Circuit board questions

Forgive me if this has been covered, I have searched and couldn't come up with a straight answer. I have a few questions as I am mgetting in a bunch of boards.
1. Should I be cutting off all the capacitors and chips etc othese boards? Is it worth the effort?
2. The ones with gold fingers, if I remove these from the boards, does it drop the value of the board?
3. Are the gold pins part of the "gold fingers". Should I remove those as well?

I'm still new and want to maximize my $$$ on these boards and others in the future

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Originally Posted by Jax

Forgive me if this has been covered, I have searched and couldn't come up with a straight answer. I have a few questions as I am mgetting in a bunch of boards.
1. Should I be cutting off all the capacitors and chips etc othese boards? Is it worth the effort?
2. The ones with gold fingers, if I remove these from the boards, does it drop the value of the board?
3. Are the gold pins part of the "gold fingers". Should I remove those as well?

I'm still new and want to maximize my $$$ on these boards and others in the future

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If you do all that then your "devaluing" the boards. You need to decide which way holds more value to you.

So both ways devalues them? I read on here somewhere that if you cut the capacitors and chips off they retain their value. I figured the gold fingers would devalue them

ok, so I'm going to give you the two answers I hate, lol. It depends on your buyer and what's your time worth to you.

Basically What you can remove without devaluing can differ from buyer to buyer. By depoulating a board you may lower its value but increase profit by selling components. However you must ensure you are not doing 10$ worth of work for 5$ worth of pay. Everyone has their own threshold for what their time is worth.

I live in South Dakota and when I don't have anything going on in the winter and its negative 20 I break down a lot of boards. Much more than other guys, cause its worth it to me to stay busy.

I would venture to say that removing any capacitors from a board will not devalue it in regards to what you get per pound. In lower value boards, this could lower the total weight of the board, thus reducing the total amount you get. There are some boards where heavy capacitors bring down the value per pound, thus removing them would increase the value per pound of the board. This also lowers the total weight you are paid for (but also decreases the cost of shipping). So, you would have determine for yourself on a case by case basis. Generally speaking, the smaller capacitors are inconsequential, and high value boards with large capacitors attached are few and far between.

The only things I take off boards are chips in sockets, transformers, and coils, from higher grade boards and fingers from low grade boards. I had some boards from Wise 60 monitors that where high grade on one half and low grade on the other. I broke them in half and sold the low locally then shipped the other half to a buyer on this forum.
Chris

It will depend on your buyer and how much time you have, but in general you are not gaining much by depopulating boards. Low grade may be the only exception. I have run the numbers on breaking down many items(not just boards) and depopulating them is just not worth the investment in time. I remove IC chips that are not soldered on, and break Gold fingers off any motherboard/telecom board.

Generally, if you have a board with capacitors large enough to contribute significant weight, you likely have a mid grade board and should leave it on. Removing them will make the board lighter and reduce your pay out.

The only thing I take off any boards are, excess steel(all boards) aluminum heat sinks(low grade,mid grade and mother boards) IC chips(low grade only) My buyer will down grade any board higher than low grade if the IC chips are removed. If you have boards with large capacitors on them they are power boards and pay a little better than low grade. There are two grades of power boards (brown and green) Green pays better than brown.

Thanks for the info. I started cutting the tantalum capacitors and popping the ic chips. I'Ll need to organize my boards in the garage and sort by value. I also need to figure out what to do with my pile of power supplies :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jax

Thanks for the info. I started cutting the tantalum capacitors and popping the ic chips. I'Ll need to organize my boards in the garage and sort by value. I also need to figure out what to do with my pile of power supplies :)

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Anytime I deliver a load to a buyer I throw them in with the load to help pay for the gas, but if shipping a box at a time I just sell them to my local yard.