Anybody have any use for...

[RotBaron]

As a result of being a once upon a time network admin, and comp tech support guy I have collected lots of old computers, and miscellaneous hardware items.

I was wondering if anybody has any use for this equipment or what to do with it? Any productive suggestions are welcome. In the old days it may have made great target practice, but would be harmful to the environment I'm sure...

I have an itemized list of everything here, and what their basic specs are. Although I'm sure if posting all that info to start would be beneficial, if so I will post up later.

But here is a pic to give you an idea. I really need this stuff gone and if you desire any of it please let me know.  Some of it is heavy so if you're in the metro Phoenix area by chance you could come get it.

[img] http://www.bdoutdoors.com/gallery/files/1/2/8/8/9/2/comp_pic.jpg  [img]


Thanks,
Rot

[MrRiplEy[H]]

As a result of being a once upon a time network admin, and comp tech support guy I have collected lots of old computers, and miscellaneous hardware items.

I was wondering if anybody has any use for this equipment or what to do with it? Any productive suggestions are welcome. In the old days it may have made great target practice, but would be harmful to the environment I'm sure...

I have an itemized list of everything here, and what their basic specs are. Although I'm sure if posting all that info to start would be beneficial, if so I will post up later.

But here is a pic to give you an idea. I really need this stuff gone and if you desire any of it please let me know.  Some of it is heavy so if you're in the metro Phoenix area by chance you could come get it.

[img] http://www.bdoutdoors.com/gallery/files/1/2/8/8/9/2/comp_pic.jpg  [img]


Thanks,
Rot

Put them up for recycling. Computer components have a lot of precious metals, they're a gold mine literally for recyclers.

[ebfd11]

If you are willing to part with one of those black cases I wouldn't mind buying it from ya.

LawnDart

[quig]

How much for the toaster?

[mbailey]

No use for the computers, but thanks for the SW fishing sight 

[RotBaron]

How much for the toaster?

Lol sorry can't part with that

[RotBaron]

No use for the computers, but thanks for the SW fishing sight  

Np, I couldn't figure out how to imbed an image any other way, was tired...I'm sure there is an easier way, but I have a pic gallery that bdoutdoors hosts for its members...I know your east coast, if you look in the forums there is an east coast fish reports forum.

[RotBaron]

I once read an article that spoke about the myth behind the precious metals inside of computers. Really it was both video and article, but it also spoke about massive amounts of old computers being purchased for pennies and bulk shipped to places such as China and India, where ppl labored for next to nothing at extracting the precious metals from these old computers. It was explained that the gold and other precious metals inside computers are compounds and it takes caustic chemicals to separate the them and obtain the valuable metal. They showed pictures of a man over a cauldron looking device with smoke going up and around him in what was obviously a very poor village.  The video showed a guy with knowledge of chemistry take what I would say was a room of about 50 very large computers, servers prolly, and it fast forwards to him removing the gold, then in safety suit, gloves and goggles he applies the chemicals. In the end he made a gold bb which iirc weighed one ounce or so.  He said the price of the chemicals and time involved made this hardly a profitable endeavor, but if you could ship tens of thousands of those computers overseas...

Anyhow, after writing all that, probably should have just found the video link...

Finally the question, do recyclers really pay anything for these old computers, or am I better off trying to take to them for scrap metal? Are the recycling guys on google really doing it themselves, or shipping it to China? Oh forgot to mention, the article tells about the chemicals and by-products going into the ground water in the village, environmentalist propaganda or truth? I've got nothing against doing right by mother nature, but if it's just going pollute another country then I have to reconsider.

Thanks,

Rot


Just need the stuff gone soon.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I once read an article that spoke about the myth behind the precious metals inside of computers. Really it was both video and article, but it also spoke about massive amounts of old computers being purchased for pennies and bulk shipped to places such as China and India, where ppl labored for next to nothing at extracting the precious metals from these old computers. It was explained that the gold and other precious metals inside computers are compounds and it takes caustic chemicals to separate the them and obtain the valuable metal. They showed pictures of a man over a cauldron looking device with smoke going up and around him in what was obviously a very poor village.  The video showed a guy with knowledge of chemistry take what I would say was a room of about 50 very large computers, servers prolly, and it fast forwards to him removing the gold, then in safety suit, gloves and goggles he applies the chemicals. In the end he made a gold bb which iirc weighed one ounce or so.  He said the price of the chemicals and time involved made this hardly a profitable endeavor, but if you could ship tens of thousands of those computers overseas...

Anyhow, after writing all that, probably should have just found the video link...

Finally the question, do recyclers really pay anything for these old computers, or am I better off trying to take to them for scrap metal? Are the recycling guys on google really doing it themselves, or shipping it to China? Oh forgot to mention, the article tells about the chemicals and by-products going into the ground water in the village, environmentalist propaganda or truth? I've got nothing against doing right by mother nature, but if it's just going pollute another country then I have to reconsider.

Thanks,

Rot


Just need the stuff gone soon.

At least here in the Nordic you're obliged by law to deliver any waste electronics to recycling centers. Each shop that sells electronics is obliged to receive and handle electronic waste. Of course the second option would be to give the computers away to a flee-market for sale. Down here we have non-profit organizations who trade second hand material for charity.

[Nwbie]

the gold, silver and platinum from the cards is the valuable parts... if you have a recycler in the area - he probably would pay for the cards. The monitors are practically useless to a recycler, cost more to waste it then the value of the metal inside. The cases and balance of the parts - other than any wire which has copper in it - last I saw copper was still over 3.50 / lb. - really adds up quick - cases will get scrap steel pricing - on the low end of the market. As for China - largest metal smelters in the world now, it is true about the cheap labor, know a guy who sells to a china exporter - has laborers over there pulling apart motors for the copper wire. Metal recycling is a very dirty, very profitable business. So you can imagine how cutthroat the business is. Why use a metal recycler - get paid for the metal - ie. copper and small amounts of the steel; and avoid having to pay your waste hauler to take that type of waste away.

NwBie

[RotBaron]

the gold, silver and platinum from the cards is the valuable parts... if you have a recycler in the area - he probably would pay for the cards. The monitors are practically useless to a recycler, cost more to waste it then the value of the metal inside. The cases and balance of the parts - other than any wire which has copper in it - last I saw copper was still over 3.50 / lb. - really adds up quick - cases will get scrap steel pricing - on the low end of the market. As for China - largest metal smelters in the world now, it is true about the cheap labor, know a guy who sells to a china exporter - has laborers over there pulling apart motors for the copper wire. Metal recycling is a very dirty, very profitable business. So you can imagine how cutthroat the business is. Why use a metal recycler - get paid for the metal - ie. copper and small amounts of the steel; and avoid having to pay your waste hauler to take that type of waste away.

NwBie

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. I'm waiting on a call back from a couple co's that say they will pay for these comps. They say that shipping is free to them.  Clean copper is around $1.60/lb here, so I'm wondering if I should just take apart everything myself, although that may involve more time than I have...

[Bizman]

I just gave some old hardware to a friend who does minor business with our local recycling company. He gets better paid if he sorts the parts. Today we balanced 190 kg of "volume": four crt monitors, half a dozen cases including a Compaq server and half a dozen both cd and floppy drives. That was the invaluable part. The valuable part consisted of motherboards, processors, ram stics and such. Some of the PSU's were saved for further usage. It pays to tear all apart and sort the components before taking to the recycler. Otherwise they'd pay you by the cheapest only.

[RotBaron]

Man I've found lots of magnets in disassembling some of these computers, very very strong. Put them together and it's hard to pull apart lol. Neodymium magnets apparently, haven't looked the facts about them yet...

I've been parting some of this stuff out, but too much of it still remains. It's very time consuming to take these computers apart and I doubt there is much value in what I've found so far. One comp yielded itself about 4 pounds of aluminum - the little spacewalker in the pic.

I wonder why there is so much urban legend about the value of the scrap in old computers. I guess I don't know where to look for the platinum, but almost all of the gold is all plated, hardly worth the time.

Time to pull apart the monster HP laserjet ( HP laserjet 4500N ) and see what awaits me precious.
Has been a real learning experience in disassembling all of this...

[Bizman]

Man I've found lots of magnets in disassembling some of these computers, very very strong. Put them together and it's hard to pull apart lol. Neodymium magnets apparently, haven't looked the facts about them yet...

Yep, the best fridge magnets ever, would hold a telephone catalogue... 

I wonder why there is so much urban legend about the value of the scrap in old computers. I guess I don't know where to look for the platinum, but almost all of the gold is all plated, hardly worth the time.

It's not urban legend, but you'd have to have truckloads of sorted scrap before benefiting seriously. The point is, getting valuable metals out of electric waste is much cheaper than to mine for them. You can't substitute a gold mine with half a dozen old computers. There are both more and less environmentally friendly ways to get the valuable metals out of the circuit boards, but none are for home users.