PC SALVAGE!!

[rice37]

Finlay got to bust into the old pc that hasnt worked in a year. I did do some searching in the form archives, but i really wanted to know if anyone had some pics or some numbers of some of the caps, and other fun stuff thats in there worth saving. Thanks so much for everyone in advance.
Rice

[timd]

I've busted into PC also and have found it rather disappointing. Most of the stuff is smd microchips and other unusable things. Also, you usually only get electrolytic caps - no film ones. Depending on what you want to build, here are things I would save:

All the wire!
Maybe the drives for resale if they work
the USB/RCA/other female inputs
the power supply case for a pedal housing
the quartz oscillator
The few caps and resistors (you'll find the high values in the power supply - just be careful in there! Those big caps can still hold a shock after power is removed.
The led

This is all from memory, I may have forgotten something.

[petey twofinger]

make a pedal out of the tower !

[Electron Tornado]

Here's something you can do with the hard drive(s):

http://www.afrotechmods.com/cheap/hdspeakers/hdspeakers.htm

[radio]

Just a warning,don't do the stupid thing I did once:

Salvaged cables of non-working power supplys

Did that once and you bet there were plenty of cables

that stopped the PC from working,ie were interrupted!

Apart from that the error bips you can get at startup

are from a LM386 since ages.

Regards

[timd]

make a pedal out of the tower !

Now that's the ticket!

[Paul Marossy]

I have found that there is basically nothing in a computer that could work for DIY stuff other than maybe trying to use the casing(s) for something. I've cannibalized dead power supplies before for the wire and what caps may be usable, but for the most part the wire sucks because it takes solder very poorly. Oh and the power supply fans I sometimes do stuff with.

[Perrow]

- Voltage regulators (12V & 5V)
- Mosfet suitable for SMPS (I used the one I found in a Superfly build, much better Mosfet than the IRF740 most people use).
Both those inside the power supply, which case you've already been instructed to salvage, I built an adjustable power supply in one, perfect size.



I've recently installed a digital voltmeter instead of the repurpoused VU-meter. It's on my todo list to go digital on the amp meter as well.

[J0K3RX]

I find plenty of good stuff in old scrapped out PC's! The mother board alone has sh!t loads of surface mount which I use like diodes, resistors, caps  and through hole...

a lot of good smd tantalum caps!


The power supply is loaded with usable stuff as well...

Don't forget the CD/DVD Rom audio cable... it's usually shielded wire which is great to have!

I don't keep every junk PC I see but I have a couple scrapped out packed away for pulling from when I am experimenting or need to add a resistor here or a diode there and no room for a through hole then the SMD comes in handy...

Hard drives have some killer powerful magnets inside... I have a metal bowl and I stuck one of those magnets on the bottom and not I throw all my screws and stuff in that bowl and they never fall out

[timd]

make a pedal out of the tower !

Could you get away with calling it the "Tower of Power"? 

[J0K3RX]

make a pedal out of the tower !

Could you get away with calling it the "Tower of Power"? 

I looked at your pedals Tim, very creative imagination!! The Jello mold is a gem!! You definitely don't let anything go to waste! 

[timd]

Thank You! Everyday I look around with "pedal housing vision"!

[duck_arse]

I built a fuzzface w/boss bypass switching and a piezo "stompswitch" into an ancient hard drive, back from when the still had shock mounts.

wood for trees. don't look in the pc, look at the pc. take to the sheet metal with a jigsaw, and then start bending up your own cases.

there is also some good ferrites in the power supply, along with schottky power diodes and regulators. and heatsinks. the plastic front panels, screw-in standoffs in old boxes, plenty good junk.

[toejammer]

Some of the goodies I've found in PC's :

1) Brass mobo studs and plastic mounting posts
2) Older PC's had a crapload of LEDs back in the day
3) Male / female molex connectors, fan power connectors, audio connectors from CD-Rom to sound card
4) Chip heatsinks (if anything, they look cool)
5) Ribbon cables are solid core if I'm not mistaken, good jumper wire.
6) Lastly, I used to make keychains out of old sticks of ram...... just don't try to go thru airport security with one