I, as an industrial electrician, have access to literally hundreds of boards that are not functional anymore... if I can remove the components at work by melting the solder with a heat gun and bumping them into a bucket or something, is that the best way to approach them? I have access to a large manual shear to remove the fingers... but these boards have relays, capacitors, mini transformers, resistors, flatpacks, etc... I am aware of the fumes from melting solder, but we solder things often so I know how to handle that. Just wondering if that is the best way? I know it will take some time and time is a factor, but I can do this on the clock and get paid for my time, so that is not an issue for me. I can take a few pics of the boards and try to upload them if that makes a difference. Thanks guys!
question on boards
- Thread starter Dwsj65
- Start date
Help Support Gold Refining Forum:
I will still make what I make per hour regardless... I do want to get into this as a hobby... I already prospect for gold, and would like to recover it as well... that is why I was going to do this.. I have absolutely nothing invested in them besides time, and I am already being compensated well for that... thanks!
Dwsj65 said:
Best thing I can tell you is to look for a link to hoke's book and read that. And read the various posts in this forum ther are alot of very knowledgeable people on here. A few of the moderators on this forums will have links to websites or downloads and check them out, remember the search box is your friend. Have fun, sit down, hold on and enjoy the ride.
Geo
Well-known member
there has been alot of discussions about what contains gold on circuit boards. the most you may get is the advise to read the forum. C.M. Hokes book was well before printed circuit boards but the principles of how to refine precious metals still apply. my advise to you would be not to throw away anything from the board until you have identified it and know whether or not it contains anything of value. gold hides in alot of places that cant be seen easily. there are other metals in electronics that have value and that is why you should not throw anything away until your sure of its contents. i believe the depopulated boards still have value though im not sure what it may be but that is part of the experience is searching and discovering these things at a pace that you can process the information. don't try to learn it all too quickly as it will only lead to confusion. collect and sort your material, study the processes and when you have enough material to process do small samples and learn on a small scale at first before you commit large amounts of materials and time.
good luck and good refining.
good luck and good refining.
silversaddle1
Well-known member
Sell the boards as is, buy gold.
joem
Well-known member
Do both.
Trim the fingers, remove obvious eproms with visible gold, and then sell the boards for profits they have many good ics and should get a decent price.
Trim the fingers, remove obvious eproms with visible gold, and then sell the boards for profits they have many good ics and should get a decent price.
kuma
Well-known member
Hi all , how are tricks?
I hope all is well! :mrgreen:
Some nice looking eproms and fingers there , and I'll bet that them eprom sockets are good too go aswell! 8)
All the best with it chief and kind regards,
Chris
I hope all is well! :mrgreen:
Some nice looking eproms and fingers there , and I'll bet that them eprom sockets are good too go aswell! 8)
All the best with it chief and kind regards,
Chris
Chances are that you will get less for the depopulated boards than if you had left everything on them, except for fingers if they have them. Add Pin connectors and that might be the deepest I go for removal of components. Curious to where you are located? Would like to see pictures too. Feel free to PM me if you wish as I have alternative ways that are faster to remove components and you are not slinging hot solder all over the place.
Vango57
Vango57
Geo
Well-known member
i see some really good looking stuff on those boards. although theres not a fortune to be made, there's enough on those four boards to make a decent button. the red dip switches on three of those need to be opened gently as they will contain a small gold over silver ball for each switch, each has six switches so six balls in each. looks like some magnetic reed switches on the far right board,be careful of these as some contain mercury. most of the components i see contain something good. check the small glass bodied diodes with a jewelers glass or magnifying glass because i have found that even the ones with tin plated legs still contain gold inside the glass, its not much but gold is where you find it.
Located several states away from you vango. I posted pics of the boards... I am removing the components. Don't mean to sound disrespectful there, as I certainly value the knowledge and experience here... but I want to do this... I do want to learn this hobby and I feel a group if boards like this that I have nothing invested in could be a good start... as stated before I can remove components while on the clock at work during my spare time... I would certainly love to here your other way of depopulating the boards though... that is why I started this thread.. to learn..
Thanks Geo for the response... I figured at a minimum I would remove the chips, sockets, and of course the fingers... I am separating them as I remove them... I will dig into the dip switches... may need some advice as to where to go with them once I get them opened ...
Thanks so much guys! !
Thanks Geo for the response... I figured at a minimum I would remove the chips, sockets, and of course the fingers... I am separating them as I remove them... I will dig into the dip switches... may need some advice as to where to go with them once I get them opened ...
Thanks so much guys! !
patnor1011
Well-known member
Heat gun. or
Steel pan filled with sand - put board on top of it. or
Small grill oven - set temperature on lower setting, to just melt solder not burn plastic.
Steel pan filled with sand - put board on top of it. or
Small grill oven - set temperature on lower setting, to just melt solder not burn plastic.
The best way I have found for depopulating is a reciprocating saw like a sawzall. Make a jig for your boards, get a scraper blade for the saw and go to town. I see the blades now are available up to 3 1/2 inches wide. Stuff flies everywhere!!. I just do it in a clean area and sweep up all the stuff after. I use various size sieves to sort it after. Some times I just buzz off certain parts then go after other parts later. With the right jig to hold the board you can spend more time switching boards than cleaning them off it is that fast. Watch out for kickback....Did 130 pounds of ram once in 2 days with just a 1 inch wide broken blade. 8)
pimpneightez
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2011
- Messages
- 230
Geo said:
I found some of these balls on a bunch of telecom dip switches. These are no0t solid gold correct? I thought they were plated. Looks alot like 24k though.
Geo
Well-known member
when you get enough or all you can get of the gold plated balls, process with a little nitric acid to dissolve silver leaving only the gold. be sure to wash them first because dip switches with these balls contain grease.
Let me ask one more quick question while I am still in the collecting phase please. One or two of these boards have solder on the fingers... Yes, on the fingers. It was where repairs to the boards were made quickly to get production lines back up and running. Pieces of wire have been soldered from fingers to other places on the boards to replace burned out traces.. My question, if I use the AP method with nothing but trimmed fingers, will this solder cause me a problem ? I have read many times on here that solder can cause a problem..
Thanks guys!!
Thanks guys!!
