HEY DONT THROW AWAY THOSE BROKEN PC's PSU TOO!

[earthtonesaudio]

Because these are parts you already have.
No reason NOT to use them?

Actually, there are a couple of reasons that I can think of.  One is the fact that my time is worth more than a few pennies per hour.  Another is that salvaged parts don't have the lead length to make them universally viable to re-use.  It's also highly possible that many of these components are of less-than-stellar quality to begin with, which only makes it seem less logical to go through the effort to salvage them in the first place.  Finally, I've already got more than enough junk lying around my house, and have no desire to add to that pile with components that I may well never make use of. 

I also am aware of the "bigger picture" of manufacturing, and the argument for recycling in general.  I haven't advocated throwing this stuff into the trash.  I just don't feel it worth my time to mess around with the recycling myself, that's all.  I've got better things to do with my limited avaiable time. 

That said, I don't have anything against anybody else doing this, if they feel that they benefit from it. 

the "dude just throw that out and BUY it because it's cheap" attitude doesn't fit here anywhere.

We could just respectfully agree to disagree. 

In my humble opinion, it's simply not worth my time and effort to painstakingly remove and clean up previously-assembled components from existing, unuseable products on hand.  That's all.  I'm not an earth-hater, a slave-labor proponent, a mojo/karma-killer, or utterly foolish because I have this opinion.  I just happen to hold a different opinion than some, that's all.  This seems like a "big tent" matter, to me. 

After my last post you might be surprised to find that I agree with most of your points.  But I would clarify that some things are worth salvaging more than others.  Even I won't desolder old 7400 series logic chips, but I bet you'd be hard-pressed to find someone on this forum (yourself included) who would leave a vintage Bassman to rot on the side of the road. 
Am I right? 

[m-theory]

I bet you'd be hard-pressed to find someone on this forum (yourself included) who would leave a vintage Bassman to rot on the side of the road. 

Ironic that you make that reference, seeing as how I've restored two blackface versions, including one that's fully plexi modded, right down to the 6ca7 output tubes.  Rebuilding a vintage amp is more on par with rebuilding a vintage pedal or guitar though, don't you think?  Btw, between those two amps, I think I had one or two useable tubes and a handful of useable film caps.  The rest, aside from the iron, wasn't worth salvaging. 

[SpencerPedals]

the "dude just throw that out and BUY it because it's cheap" attitude doesn't fit here anywhere.

We could just respectfully agree to disagree. 

In my humble opinion, it's simply not worth my time and effort to painstakingly remove and clean up previously-assembled components from existing, unuseable products on hand.  That's all.

I'm still not sure why you're trying to tell people that they're wasting their time doing something that is better for the environment than what you do and clearly doesn't bother them to do or they would be hiding somewhere feeling ashamed about it, because you feel your time is more valuable.  This topic was started giving information about making use of broken electronics and then you have to say how you're too important to take part in that sort of thing.  If your time is that precious, you probably would have just skipped this thread and definitely skipped taking the time to post in it. 

Like one of those guys that has to throw out "tone is all in the fingers and you'd be better by practicing" in a thread about getting a particular tone from effects, amps, etc. 

[valdiorn]

I break them open all the time, useful for power switches, power connectors, good electrolytic caps, some wire, switch mode transformers (still need to look better into that, want to make a high voltage output switch mode PSU for tubes ), I also use the fans for various shit I'm doing... lots of cool parts in there

[Cliff Schecht]

I agree with M-theory. I don't really ever salvage parts from old stuff unless I need the part and can't get it elsewhere. The exception to this rule is of course when you want an IC that is out of production and there is one sitting in the broken board on the desk. Also, being that I am always within 20 minutes of fully equipped labs both in Austin and in Lubbock, I don't ever really need to buy stuff.

Something else that is important to remember is that a lot of the parts that are in a power supply are specifically chosen for the application. Some of the caps, for example,  may not work/sound so well when you place them in your audio circuit. I also agree that the leads weaken with repeated soldering, but this usually isn't an issue if you know how to remove parts properly .

[doitle]

I work for minimum wage and have trouble getting hours as it is... So my time is worth next to nothing anyhow :/

Also salvaging parts is a lot of fun and relaxing at least for me. It's something that is useful in that it gives me more parts to play with and yet it is "mindless". Just something you can do for a while to unwind.

[jakehop]

It's all about cost/benefit analysis!

If you have spare time on your hands that you can't do anything else with that you consider more worthwhile than scavaging, by all means scavage! Stuff in Denmark is kinda expensive sometimes, so spending half an hour scavaging and measuring parts from some old stuff saved me about 450DKK or about $90 in parts. Go figure :-)

Kind regards, Jake

[m-theory]

I'm still not sure why you're trying to tell people that they're wasting their time

This topic was started giving information about making use of broken electronics and then you have to say how you're too important to take part in that sort of thing.  If your time is that precious, you probably would have just skipped this thread and definitely skipped taking the time to post in it. 

Ligthen up a bit, and learn to accept that other people may have different opinions than yours.  I never said that those who did this were wasting their time.  I said that, IN MY OPINION, it's a waste of MY time that I'm not willing to do it.  I have no problem whatsoever with you or anyone else doing this.  I've gone out of my way to show no disrespect towards anyone who thinks differently on this, and even opened my comments by stating so.  I would expect the same from those who don't hold the same opinion that I do, frankly.       

Like one of those guys that has to throw out "tone is all in the fingers and you'd be better by practicing"

I sound very much like me regardless of which amp I plug into, and in playing in a local jam band, I get to hear scores of different players plug into my gear, and not a single one of them sounds like me, even though they're using my amp and pedal(s).  I'd say that probably 90% of a person's tone comes from that finger to fretboard connection, though that again, is a PERSONAL OPINION.  No offense intended with it. 

BUT, that's a discussion for another thread, and one that's most certainly been beaten to death countless times over already. 

BTW, I know of a person who raked in MILLIONS of dollars by "recycling" a military ABM site, when it was closed (within months of going active, no less).  He won the contract to reclaim the wiring and copper pipes in the building, and made a fricking killing on it.  Smart guy.  THAT would be a recycling effort that I could sink my teeth into! 

[SpencerPedals]

I'm well aware you are entitled to your personal opinion, I just thought considering it, you have nothing valuable to add to a discussion about salvage from old electronics.  And I'm sure your sound through a Tubescreamer into a Twin sounds exactly like you playing through a Clari(not) and Aqua Puss into a JCM 800.  Not sure why you're even a member here, really.   

[Electron Tornado]

Like one of those guys that has to throw out "tone is all in the fingers and you'd be better by practicing"

I sound very much like me regardless of which amp I plug into, and in playing in a local jam band, I get to hear scores of different players plug into my gear, and not a single one of them sounds like me, even though they're using my amp and pedal(s).  I'd say that probably 90% of a person's tone comes from that finger to fretboard connection, though that again, is a PERSONAL OPINION.  No offense intended with it. 

BUT, that's a discussion for another thread, and one that's most certainly been beaten to death countless times over already.  

I rather agree that the vast majority of tone comes from the fingers. Here's a video that illustrates that point well:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5083645510097023406&q=junior+brown

[Electron Tornado]

I'm well aware you are entitled to your personal opinion, I just thought considering it, you have nothing valuable to add to a discussion about salvage from old electronics.  And I'm sure your sound through a Tubescreamer into a Twin sounds exactly like you playing through a Clari(not) and Aqua Puss into a JCM 800.  Not sure why you're even a member here, really.   

Hey, man, if the guy feels his time is better spent by ordering parts versus salvaging, then he's free to build as he pleases. It's his time and money, and his to spend as he wishes. Lighten up. He's provided his perspective on the topic of parts salvaging while I don't recall seeing him disparaging those who enjoy it.

:icon_idea:Instead of giving him grief about it, why not ask him if he's got some defunct electronics laying around that you could take off his hands? 

[SpencerPedals]

The fact is that he came into a topic of people sharing information relevant to recycling parts telling them to "think bigger" when he sees the smallest part of a large picture, and then that part isn't even right.  Like the guys you always have in a high school class, or the lesser mature college kids even, that play the devil's advocate by just picking a small facet of a large topic and preaching about that, turning away from the other parts of a bigger picture the entire time.  They'll never admit it, and I don't plan to happen here either, but with nothing useful to add to the thread and having valuable free time, they're still around.

There are parts that you can salvage that you're not going to find if you put them on your shopping list.  And as far as making $2.50 an hour goes, I pulled the keyboard from a broken Conn Organ and found at least 20 4jx1d610 germaniums that I have only seen here: http://www.ultraelectronicactive.com/Vintage-Vacuum-Tubes.html 

For $9.00 a piece.  For less than 10 minutes of work that's $180 and if you want to figure it out by the hour, it's $1080/hr.

There's taking one facet and running with it.  It's not representative, either.

Now for relevant topic info:

I also dismantled an old 8 track recorder the other day and it had 9 or 10 Japanese germaniums.  I've yet to test them for hFE and leakage, but the other few I've tested from the 2SB line from previous scavengings had good readings.  So I'm hopeful.  I did the same with an old receiver.  A decent rule of thumb is that any home electronics that were made with a wood case probably have some older stuff in them.  I've also found some old .1uF caps that are shaped like a film cap but have the texture and color of a ceramic.  Anyone know which those might actually be?

[Electron Tornado]

The fact is that he came into a topic of people sharing information relevant to recycling parts telling them to "think bigger"

Actually, it was another poster who used that language in a reply to the guy who prefers not to salvage. After reading the thread again, the guy who prefers not to salvage simply stated his point of view, and I never found him contentious or derisive. But I'm not here to butt heads with you. My point is that none of us need to butt heads over this, because then we're nothing but a bunch of buttheads. 

[Hanglow]

Who throws out a moog, fool, lucky find for you though and nice you got it up and running but garbage raiding isn't really possible here in the U.K... Skip raiding occasionaly though although I dunno why it would have any electronics or effects in it.

As for the TV yeah I knew about the Caps being not so fun but those articles had some interesting other stuff in them, I didn't know that the cathode ray tubes liked to explode... i'l probably leave the set for 6 months anyways.

I don't tend to re use electrolytics admittedly.. unless the thing that failed wasn't too old.

try going along to your local council tip/recycling centre - the ones in glasgow have a really high turnover of old electronic equipment. Loads to plunder if you want to.

I recycle some parts where I can, but tend not bother with resistors etc as the leads tend to be too short.

[SpencerPedals]

Yeah that was my mistake on the misquote.  My apologies.

I would probably die if I found a Moog in need of repair or even for parts.  I live in a rural area, though, and old organs or possibly a guitar amp are really as close as I'll find for musical instruments out here.

[frequencycentral]

My best 'dumpster haul' was about 10 years ago. I was doing some consultancy work at a school and happened to walk into the music department as a storage cupboard was being cleared out. Sitting on the floor was a Korg MS20, Korg MS50 and Korg SQ10, all with condemned stickers on them. Electrical equipment in schools has to be tested regularly - these three items had failed due to small nicks in the mains cable, just the outer sleeve, the kind of thing that you and I would wrap electrical tape around and know to be safe. It turned out that they were about to be thrown in a skip. Had I walked in an hour later I never would have known. They went home with me. Nice.

[earthtonesaudio]

I just liberated some IRFP450LC/460LC power MOSFETs and associated heatsink hardware from a dumpster-destined PSU.  These will be going into an envelope-tracking class D amplifier efficienty experiment... eventually.

[m-theory]

I'm well aware you are entitled to your personal opinion, I just thought considering it, you have nothing valuable to add to a discussion about salvage from old electronics.  And I'm sure your sound through a Tubescreamer into a Twin sounds exactly like you playing through a Clari(not) and Aqua Puss into a JCM 800.  Not sure why you're even a member here, really.   

What's with this infantile hostility?  Jeebers...nice to know we've got thread gestapo roaming around to keep everybody's thoughts and comments in line, huh?  Grow up, change your diaper, and stop trying to make enemies, clown. 

[bassmannate]

I work at Best Buy and we started a recycling program a few months ago. Now, our store is one of the top recyclers in our district and you would not believe the sheer amount of electronic junk people are throwing out! It's a bit painful to have to ship off all those usable components.

[Electron Tornado]

I work at Best Buy and we started a recycling program a few months ago. Now, our store is one of the top recyclers in our district and you would not believe the sheer amount of electronic junk people are throwing out! It's a bit painful to have to ship off all those usable components.

Now, the question becomes, where are they shipping it?