What not to do - Printers - Page 3

Never give away money!! At the very, very least throw them in the shred pile. I used to break them completely down, now I'll take a little extra time if their higher quality, otherwise I just smash them on the garage floor, rip off the plastic, pull as much wire as possible, hit the motors until they break off. Done.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

I took some more in yesterday and they (Staples) gave me .01 each for them. I got a whole .10 cents for 10 cart's. Needless to say I fired off a nasty email to them. They had no advertising up at all that they had quit with the .20 credit for them.

I think that's how it shows up on your receipt the day that you drop them off. You may have to wait a few weeks to get the credit via email, which is good for a future purchase. That's how it worked the last time I took some ink carts in, which was a few months ago. But I know it took forever for it to show up in my email. It did finally arrive though. I have heard nothing of them discontinuing the program, but Staples doesn't check with me before doing stuff like that. I'm barely even a customer.

Originally Posted by Recyclotrops

I think that's how it shows up on your receipt the day that you drop them off. You may have to wait a few weeks to get the credit via email, which is good for a future purchase. That's how it worked the last time I took some ink carts in, which was a few months ago. But I know it took forever for it to show up in my email. It did finally arrive though. I have heard nothing of them discontinuing the program, but Staples doesn't check with me before doing stuff like that. I'm barely even a customer.

Yep, they give you a receipt, but the e-mail they send weeks later contains the bar code coupon for $20 for 10. Here they still advertise the program:
Recycle and save. Earn Staples Rewards® on your used ink and toner. | Staples.com®

Could we all agree that smaller inkjet printer arent worth breaking down? (besides cables and cartridges.)

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

I took some more in yesterday and they (Staples) gave me .01 each for them. I got a whole .10 cents for 10 cart's. Needless to say I fired off a nasty email to them. They had no advertising up at all that they had quit with the .20 credit for them.

Ya it says that on my receipts too but, I eventually get the coupon in the mail or by e-mail. I just found out that they have a premier account where where you can recycle 20 ink cartridges per month but, the only caught is that you have to spend $1000 per year.
here is the number if you are interested 1-800-793-3320 or if you spend a lot at staples.

Like I said earlyer in this thread I brake down alot of printers, never found a cpu in a printer, I get .32 for the motors, mostly mid grade boards, some have more steel than others. Wish I could find a plastic buyer, I get about 2 pick up truck loads a month.

Originally Posted by happyscraper

Like I said earlyer in this thread I brake down alot of printers, never found a cpu in a printer, I get .32 for the motors, mostly mid grade boards, some have more steel than others. Wish I could find a plastic buyer, I get about 2 pick up truck loads a month.

So, does your scrap yard take electronics? There are a lot of yards here by where I live that take e-waste @ .05/lb. I wasnt sure if most people were breaking printers down because there is no one to sell them to @ .05/lb.

I did a little experiment on a small inkjet printer and found that I only would make about $1.40 more if I broke it down oppose to just recycling it for .05/lb. Like you said in your quote, If there wasnt so much plastic to get rid of, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Originally Posted by happyscraper

Like I said earlyer in this thread I brake down alot of printers, never found a cpu in a printer, I get .32 for the motors, mostly mid grade boards, some have more steel than others. Wish I could find a plastic buyer, I get about 2 pick up truck loads a month.

All printers have some kind of CPU, they would be a small surface mount chip (not like the larger socketed ones you find in a computer).

Nope small printers are worth it too. Throw it on the ground, smashy smashy. Then few screws to pull the boards and motors....

I always break down all my printers. I broke down an IBm printer today it was a pain but it had some goodies in it.

I found this in a printer yesterday. Seems to have a bunch of gold on it. I'm not sure though, still new at grading boards.

[IMG][/IMG]

I am not crazy about printers either but twice recently I picked up fully functioning HP Color LaserJet 2600 printers, which are apparently fairly high-end, that I sold for way more than scrap even though neither of them had a full set of cartridges in them (and these cartridges are expensive!). And these printers are not very large. I guess the point is that not all high-end printers are large and bulky, so if pays to check model numbers on those that are in good shape and google them up.

I know most people get the board and the motor out of printers. How much do people usually get for printer motors? I have been just throwing them in with my steel.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

My lil motors, relays, transformers, wire wound chokes, etc. all go together at my yard for .28 lb.

So, this is a different category than copper breakage correct? or is it the same? I get only .12 for copper breakage so, I usually throw it all in with the #1HMS

thanks

The really good printers basically have a small cpu inside.