Laptops Heatsinks

I used the search feature without much luck on this one.

I'm ripping apart a few laptops that are incomplete. The heatsink is really quite interesting
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3...Untitled-2.jpg

Does anyone know if the yards will take this as aluminum copper radiator?

Or, what do I do with this? Thanks in advance ;)

Few precision strikes with a hammer will separate those if you want to go that route.
That cast AL is so thin you can break it very easily, a few seconds and it will be in pieces.
My yard takes them as CU/AL rad but your's may be different. Bring a few samples in with the next load and ask.

I grab the copper with my pliers and essentially roll it up....it comes away form the AL with little effort. Then I have clean AL and clean copper...might have to trim a bit...but that is how I do them...easy cheesy

Most yards are weird about these and want to pay less than CU/AL radiator. The lighter grey areas that look like cast AL are probably Magnesium. An easy way to tell is that Magnesium is so lightweight you might mistake it for grey plastic. It is also extremely brittle.

Some of my yards do, some don't

I try and peel the Copper parts out and the chuck the 'Looks like Ali but is probably Magnesium' into my Domestic Ali pile.
Since Domestic Alis got Magnesium in it anyway.

isn't there some kind of liquid in the copper tube for heat transfer? I tried getting one apart and couldn't get the Al off completely so I just chucked it in a mixed bucket, but I wonder if it's worth going after clean Cu?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gungatim

isn't there some kind of liquid in the copper tube for heat transfer? I tried getting one apart and couldn't get the Al off completely so I just chucked it in a mixed bucket, but I wonder if it's worth going after clean Cu?

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If you heat it enough the solder will flow and allow you to separate the Al from the Cu.

THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT: CUT THE CU TUBING BEFORE YOU HEAT IT UP.

If you don't cut the tubing before heating it you will hear what sounds like a .22 round going off up close. There is air in the tubing which included what ever the amount of humidity was in the air the day it was manufactured.

If you are lucky like me all that will happen is you get startled, it could be seriously dangerous. Mike