What to refine in a computer ?

[patnor1011]

post picture of that buton please...

 

[stihl88]

If you mean these Gold buttons then you are reffering to the Laser Diode. I just disected one and found nothing of significance.
The legs are magnetic and the gold can is magnetic also. I also filed away a small section which revealed some iron underneath the gold plating.

 

[61 silverman]

Hi, I did a search a while back ..Typed in IC Chemical Composition,,-The results I looked at were for A =Spartan 3 CPU ( i think that is the one ) anyway it gave a % by chip weight analysis Au 0.583 , Ag 1.35 , mentioned tin and copper also I did not note those.. This is % by weight...wirebonding ==Thermosonic Ball Method using 1.2mil. O.D.gold wire

 

[CARRJAM1981]

Are flat screen monitors worth tearing down ? What will I find ? I have been looking around the forums and see nothing.

 

[glorycloud]

Do you mean flat screen LCD type monitors or flat screen CRT monitors?
If the LCD's are dead - they can be repaired and resold. The CRT's are a
different story altogether.

Check around locally and see if anyone does LCD repairs. I have a guy who
can do it reasonably for me here in GA. Depending on size, cosmetic conditin
and MFG, they can resell for $50 and up.

It is normally better to resell, then to invest all the time and effort to scrap
monitors out for parts. 8)

 

[CARRJAM1981]

Sorry LCD. Is there anything inside worth tearing them apart for ?

 

[glorycloud]

Again, their greater value will be for parts to be resold at this point
than for PM's and other metals that you may recover.

Rip one apart and see what's in it if you like. My advise would be to do the following:

The LCD screen in working condition, the plastic bezels, stands, and other internal parts
can have value to the maintenance companies and resellers. Google your MFG and model
number / part number and see who repairs them and sell them. Contact those companies
and see if they would buy your LCD's. Try it and report back what happens. 8)

 

[tranqmorne]

Fever,

First welcome to the forum and thank you for the post.

You have a mix there of monolithics and other SMD's (surface mounted devices). The other items are not going to be of much value in the mix and should be removed.

Monolithics are specifically monolithic capacitors not any of the the other SMDs you have mixed in with them. I have pictured some of the components you have in your dish:

Inductors:

These are labeled Lx on the board with x as some location number.

Electrolytics::

These are labeled Cx on the board with x as some location number.

Ferrite Beads:

These are labeled FBx on the board with x as some location number and the most easily confused SMD with monolithics.

Diodes:

These are labeled Dx or ZDx or Zx on the board with x as some location number.

Crystals:

These are labeled Yx or Xx on the board with x as some location number.

Resistors:

These are labeled Rx on the board with x as some location number.

Resistor Arrays:

These are labeled RAx or Rx on the board with x as some location number.

Fuses:

These are labeled Fx on the board with x as some location number.

Fusible Resistors:

These are labeled Rx on the board with x as some location number.

None of the above items are monolithic.

Here are some of the items in your dish that are monolithics:

These are labeled Cx on the board with x as some location number.

These are labeled Cx on the board with x as some location number.

These are labeled Cx on the board with x as some location number.

I hope this info helps. If you have any questions please ask.

Steve

So of all of these which have PM's? Also would it be better to sort each of these SMD's into same types for easier refining or does it really matter?

 

[jimdoc]

Fever,

First welcome to the forum and thank you for the post.

You have a mix there of monolithics and other SMD's (surface mounted devices). The other items are not going to be of much value in the mix and should be removed.

Monolithics are specifically monolithic capacitors not any of the the other SMDs you have mixed in with them. I have pictured some of the components you have in your dish:

Inductors:

These are labeled Lx on the board with x as some location number.

Electrolytics::

These are labeled Cx on the board with x as some location number.

Ferrite Beads:

These are labeled FBx on the board with x as some location number and the most easily confused SMD with monolithics.

Diodes:

These are labeled Dx or ZDx or Zx on the board with x as some location number.

Crystals:

These are labeled Yx or Xx on the board with x as some location number.

Resistors:

These are labeled Rx on the board with x as some location number.

Resistor Arrays:

These are labeled RAx or Rx on the board with x as some location number.

Fuses:

These are labeled Fx on the board with x as some location number.

Fusible Resistors:

These are labeled Rx on the board with x as some location number.

None of the above items are monolithic.

Here are some of the items in your dish that are monolithics:

These are labeled Cx on the board with x as some location number.

These are labeled Cx on the board with x as some location number.

These are labeled Cx on the board with x as some location number.

I hope this info helps. If you have any questions please ask.

Steve

So of all of these which have PM's? Also would it be better to sort each of these SMD's into same types for easier refining or does it really matter?

Did you read the rest of that topic?
Monolith capacitors may have palladium, they are probably the only thing worth going after in group of pictures.

Jim

 

[tranqmorne]

I did read through the posts I guess I just didn't ask my questions clearly enough.
As I was reading through all the other questions and comments I picked up that the monolithics noted as Cx can have a number of different PM's. But it seemed like there could be PM's in others but only in large quantities.. My question is which of the other SMD's have PM's.

I under stand that it may take a lot of them but I look at it as if I'm depopulating the board anyway why not save them up for a later time.. As long as they have some sort of PM's.

 

[jimdoc]

There may be Ruthenium in some of the resistors. I doubt they are worth taking off boards. If you found large quantities of new ones, then they may be worth processing.
Selling the boards whole makes sense most of the time.

Jim

 

[tranqmorne]

Thank you Jim! I think I am going to do a little more digging on what all of these components are made of. Hopefully I will be able to put something to gether that will help clarify the mystery of the SMD's

 

[Geo]

some sound cards and video cards are gold plated on both sides under the solder mask.i dont think its very thick because when you scratch it the copper underlay comes through pretty quickly.but every little bit counts.too some older comps have a set of micro switches that are usually red with tiny white toggles.they come in one unit with six or eight switches,be careful pulling them off or taking them apart as they have small balls in them that for the best i can make out, must be pure gold.ive never been able to get one to react to any type acid.if anyone knows about these please post.

 

[Claudie]

I don't think they are pure Gold. I think they are plated on the entire surface, and that Gold plating protects the base metal from the acid, like those little pins and springs you find inside of HP printers. I have some of the balls in question, I will try to find them and do some testing.

 

[darshevo]

From my experience they are not pure as they react to a magnet. The 8 year old sure has a lot of fun breaking them open to get the gold balls out tho :mrgreen:

-Lance

 

[Geo]

i didnt try a magnet.thanks for the info.

 

[Claudie]

The last I knew, Gold was not magnetic, so I guess that answers the question.

 

[nickvc]

From my experience they are not pure as they react to a magnet. The 8 year old sure has a lot of fun breaking them open to get the gold balls out tho :mrgreen:

-Lance

Another great tool for testing, but don't discard without further testing even if items are magnetic.
Many modern platinum casting alloys are magnetic due to the cobalt and I have even found some karat scrap that was weirdly slightly magnetic but was still gold.

 

[tranqmorne]

My appoligies for reverting the topic back to a older conversation; but i recently discombobulated :lol: a PS2 (broken) and found that it has many Monolitics.. i understand that certain ones have PM's and others dont. However many on this board are not labled and also there seem to be various different colors or shades of brown, tan and gray/black. Is there a color code to these to understand what is what?

Also I have tried to search high and low on the forum for a effective way to remove the BGA's and haven't found it.. im sure i am missing something. Does one just pry it off with something or is there a less bullish way of removing them?

 

[macfixer01]

some sound cards and video cards are gold plated on both sides under the solder mask.i dont think its very thick because when you scratch it the copper underlay comes through pretty quickly.but every little bit counts.too some older comps have a set of micro switches that are usually red with tiny white toggles.they come in one unit with six or eight switches,be careful pulling them off or taking them apart as they have small balls in them that for the best i can make out, must be pure gold.ive never been able to get one to react to any type acid.if anyone knows about these please post.

This sounds like the red Grayhill brand dip switches. I too originally thought the balls were gold since someone selling gold recycling info on Ebay a few years back claimed that they were pure gold. I looked up the manufacturer data sheet once on the internet though, and it said the balls are just brass with a gold plated surface. I don't think it gave any thickness specification as I recall.

macfixer01