Just got a bunch of Printers

Hello everyone.
I just got a hundred or so printers of varying size/value etc. a few are worth something and I am working to sell those. but the rest are scrap.

I have a couple of questions:

What kind of plastic are they usually made of? I think I will end up with a 1500-2000bs

Anyone know of a plastic recycler in the Southeast?

most of the metal seems like SS to me, but a magnet will stick to it, so I guess it is just plated right?

I am also trying to resell that cartridges and boards, any other advice?

thanks for the help and the great resource

Bruce

They're a mix of laser and inkjet? I've got three pallets of lasers in my unit right now, and still trying to figure out what to do with them. The last laser printer I did, I stripped all the boards out, threw those in my low grade tote, put all the plastic in the recycling container, and pulled any motors out, took the toners over to staples for my staples rewards. And most of the metal was all steel.

I haven't gone over the boards that came out, but most likely they're not high grade boards. Printers are pretty cheaply made. I don't touch inkjet printers anymore. Too messy.

I don't know how big of a market there is for used toner carts, unless you know someone that owns a refill business.

Any printer I get, I snip the cord, and take the ink cartridges. There's not a whole lot of metal inside, it will just go with my mixed scrap.

I will take the cartridges to office depot for a store credit refund. Can take 20 a month.

Most computer cases and printer cases are made out of ABS plastic. Make sure all the brass screw inserts are removed and you can fill gaylord boxes with the plastic for sale.

Take the cards and memory out for escrap and I'm sure you know what to do with the steel chassis.

Wow, all these years. I had no idea the ink carts were worth anything more than dumpster space. There is a Staples a mere 105 miles from me, and I am in that town at least a couple times a year. Thanks guys!

The boards inside printers are known as mid-grade as they have gold content but not a lot. I get .50 per pound for them and they add up quickly. Watch some of the laser printers as they generally have some ram (memory) in them and can have a high grade board if they were the high end printers to begin with.

For standard inkjet printers there are some that have higher grade boards, such as those that have card readers built into them.

Printers are my least favorite thing to do but the material does add up. The steel adds up quickly, especially from the larger units and you can get a fair amount of wire out of some of them.

The previous post was correct, the plastic is ABS. I found my plastics company by doing a Google search for "Sell Plastics (Insert State)" That will generally bring up any plastics buyers in your area.

Thanks for the tip, ComputerScrapper. But "Sell Plastic in Maine" got me a company called "Maine Plastics" in Zion, Illinois.

Do they have a branch up in Maine, hence the name? Might be worth a phone call,, just a thought.

Maybe, but I don't think so. I'll check it out.

(edit) Sent email.

(2nd edit - reply):

Mick

Unfortunately we do not have a location in Maine, but we have facilities in the following locations:

Zion, IL
Schoolcraft, MI
Kankakee, IL
Stratford, CT
Columbus, NE
East Kearney, NE
Apex, NC
Dover, DE

Let us know if we can be of service to you at one of those facilities.

Thank you



Now why would anyone expect a company called "Maine Plastics" to operate in Maine?

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Originally Posted by Mick

Thanks for the tip, ComputerScrapper. But "Sell Plastic in Maine" got me a company called "Maine Plastics" in Zion, Illinois.

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Use google maps. Zoom to your area, and search for plastic buyer, or scrap plastic, ect.

I forgot, all you have up in Maine is trees, not factories.lol

great info. thanks again everyone

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Now why would anyone expect a company called "Maine Plastics" to operate in Maine?

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DUH ! Silly Me,,,

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Originally Posted by fiat128

Most computer cases and printer cases are made out of ABS plastic. Make sure all the brass screw inserts are removed and you can fill gaylord boxes with the plastic for sale.

Take the cards and memory out for escrap and I'm sure you know what to do with the steel chassis.

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Hi, newbie here, does anybody have an efficient method for removing those brass screw inserts?

Hi bruce ,

Do you still have the printers ? I am in toronto , Ontario and would like to buy them from you? Let me know
thanks
lio

This post was from 2011 so I doubt he still has printers

And if he does, they're LONG obsolete by now

Lio,

I have 6 pallets or so of laser printers and a some inks I'm looking to sell. Located just outside of Detroit MI. If you are interested let me know and lets chat!

Printers are pretty much leverite. Pull the cord & A/C adapter and check the ink if it's certain brands /types they can be sold to a refurbisher.

The Office Depot recycle program mentioned above has long since been discontinued.

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Originally Posted by gj3924

Lio,

I have 6 pallets or so of laser printers and a some inks I'm looking to sell. Located just outside of Detroit MI. If you are interested let me know and lets chat!

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I'd be interested in those printers. Feel free to send me a message. Thanks

The metal shafts might be sellable on ebay as 'Round metal stock' for home hobbist engineers.

I save them up, along with the springs, the ribbon cables, i cut the Gold plated contact ends off the Gold ribbons, pluck the short shafts from the gear boxes out.
Any LEDs & Opto sensors get put aside to reclaim the Gold wire from ( one day..), any decient green boards, power boards get the Copper wire coils ripped out, any Optocouplers broken off & saved, any power Transistors plucked out & saved, fuses saved, any wire cut out,

If they have a scanning setup, i get the 'Light bar' & clean that down to its board, its got 160 Gold wires normally ( not a lot of weight, but...)
The sheet of glass put aside.
The bigger electric motors saved ( they are expensive to buy on TradeMe, haven't checked eBay prices ) other motors go into the 'electric motors/small transformers bin - i don't get much for a small drum, but i'd get nothing if i didnt...

All that stuff adds up but in the end it takes a lot of extra time to do. I cant sell the plastic here & i dont get anything for the metal either.

406refining Its not letting me pm you. but if you can pm me your email or phone I can reach out, I have about 12 pallet of printers now. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by gj3924

406refining Its not letting me pm you. but if you can pm me your email or phone I can reach out, I have about 12 pallet of printers now. Thanks!

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It looks like the private message won't work. Feel free to send me an email at controlboardsales@gmail.com. Thanks!

Printers are a PIA for me. Not much to them and takes more time & labor to break them down than they are worth so I leave them when there is nothing else to do. I have about 50 or so laser jets waiting to be gutted of goodies. The rest goes to shred.

@406

Let me know what you're looking for with printers exactly. I've been running like crazy these last couple months with getting our collection bins going and with the neighbor's beet harvest (They probably lost half the crop with this cold snap we got. Such a shame- at least I was able to help some), but the bins are up and running. I checked them today, and I'm starting to get printers like mad already. If I know what you want, I can try to set them aside.

matador: "The most valuable part of a printer is when someone leaves 200 sheets of paper in it. I haven't bought paper in YEARS"