silver contacts

is anybody scrapping and selling silver contacts

I have a pill bottle that has about an ounce of contacts in it. I don't come across them that often but will save them when I do.

Same here. I've gathered them, haven't thought through total what to do with them yet.

Always looking for those little rectangle relays on everything electronic, and the contacts in heated appliances... Don't forget the thermal overload switch! Might not add up to much, but I just hate the thought of all the gold and silver sitting in the municipal landfill from the ignorance of the masses.

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Originally Posted by lenscap

Always looking for those little rectangle relays on everything electronic, and the contacts in heated appliances... Don't forget the thermal overload switch! Might not add up to much, but I just hate the thought of all the gold and silver sitting in the municipal landfill from the ignorance of the masses.

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Thermal switches from the inside of a cloths dryer, electric furnaces, timers from washing machines, dish washers and dryers, magnetic motor start switches, circuit breakers, hot water tanks and electric ranges.

A word of caution the capilory tube on the oven rheostat when cut on days with high humidity can sometimes self ignite.

I buy sell refine all silver contacts.

There are many deferent styles to look into.

Eric

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Originally Posted by etack

I buy sell refine all silver contacts.

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Yesterday I found half a 5 very large magnetic start switches that were used to start 100 HP plus electric motors. Inside there are 12 contacts each of which I'm estimating weigh 1/2 ounce for a total of 6 ounces of silver per switch.

I can use the induction furnace coil minus the crucible to sweat the contacts free of the copper bus or melt contacts with the copper into anodes then part the copper electrically in a cell. Going with the anode I will recover the remaining silver solder that always remains behind when sweating contacts off.

I'm not selling just yet, I'm going to wait for the price of silver to come back up.

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...psfxoqnumd.jpg

I pick off the little contacts too.
The Silver also probably contains cadinium(sp?) metal aswell, so don't inhale the fumes.....

Don't forget micro switches as well. They also have solid Silver contacts as well as the Silver/Copper contacts. The sort of switch they use in microwave doors and such.

Very small relays, and high quality relays often have Gold plated Silver contacts, or just solid Gold bars as contacts.
Check out the switches on tape decks and CD players, the 'open air, two strips of copper coloured metal molded into a small black plastic lump with two wires soldered to the strips' sort.

And heater thermostats....and washing machine water level switches. Euro whiteware has better quality switches too.

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Originally Posted by eesakiwi

Don't forget micro switches as well. They also have solid Silver contacts as well as the Silver/Copper contacts. The sort of switch they use in microwave doors and such.

Very small relays, and high quality relays often have Gold plated Silver contacts, or just solid Gold bars as contacts.

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The switches that are gols are gold overlay not solid. They are similar to rolled gold over silver. The best ones, if you have nothing to do, are on network switches. they need a high rate of reliability and the thicker gold gives that to them as gold does not oxidize.

Eric

I can confirm that, they are on network switches but after all the labor spent I had to reevaluate the outcome of the harvest, I thought I hit the jackpot on accident after breaking one open, so I did that to all of them.