who may deal in scrapping of IBM mainframes.

It would help if you had pictures and model numbers of where this component would be found.

 

[homesteadjoe]

Hi Darkthirty, thank you for your reply. I have attached some pictures of a TCM with a water cooling plate. I am interested in the TCMs from the IBM 3081, 3084, 3090, and ES/9000. Please let me know if there is any other information you think would be beneficial to include. All help is greatly appreciated!

 

[silversaddle1]

I have one or two of those laying around here somewhere. Question is, is it worth digging around for? It's packed away with a bunch of other IBM stuff.

 

[homesteadjoe]

Silversaddle1, I would be grateful if you were able to find them. I have been searching for these for a while but promising leads are hard to come by. It has been particularly difficult to find any hints on where a water cooling plate may be found. Any digging you are willing to do would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for replying!

 

[macfixer01]

I don’t know whether he’d be interested in selling any, but you could try contacting Glorycloud? I believe he was collecting them at one time? I know I sold him one of the big ceramic chips that came out of one once, although I believe that was a Hitachi chip. TCM stuff does occasionally show up on eBay also.

 

[homesteadjoe]

Hi macfixer01, thank you for your reply! I saw Glorycloud's posts and reached out to him but he didn't have any IBM TCMs. I have looked at ebay for a while but there is only one seller who lists them and they want up to $8000 for one! From researching historical listings on ebay, TCMs have typically sold for $300-500. I thought I would have a chance through finding a person or company in the trade of scrapping IBM mainframes but I can't find anything online or anywhere out there.

 

[silversaddle1]

Mine has the water cooling plate included with it. If I get some free time this weekend, I will look for it and see if it is what you are looking for.

 

[silversaddle1]

 

[homesteadjoe]

Hi Silversaddle1, that is so cool! I learned that is it is much more difficult to find a TCM with the water cooling plate included. Thank you for kindly being willing to look for it this weekend, I appreciate this greatly. Where in the world did you find this? Thank you for sharing pictures, your photos are fantastic! This is exactly what I am looking for. What is the black rectangular plate in the picture? I have not seen one of these before.

This is awesome Silversaddle1!

 

[silversaddle1]

The black plastic rectangle is a pin protector to prevent the gold pins from being damaged during transport. As far as where it came from, the estate of an old IBM service tech.

 

[homesteadjoe]

Thank you for your reply Silversaddle1! That part must have been helpful as I can imagine these pins are quite fragile. Wow, that was a great find by you!

 

[homesteadjoe]

How many of these do you have?

 

[sniffdog]

The black plastic rectangle is a pin protector to prevent the gold pins from being damaged during transport. As far as where it came from, the estate of an old IBM service tech.

 

[sniffdog]

Would that be John R. from Ft. Madison?

 

[silversaddle1]

"Would that be John R. from Ft. Madison?"

No, this guy was from the Omaha area.

 

[silversaddle1]

How many of these do you have?

Just the one. In 30+ years of recycling, and running across many of these TCM's in the past, this is the only one I have ever came across with the water plate and carrying case. It should be in a collection somewhere.

 

[homesteadjoe]

Thank you for answering my question Silversaddle1! Wow, you have a ton of experience when it comes to TCMs. I have been searching for a while for one of these without much success. It's really cool that you found one that was complete with the water cooling plate and carrying case. Agreed, what a beautiful piece of hardware!

 

[homesteadjoe]

From the TCMs you ran across, was this the only one with either the water cooling plate or the carrying case or the only one with both?