Non-Chemical Suggestions from Alaska Jack

[Harold_V]

Readers,

I received an email from one of the lurkers of the board, with some ideas that you may find useful. Bear in mind, I have not tried any of them personally, so I can't speak for them. Here's what Jack had to say:

He's suggesting using a blender for chopping IC's, or a garbage disposal. If a blender is used, he suggests wrapping the body with duct tape to prolong it's useful life (and probably prevent it from shattering).

A garbage disposal may well be the way to go. They typically are hammer mills, and should last longer than a blender, but then, again, I haven't tried either system.

He suggested using wide pliers to remove fingers from boards, eliminating the use of a saw.

The one idea he has really sounds good. To remove components from mother boards, he uses an old oven, placing the board on a rack, with three pans beneath. Top pan has ½" holes, second pan has ¼" holes, and the last pan catches the solder. Says he runs the oven @ 375° and enjoys success.

It might be nice for anyone that tries his methods to comment. I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing the news.

Harold

 

[Rag and Bone]

Good ideas

Be careful with blenders. The dust could be toxic.

I used one last week to bust the pins off some old slide switch boards. It worked great. It was an old blender ($3 at a junk store). It exploded glass and ceramic all over the garage when I tried to grind 8 pieces of a P. Pro.

 

[viacin]

You guys need a blendtec blender. I've seen them grind everything possible at www.willitblend.com Including marbles! The price is a bit of a downer though, about $350.

 

[viacin]

I'm sorry, i was wrong. $399.99 to $799.99 for their blender. They had a price hike...probably because they aren't selling any.

 

[Joe]

Ive use a garbage disposal to grind mother board components including chips pins and fingers still attached to plastic conncetor housings. It did the job. It turned the stuff into an aggregate about like sand. I couldn't figure out what to do with it after that. It seemed like a bigger mess than before I put the stuff in the disposal.

 

[butcher]

those fibers from fiber glass is a nightmare in solution, maybe you can use a cloth type bag filter were acids can get in there and pull out the metal ions, or membrane ect, so you comtain those fine fibers, I just would rather process the circuit board in pieces, if doing them.