Loads and Loads of Casino LED boards....

[MMFJ]

OK, refiners, here's what I have, and I need some ideas with any/all of the following;
1. How would you 'grade' these boards?
2. How would you process them?
3. Anyone looking for a project? (this may stretch more into the sale/trade side and we can move it there or through PM - I didn't want to double post...)
4. (the overall question, I guess...) What would you do with them if they were yours?


These all came from a local casino game manufacturer. They have some sort of resin over the chips (look for the glint in the pictures)

Various sizes and styles of boards - some are 18" x 18" (already in the bottom of the box, not pictured)


I've read that LEDs should have some gold in them http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=6329&hilit=Items+That+Contain+Precious+Material and when I look through a loop, there is a speck of what appears to be gold attaching the wires in most of these LEDs, and some of them have what appears to be gold wiring. There's one board (it was already in the bottom of the box before I got pictures) that is what I'd call 'extra yellow' that has some of the most heavy gold-looking lights as they have what I'd call a small gold reflector in them.

I have no way to process anything myself (darn ordinances, rules and restrictions!) and am looking for ideas on best things to do with these. I got them at a pretty good price (I believe) though now that my client has brought me another load of them (along with about 70 lbs of very highly populated boards and 30 gold cap chips, which I happily took!), I've got nearly TWO HUNDRED POUNDS of these things (2 dish pack boxes full!) that need to go somewhere.

They do have some chips, though the LEDs are no question the make/break here.

I searched the forum for "LED", but find no posts with data, so this might be a good time to create one?

The boards came to me encased in their aluminum frames (which we had to remove and I'll recover some of my cost on) so I dropped my standard price way down on them and have little in them, though certainly not little enough to let them sit in storage!

Your thoughts?

 

[NobleMetalWorks]

When school is in, I donate some populated boards to the local high schools to depopulate. I take the ICs before I send them, they depopulate and retain the other items like LEDs, resistors, etc. I get a right off on my taxes, and I get back boards that I then can strip the solder mask off of, and process in a stripping tank.

I'm not sure if this helps you at all. For me it's a win/win. I am reintroducing material back into the production stream, high school kids are able to more readily afford building and learning about electronics, I get a tax write off, and my boards are far easier to process after, plus I am getting free labor.

Or maybe you can make nightclub lighting out of them. =)

Scott

 

[MMFJ]

I have had some interest from one guy that wanted them for use under tricked-out cars, since they are waterproof. Thought he could chop them into sections and get some pretty interesting under-car effects.

I did go in to the shop for a short time today and found one that was new in the wrapper - small tag on it said it was a lighting company, not casino boards (first I'd seen, not that it makes a huge difference in processing, but seems to always be nice to know where stuff comes from). That would also explain the resin/waterproofing.

 

[Smack]

Patnor method on led's

 

[patnor1011]

Patnor method on led's

My mortar is iron pipe with round screw on cap on bottom and pestle is 2 kilogram iron rod. That will sort out leds in no time. Some manual work included.

 

[MMFJ]

Patnor method on led's

My mortar is iron pipe with round screw on cap on bottom and pestle is 2 kilogram iron rod. That will sort out leds in no time. Some manual work included.

So, any ideas what yields might come from the pictured items? I've got about 300 lbs of them...

I did take my small saw and carefully (not to rip into the circuit board and release PCBs...) removed the LEDs on a few boards. Messy, but went pretty quickly (if you are considering this, use a big box and put the work down inside to catch as many of the flying bits as you can - though you will still find plenty on the floor for awhile!).

Got about 1/2 kg LEDs with 'short or no legs' that I think are ready for "THE PIPE". It would take several hours to clear all the boards, so knowing what yields might bring will help me calculate worthiness. Generally, I would just drop them in the 'mid-grade/peripheral' board pile and sell them off, though since your offer of "manual work included" :shock: I'll really consider chopping them off and looking for you to come on over! :lol:

 

[Smack]

I have looked at many many led's under magnification. Not all use gold wire in the diode to emit light, some have a silver colored wire but I never did any test on the silver one's to determine what the metal is and couldn't find manufacturing spec's that states what metal those silver wires are.

 

[etack]

(not to rip into the circuit board and release PCBs...)

Just a FYI so you can feel safer they are PCB's (printed circuit boards), not PCB's (Polychlorinated biphenyl).

Eric

 

[MMFJ]

(not to rip into the circuit board and release PCBs...)

Just a FYI so you can feel safer they are PCB's (printed circuit boards), not PCB's (Polychlorinated biphenyl).

Eric

Thanks for the input, Eric. I always thought they were just fiberglass (which, in itself is not something you want to particularize and breath in!). My reference to "release PCBs" though comes from the forum - many references, one in particular from Geo http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=10412&hilit=remove+motherboard&start=20#p141094 where he stated

its the general consensus (and rightly so) that cutting a PCB (printed circuit board) with a saw of any kind is very bad for your health. the board contains many toxic compounds like PCB (a cancer causing compound) along with heavy metals like beryllium.

At any rate, whatever is in those boards,
:arrow: it is a BAD IDEA to use a saw of any kind to slice, tear, rip or cut into Printed Circuit Boards!

 

[patnor1011]

....its the general consensus (and rightly so) that cutting a PCB (printed circuit board) with a saw of any kind is very bad for your health. the board contains many toxic compounds like PCB (a cancer causing compound) along with heavy metals like beryllium.

Board in itself do not contain PCB - that is substance found in some type of mostly old capacitors. Beryllium is mostly in pins where spring tension is required.
The bigger hazard which comes to mind is that it may be fine fibreglass released and some boards may contain other toxic chemicals used as flame retardants - they were commonly used in plastics casings of older TV sets for example.
There is probably couple times more of lead than beryllium in board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychlorinated_biphenyl