Breaking down a power supply vs selling whole

Although there is plenty of room for error here, I have been wondering the value of breaking down a power supply vs selling whole. At my local yard, I know that removing the wiring bundle alone will take a hefty chunk off the value of the remainder of the power supply.

To see how this would turn out, I weighed a random power supply, and after break down will see what my approx value is. Currently my yard buys them for .29 cents whole.

My scale is accurate to .5 oz, so there will be some discrepancies on the small weights like the transistors. Later, I will weigh each and see if it beats the price my yard would pay whole.

Ok, starting weight is 3lbs 5.5oz
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-12-18_686.jpg


Cover off
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-15-37_442.jpg


wiring trimmed ready to go in the #2 insulated bin
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-29-59_679.jpg


Couple aluminum heat sinks (extruded maybe?)
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-41-59_986.jpg


Here is the low grade board with all the goodies removed.
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-33-52_162.jpg



A few transistors
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-43-10_910.jpg


All of this is going in my shred bucket
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-43-35_973.jpg

Stuff going in the motors pile
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-35-57_546.jpg

Number 2 copper
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...-58-08_317.jpg

Couple of thoughts here; the parts you call eproms are just transistors( not eproms), with a brass back. #2 - all them little plug in connectors you throw in the shred bucket has brass tabs inside the plastic holders. #3 - I cut the plastic housing out from around the fan blades and throw the rest in a bucket with smaller transformers up to the ones from tv boards. My yard pays the same for both,, My ewaste buyer will buy them with the wires cut off flush with the back of the PS without opening them up.

The real question is if it's broken down and now worth say 40 cents how long did it take you to get that additional 11 cents?

10 mins, 15 mins?

Even at 10 minutes you are only making 66 cents an hour.

also you left 3 motors on the board. Looks like you took the big one off and left the 3 little ones on.

I think you need to weigh 10 or 20 to get the weights great enough to registar. For example the Cu coils and Al heat sinks are so small that it would take many to show enough weight to make any consideration.

For me my local yard pays shred price, last time was .12lb so there is a difference there. If I were to get .15lb or more with the wires cut off the outside I would gladly let them go. I have completely dismantled 75+ and frankly .12lb is looking good at this point. Mike.

Mike do you have an ewaste buyer anywhere near you? They pay more for them.
I got .29 lb for my boxes and I kept the wires.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Couple of thoughts here; the parts you call eproms are just transistors( not eproms), with a brass back. #2 - all them little plug in connectors you throw in the shred bucket has brass tabs inside the plastic holders. #3 - I cut the plastic housing out from around the fan blades and throw the rest in a bucket with smaller transformers up to the ones from tv boards. My yard pays the same for both,, My ewaste buyer will buy them with the wires cut off flush with the back of the PS without opening them up.

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Thanks for the info, I made some changes.

Are those transistors worth holding on to?

What to do with the brass embedded connectors?

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Originally Posted by drozenski

The real question is if it's broken down and now worth say 40 cents how long did it take you to get that additional 11 cents?

10 mins, 15 mins?

Even at 10 minutes you are only making 66 cents an hour.

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Very true, I am merely trying an experiment. I have about 200 (free) computers coming in and am looking to maximize profits where feasible.

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Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

also you left 3 motors on the board. Looks like you took the big one off and left the 3 little ones on.

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Got em!

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Originally Posted by miked

I think you need to weigh 10 or 20 to get the weights great enough to registar. For example the Cu coils and Al heat sinks are so small that it would take many to show enough weight to make any consideration.

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I think this was a fairly common dell PS. To get my numbers I could multiply my results by 10. That should ball park fairly close. Would need a more accurate scale for this part however.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Mike do you have an ewaste buyer anywhere near you? They pay more for them.
I got .29 lb for my boxes and I kept the wires.

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Not that I know of. I would love to find one. Heck if the money was there for sure, I wouldn't mind being a buyer. Just don't have the contacts yet. That will happen in due time I suppose.

This Mike doesn't have a nearby ewaste buyer either. I send my boards, etc to Ewasted's company. Miked.

any value to those transistors other than copper

I live less than a mile from Ewasted shop. I wonder if he'd hire me or train me for free work to get the experience?

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Originally Posted by tcfootball

Not that I know of. I would love to find one. Heck if the money was there for sure, I wouldn't mind being a buyer. Just don't have the contacts yet. That will happen in due time I suppose.

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is there still an alter yard in lincoln?

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Originally Posted by copperhead

I live less than a mile from Ewasted shop. I wonder if he'd hire me or train me for free work to get the experience?

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He would be the best person to ask... and in person, not on the forum. Also a job pays, but if your looking for knowledge it might cost you.

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any value to those transistors other than copper

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They have anodized brass, or plated brass, however you want to call it. Just smack them with a hammer to get rid of the black transistor part.

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What to do with the brass embedded connectors?

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We melted ours off in a trash fire and retrieved them and cleaned them up. If someone had a small hammermill, I think it would do a better job with less hassle.

I will pay up to 34cents with wires removed on the power boxes if you bring me some good weight (not very hard with power boxes)

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Originally Posted by rbrooks715

is there still an alter yard in lincoln?

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Yes I do all my business with them as of now. Just not my escrap.

If you don't have an escrap buyer within driving distance from you then your best bet might be to tear those power supplies all the way down and salvage the parts, cause it would not be worth it to try shipping large quantities of them. Not enough high dollar parts inside. We use those as extra weight when we deliver an escrap load.