Printable View
I just scrapped 40 hard drives. Why didn't I do this?
This guy got $1 / lb for the armatures.
20 lbs copper for scrap aluminum for scrap electric motor for scrap (not sure) | eBay
and time to sell my transformers online instead of as motors. $.80 / lb after shipping.
44lb pound lot of transformer & motor & windings for copper scrap recovery! | eBay
I know... fees fees fees... but at the low yards prices around here I will pay the fees.
An interesting lead. Although, I am wondering how much time one would spend taking apart enough harddrives to collect 20 lbs of these arms...
Always good to know more stuff that we can sell on eBay. It would be a daunting task, but doable if you have time.
I have to take them apart anyway to sheer the drive platters. I then completely strip them to get clean cast aluminum prices. I get paid per drive to destroy them then I get to keep the scrap.
I'm working on a new contract for a place that has 500-1000 drives to kill right now. I can do 20 in one hour, completely stripped. At 4.50 / drive that's $90/hr. Now, get my wife on the other side of the table with her own (high speed assembly) screwdriver and we can double that.
So, $180 / hr to take them apart.
20 lbs of aluminum = $10
2.5 lbs of boards = $20 (after shipping)
$210 for an hours work (40 drives)... and then I can save the arms in a little box until I have enough.
Here's a proof of destruction from one of my small batches. They need a pic of the drive cover with the serial number that they recorded when they gave me the drives.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B59...ll4Y2tCeVNEUkk
Oh, yeah, you can also get around $.50 / magnet on ebay... so that's another $20 for the lot...
That would be $90/hr since it is technically two labor hours. Does this include trips to the scrap yard, packing, accounting for the material, moving the material, etc?Quote:
Originally Posted by wdaddy
Well, you have me there... I should have said one hour of time spent with my wife.. racing to see who can do more then the other...Quote:
Originally Posted by Ewasted
Time taken to the scrap yard.. doesn't count... I'm going anyway.
Time to pack boards? I'm packing my boxes anyway with the motherboards and to put these in a bag and toss them in the box takes... what, 1 min?
Time to pick them up... well, I'm picking up the scrap machines anyway, so the drives are part of the deal... they even have them removed for me before I get there so they can inventory them.
I don't pay for the material... I get paid to take them apart and the machines and drives are given to me for free.
I also use my 2 high speed screwdrivers, my metal sheer, torx bits, and my camera for this... so, we can deduct some for wear and tear...
I also have to compile the pics into a document and write up an invoice... so, yep, there is more time in this then I stated above.
So, even with all this taken into account, still worth it for me...
Not doubting it is worth it at all! Certainly a good deal, but for those out there looking to get a warehouse and "go big" there are alot of costs that aren't realized here that as it begins to scale can make or break you if not taken into account.
agreed. If it wasn't for being paid to take them apart, I'm not sure if I would... The real money here isn't in a hard drive's scrap value.
1 every 3 minutes? WOW
The link did not work for meQuote:
Originally Posted by wdaddy
Link worked form me.
So you have to photo each drive and the distroyed disc's for each? If so that does add a lot to the proceedure. Did the client require this type of distruction with the photo or was it your idea? Thanks for posting this. Mike.
It's what we agreed on. Shearing the drives is my selling point. If I could get a drive shredder I would just do that, but holy crap they are expensive. My tabletop shear cost $75 and the first batch of drives paid for it. This is mine, prices went up a bit I think. http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Sheet-Meta...item51a07bbc90 It's like a huge paper cutter. It works great to clip connectors off ribbon cables also... that's it secondary function.Quote:
Originally Posted by miked
It doesn't take long to take the pics. Just have the drive covers with the platter pieces stacked up and take one off, take a pic, take the next, take a pic. My camera gets good shots each time. Only takes a few moments per drive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bpatnoe
When I do something I find the most efficient way I can, as everyone else does.
I have high speed assembly screwdrivers. Like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ingersoll-Ra...item1c25cdc383 I found mine for $50 each. Make sure the one you gets plugs into a wall not a power supply! (otherwise you will have to buy a power supply also)
I try to find identical drives and do them 4 at a time. 2 torx bits sizes usually do the trick. I take all the screws off the motherboards all at once, pull the boards, flip the drives, pull all screws from covers, take all covers off, remove all exposed screws, switch bits, remove all screws from platter retaining rings, pull the platters, put them on the lids and set them aside for the shear, pull the motors, exc....
do the same step on 4 drives all at once and you don't have to fumble for tools and switch bits as often. Have the right tools right there and do enough to have the experience to know what you are looking at and what it takes to remove it. Have your shred bucket under your table so you can do a quick sweep of you hand to drop the screws into it.
Have you tried crushing them?
I use my wood splitter and can do 6 at a time. or about 30 per minute.
Good idea, but
I don't have the volume yet
you would have a hard time separating them after so you would have to turn them in as dirty aluminum
I don't have a log splitter
I'm not sure if the customer would be satisfied with that
but this would sure be a lot cheaper then a hard drive "punch" and get the same effect. It would render the drives unreadable and this can be a mobile solution.. brought from site to site... but I would be worried the sites would see how easy it is and buy their own log splitter.... just thinking out loud.