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localearner

Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2024
Messages
22
Location
New Jersey
I’ve been collecting old Ceramic CPUs mainly because I love these old processors, but to also try to refine the gold and silver out of them, and I managed to collect about 130 of them (3kg) amounting to about 16-18g of gold or 1,500-1,700$ in gold.

I have experience refining gold and chemistry in general, but I would have to purchase or make a new fume hood which would be costly. I have the proper chemicals, instruments, glassware so the only addition I would need is the fume hood.

Last time I did recovery was about half a year ago, when I did sorta carelessly mishandle the fumes, inhaling some NOx gases which thankfully didn’t affect me that much. This occurred due to an unexpected issue with my respirator cartridges and lack of proper airflow, hence I’m trying to make/buy a proper fume hood this time.

Do I try to sell everything to Boardsort for 1,100$, attempt to sell on eBay without getting suspended or do I refine it myself?
I will still be keeping the better conditioned ones (30 pcs.) for collective purposes.

What would the non-scrap collective values of these processors be?
Any advice would be appreciated greatly. Thank you!
 

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Check the values as collectables before starting some may well be worth a lot more than any values they contain.
There are designs here on the forum for diy fume hoods failing that a fan at your back pushing the fumes away can be utilized.
 
Check the values as collectables before starting some may well be worth a lot more than any values they contain.
There are designs here on the forum for diy fume hoods failing that a fan at your back pushing the fumes away can be utilized.
Most are in poor condition (many bent pins, burnt, discolored), but their gold value remains the same at 18$/i486. The same CPUs that are in good condition are worth 20$. I will save the better conditioned ones for my own personal collection, but seems like I should try to recover the gold from the worse conditioned ones.

I will have to do this in an enclosed space with a big enough vent opening right in front of the table where I can set up a fume hood.

Unfortunately this means that I will sort of rely on the fume hood, and my respirator.
 
Most are in poor condition (many bent pins, burnt, discolored), but their gold value remains the same at 18$/i486. The same CPUs that are in good condition are worth 20$. I will save the better conditioned ones for my own personal collection, but seems like I should try to recover the gold from the worse conditioned ones.

I will have to do this in an enclosed space with a big enough vent opening right in front of the table where I can set up a fume hood.

Unfortunately this means that I will sort of rely on the fume hood, and my respirator.
I hope it is not inside the house or garage.

If it is in a enclosed space all metal in that area will be destroyed.
Respirators are not a good idea.
They have a very limited lifespan from the moment you open them, and even shorter when you start using them.
You might need to reconsider and find some other space.
 
I hope it is not inside the house or garage.

If it is in a enclosed space all metal in that area will be destroyed.
Respirators are not a good idea.
They have a very limited lifespan from the moment you open them, and even shorter when you start using them.
You might need to reconsider and find some other space.
The spot is in a separate garage not near my house, and the last time I did refining I used a very small DIY fume hood that had the capacity of 2-3 1l beakers and some 250ml beakers, but the gasses did rust the fan out. The respirator cartridges lasted about a week against Cl2 and HCl gasses, which is enough to complete refining something start to finish.

I really want to find another place to do this, what places would you recommend me looking in to? I don’t have a yard far enough from other people
 

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