Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction:
This book is intended to help in the process of identifying recyclable parts found in most
electronics. In particular which components may contain PMs (Precious Metals) and
what types of PMs may be found. In addition this book will attempt to make suggestions
on how to remove and process these components. This book will show pictures of
components and devices to help in identifying those items.
The first chapter will describe different electronic components that are found in many of
todays electronic devices. The subsequent chapters will describe many of the electronic
devices and the sub-assemblies that may be found in them.
It is also intended to be used as an ongoing guide that can be updated with unique or
unusual items found by people that are in the scrap recycling hobby/business.
The final purpose of this book is to help better identify objects that may be worth
purchasing for recovery and recycling.
This book will show pictures of as well as
Tips:
To maximize the value of the recovered materials it is suggested that you recover
all metals not just the PMs. When disassembling any electronic device you will
find many valuable metals like copper, aluminum and different forms of steel and
iron. These not only can be recycled and cashed in at your local recycling centers
but you will help to eliminate these metals and more importantly the plastics,
coatings and paints used on them from ending up in landfills and eventually
leaching in to our drinking water and soil.
The following is three examples of diode bridges. They can be identified by the four
prongs or contacts attached to them.
1.3) Capacitors
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Aluminum, ceramics, Film type (polycarbonate, polystyrene, polypropylene,
polyester (Mylar), and for high quality capacitors polysulfone), and Tantalum.
Scrap value: Little expect for the Tantalum capacitors and maybe for the aluminum in
the can (canister) type. However the work involved to recover the aluminum and the
amount recovered are not worth the work. They are best saved for resale as used parts.
PM yield: None except for Tantalum capacitors.
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Warning: Be careful to discharge them especially the large can types before removing.
Special notes or instruction: Collect the Tantalum capacitors and then grind them up to
process them for recovery of the Tantalum.
Hint for Identifying: Look for a number on the PCB, next to the part, that starts with a
C for capacitor.
Capacitors vary in size and shape here are a few examples of the most common ones.
Surface mounted very small (Picture is larger them item) similar to Aluminum
Electrolytic (can) Capacitors only much shorter.
Ceramic capacitors these can be mistaken for one of the Tantalum types, especially the
blue ones.
Dipped Tantalum, looks very similar to ceramic, but is usually very small.
Variable capacitors are a mechanical capacitor that is used in places like TV for fine
tuning controls. These look similar to rheostats and variable resistors. There only value is
for resale or for the little amount of aluminum or steel.
1.4) Transistors
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Most are silicon or silicon germanium (SiGe).However some old and some
high power types are made from germanium (Ge). Newer High performance types use
material gallium arsenide (GaAs). Other materials that are used are Aluminum or Tin
(contacts & casing) and plastic casings.
Scrap value: Little or none other then as used parts for resale with the exception of some
gold on the contacts (leads) with some of the smaller parts.
PM yield: Very little except with the plated leads on some smaller ones.
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: Warning: Gallium Arsenide types contain arsenic.
Hint for Identifying: Look for three contacts.
1.5) Resistors
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Ceramics, copper, carbon, plastic, aluminum, tin (leads) and cement.
Scrap value: None except for resale value as used parts or some copper in the windings
of some of the larger wire wound resistors.
PM yield: None
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
Some of the most common resistor types from top to bottom.
Carbon Composition Resistor, Carbon Film Resistors, Metal Oxide Resistors,
Wire wound Resistors and Cement Wire wound Resistor
Shunt resistors.
1.6) Switches
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Plastic, steel, aluminum, copper and gold.
Scrap value: Some gold plating on tiny round plate inside button switches. They may
also be resold as used parts.
PM yield: Minimal from plating on round contact under button. Process with light plated
pins or fingers.
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
Toggle and rocker switches.
1.7) Potentiometers/Rheostats
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Plastic, aluminum, copper and steel
Scrap value: Only as used parts
PM yield: None
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
These resemble the variable resistors and can be used for volume control or as a light
dimmer.
1.8) Crystals/Oscillators
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Ceramics, Aluminum, Tin and steel
Scrap value: None except as used parts.
PM yield: None
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: Used for frequency control
1.9) Relays
(7)
(2)
(8)
(3)
(9)
(4)
(10)
(5)
(11)
(6)
(12)
1.10) Fuses
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Aluminum, glass, plastics, ceramics and
Scrap value: None except as used parts.
PM yield: None
Places found: PCs, other electronics, cars and homes.
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting or snap out of mount.
Special notes or instruction: None
Blade fuses
1.11) Rectifiers
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Plastics, brass and aluminum (leads)
Scrap value: None except as used parts
PM yield: None
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
PIV Rectifier
1.12) Transformers
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Iron, steel, copper (Wire windings) and plastic
Scrap value: Depending on there size they are a good source of copper and steel. Smaller
ones can be sold as used parts.
PM yield: None
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: Use hack saw or Dremel cutting saw to cut windings on
both sides all the way through to the core then you can easily pull the winding from the
transformer. The remaining core is usually iron or steel and can be recycled as well
(Remove any plastic or tape before recycling).
Laminated steel core Transformers
1.13) Batteries
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: plastics, Lead, Mercury, Nickel, Cadmium, lithium and steel (Casings).
Scrap value: None except for car batteries. These contain acid that can be refined and
used to process PMs.
PM yield: none
Places found: PC and other electronics like type found in toys, cameras, cell phones,
hearing aids and portable radios.
Disassembly: Snap out of mounts.
Special notes or instruction: Due to toxic chemicals and metals please recycle at local
battery or electronics store.
1.14) Inductors
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Iron, plastic, ceramics, copper (wire windings)
Scrap value: Depending on size the copper windings and the iron cores can be
recovered. With smaller units they are best sold as used parts.
PM yield: None
Places found: PCs and other electronics. Found on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
Special notes or instruction: Best place to find gold plating is on RJ45, RS-232, gold
tipped audio jacks and pins in ribbon (ATA/IDE) cable connectors.
DIN and Mini DIN connectors used on keyboards and mice.
RS-232 Adaptors.
Molex connectors for connecting PC Power supply to devices like hard drive or Floppy.
USB Male (Left) Female (Right) used for printers, Digital cameras and USB personal
digital drives.
Disassembly: Cut open with wire cutters or pull contacts with tweezers or needle nose
pliers
Special notes or instruction: These should be processed with other light plated PMs.
Also the wires used in PCs that are used to connect to USB, sound and other jumper
posts often contain gold contacts. The ends on these wires are usually very flat and black
in color. They also resemble the jumpers mentioned below.
Picture of jumpers is larger then actual objects and they can come in other colors.
1.20) Motors
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: Iron, steel, aluminum and copper (wire windings)
Scrap value: Depending on there size you can harvest the cast aluminum, copper wire
along with the iron and steel. Smaller motors are best used as parts for resale since the
copper is minimal and not worth the time to harvest it.
PM yield: None
Places found: Hard drive, CD/DVD drives, electric drills, fans and almost any electrical
device that requires a high speed rotating/spinning movement.
Disassembly: Cut open and remove the copper windings, then strip any aluminum of any
foreign metals like brass or steel.
Special notes or instruction: None
Some typical motors found in CD/DVD drives or electric drills.
Playstation 3 motherboards
2.2) Cards
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials: (See PCB)
Scrap value: Varies with card but most have miscellaneous electrical components along
with gold plated fingers, mounting pins and some have flat pack ICs. There is also a
good chance that the ports mounted on the end plate have gold plated contacts inside.
PM yield: Varies with board but the highest yields come from the fingers, mounting pins
and flat pack ICs
Places found: PC motherboard PCI and AGP slots
Disassembly: Identify and cut or de-solder (harvest) components. Cut fingers, posts, ICs
and port pins for PM processing later.
Special notes or instruction: Sort all the parts separately since different types of plated
parts should be processed separately.
Graphics and video cards
2.3) Keyboard
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found: PC and other electronics like type found on motherboards
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
2.4) Monitor
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found: PC and other electronics like type found on motherboards
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found: PC and other electronics like type found on motherboards
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
2.8) Memory
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found: PC and other electronics like type found on motherboards
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
2.9) Case
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found: PC and other electronics like type found on motherboards
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
2.10) Printer
Type of part: Electronic component
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found: PC and other electronics like type found on motherboards
Disassembly: Cut or de-solder from mounting.
Special notes or instruction: None
2.11) Modems
2.12) UPS & Line conditioners
2.13) Headphone & Speakers
2.14) Video camera
2.15) Microphone
2.16) xxx
3.5) Speakers
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
3.6) xxx
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
5.2) Radios
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
5.3) Stereos
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
5.6) Calculators
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
Chapter 6: Jewelry
6.1) Plated Jewelry
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
6.3) xxx
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
7.3) Fans
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
7.4) Vacuums
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None
7.5) Lamps
Type of part:
Materials:
Scrap value:
PM yield:
Places found:
Disassembly:
Special notes or instruction: None