Printable View
Anyone ever disassembled one of these big honking transformers? If so, how, and what was the inside like? I messed with this one a little bit, but I have no dern idea how to EVEN approach disassembly..... and I thought that there was nothing I couldn't take apart!!
I even bounced it off the concrete driveway a time or two pretty hard, not even a dent!
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/1148/h5co.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img521/9404/szwh.jpg
Isn't that just a big version of one of these?
http://www.high-frequency-transforme...e_inductor.jpg
I would take an angle grinder and go around the outside then pull the copper thru the center.
I'm guessing it's kinda like that but the center is filled with epoxy. Else I'd'a just bashed it to bits with a sledge. I'm thinking that that epoxy is going to make it un-cost-effective to fool with. v:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Gravitar
Maybe I'll try running the grinder around the edges of the epoxy top & botton & see if that does the trick....
I have one sitting on my porch now. I think it'll make an excellent paperweight.
I've opened one of these.ALOT of plastic then 2 different gauge copper then more plastic then one more layer of wire then a big round coated piece of metal
agree with griff
the hardest bit is unwrapping the plastic.
if u have a VERY sharp and thin blade, then u could slice thru the many layers of plastic
otherwise, u just unwrap it and then unwrap the 1st layer of copper
then unwrap more plastic and then unwrap 2nd layer of copper
but altogether- its not as much copper as u would hope/expect to find.
That epoxy center can pe punched out. I used a piece of re-bar and hammer clamped the piece and it came out in a few "hard" swings
Don't forget about the 15 lb chunk of #1 steel on the inside its 2" thick. I think the fastest way would be to cut all around one side and pull it off from the other either way the plastic is messy:&
edit: i would check the wires before even starting i have gotten one with ali
I had one of those come out of a speaker type thing once. it was a pain getting the plastic off but it didnt have the epoxy center so I was able to unwind and unwind and unwind.......
angle grinder with cutoff wheel to remove the copper, google search toroidal transformer for lots of cool pictures, the magnet /transformer probably has good resale value
the ones selling on ebay are going for $30-$50 each
I'm going to pick up a big '80s server UPS next Sunday. Now I'm looking forward to it even more:D
My angle grinder is my best friend when it comes to stuff like this. I have one of those 220v UPS units at the house now I had to have my son move it. I hope to sell it locally rather than scrap it. Best of luck, Mike.
on the smaller ones i usually stand them vertical and smack them with a hammer, the magnet breaks and the copper can be removed easily, bigger ones like these a sledge might work
2$ bill thats fake!!!!
My yard gives them out as a matter of course. Whatever is the smallest # of monetary objects thay can give you to pay you out, that's what you get: IE: if your ticket pays out $224.87, you'll get 2 c-notes, a $20, <2>$2bills, a 50-cent piece, a quarter, a dime, and two post-1982 pennies.Quote:
Originally Posted by happyisthealero
Since learning they had built in inverters I've stopped scrapping the ones I get, and regret having scrapped some very large ones in the past. All I'm currently scrapping out of them are batteries that prove to be bad
All of those big donuts i've messed with have been a PITA. Tried unwrapping the first 2 i had, that was a nightmare. Hundreds of feet of plastic, maybe 2 pounds of copper, and a really nasty, dusty, chalk like donut. I've had some that are the magnet type inside. I just sold them as CBM.
It's funny though, i seen a couple of you say they have resale value. Wish i would've researched that back in the day. Must have sold hundreds of pounds of those for .25 c/pnd.
Well, I busted into one of these tonight, and WHOOOOHOOOO!!!!
I remembered reading this thread, and wasn't very optimistic. I cut into a bit with a pocketknife and saw heavy gauge copper wire, so I decided to dig in. Out of disks for my angle grinder, so I busted out the twinblade saw. After a few trial and error attempts, I just cut as close to the inner core as I could, then pulled the loose in through the center from the other side. After I got through one layer, there was a layer of thin tape-like wrap, and then ANOTHER layer.
Read it and weep, folks.....
http://i.imgur.com/OmyXhOc.jpg
Approx. 30lbs of Cu and the core weighs 45lbs.
About an $80 payday for an hour of fairly easy work.
:winner: :)) :winner:
WOW!Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch43
Let's just say you did far better than I did! Mine added up to 72 pounds for all four, which is what you got out of one. I only got 30¢/#, so that's . ... take off my shoes.... carry the 1.... $21.60.
Very nice return!
Wow! What did that come out of ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch43