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Whats the most useful item you've salvaged?

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Conundrum

Sat Mar 21 2009, 06:19AM

Registered Member #96
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 11:37AM
Location: "Somewhere in Guernsey"
Posts: 985

Hi all.

Wondered what's the most useful item you've salvaged and/or been given?

Rules:- has to have been for free, or given.

I once salvaged a complete working laptop which just needed a new screen and HDD.

Also got a working 14" TV which just needed the anode cap replacing and the audio lead soldering onto the PCB.
-A

Smiley faces on the sun... ???!!!!

Avalanche

Sat Mar 21 2009, 07:59AM

Registered Member #103
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 597

electronics books from my old workplace - the electronics handbook, and a huge 1200 page book FULL of schematics called 'modern electronic circuits reference manual'.

Component drawers full of components from same place

Loads of 'old' computer stuff, some of which I'm still using in my main rig today

"I've lost track of where all the different burning smells are coming from..."
"Is the water off? I need to cut this hose" ... "That's not a hose you idiot, that's the 3-phase!"

Download

Sat Mar 21 2009, 09:03AM

Registered Member #561
Joined: Fri Mar 02 2007, 08:46PM
Location: Adelaide Australia
Posts: 127

A 15/30 NST

Chris Cramer

Sat Mar 21 2009, 09:09AM

Registered Member #1749
Joined: Thu Oct 09 2008, 09:04PM
Location: Claremont New Hampshire
Posts: 235

A nice 32" CRT TV the buttons did not work and it would not turn on the problem with the buttons was the circut board was pushed back too far and it needed a fuse it has been working for about a year.

learning is what I do.

teslacoolguy

Sat Mar 21 2009, 10:28AM

Registered Member #1107
Joined: Thu Nov 08 2007, 04:09PM
Location: Richfield
Posts: 792

I found a xerox b/w laser printer sitting next to a dumpster at local business $700 new. Printed at least 2000 pages and it still works.

high voltage is cool and kids that are 16 like to play with cool stuff what a coincidence

My website

My youtube

rp181

Sat Mar 21 2009, 10:58AM

Registered Member #1062
Joined: Mon Oct 15 2007, 09:01PM
Location: colorado springs, colorado
Posts: 1272

For free....
2x railgun enclosures

I did find a TV. Was fun to hurl rocks at it =)

Bunch of componets from my dads work, all of my resistors are from there =)

website
flickr

Backyard Skunkworks

Sat Mar 21 2009, 11:14AM

Registered Member #1262
Joined: Thu Jan 24 2008, 11:22PM
Location: Maryland, USA
Posts: 445

For $110 total... (I paid by the trash bag)

Roughly 2,000lbs of stuff from circuit city's liquidation sale including... (I'm having a problem attaching pics, I'll host them externally soon.)

14 cortelco phones
over two dozen power supplies, four of which are 50 amp 13.6v "audio grade"
300-500lbs total of wire and cable ranging from Cat5 to Coax to 00 to 26
around a dozen computers with LCD monitors
around 100 power strips

and obviously a lot of other less important stuff that takes up the rest of the weight.

And no, none of it is for sale.

Schrödinger's Skunkworks is both working on a project and taking a break at the same time.

Coherent

Sat Mar 21 2009, 12:33PM

Registered Member #1886
Joined: Sat Dec 27 2008, 08:55PM
Location:
Posts: 49

I found a nice 19'' CRT monitor by the curb last year with the cord and everything included. I took it home and it powered right up. I also found a working Sony WEGA CRT TV with a barely noticeable scratch on the glass in the upper left corner. Other than that it works fine. I currently use it in my room.

Uzzors

Sat Mar 21 2009, 01:29PM

Registered Member #95
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 10:57AM
Location: Asker, Norway
Posts: 1188

All 6 or 7 of my loudspeakers have been salvaged from the dump, along with a stereo amplifier (three CD trays AND two cassette players! It even came with "The Jungle Book" on cassette

). Two of the speakers and the stereo see regular use as a sound system for my PC, the speakers have been in use for the last 3 years. To think they were about to be tossed. The crown of my freebies however, is my beloved scope. It was gift from a Norwegian user of the Dutchforce Electronics forum, "Gorgon". Completely free, and he even delivered it!

Update your bookmarks, there's a new site in town! uzzors2k.4hv.org

Steve McConner

Sat Mar 21 2009, 02:59PM

Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 04:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 3554

I specialize in dumpster diving tube audio equipment. It's getting rare nowadays, so the challenge is bigger.

This is my coolest find ever: six GEC KT88 tubes from old power supplies that were getting scrapped. I found a seventh one recently. They don't match well enough to use as a sextet, but they all test good. I put pairs of them into a 50 watt guitar amp and they seemed to work great and put out 60-70W.

Other cool stuff I salvaged:

Lots more audio tubes.

55 watt tube PA amp that I converted to a guitar amp.

Pair of Tannoy M20 Gold stereo speakers, a friend was going to throw them away, but turned out to be the best sounding speakers I've ever had.

"I mean, if 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself: 'Dijkstra would not have liked this', well that would be enough immortality for me."

aonomus

Sat Mar 21 2009, 03:30PM

Registered Member #1497
Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 12:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 771

Sadly I haven't salvaged very much of note despite my large collection of crap. Probably the best unique thing is a nice heavy duty SMPS out of a oldschool Bay Networks token ring hub...

I think that if/when I get the chance, I should try dumpster diving around my uni...

My blog:

- mostly about electronics and other stuff, mostly to waste time.

Conundrum

Sat Mar 21 2009, 04:08PM

Registered Member #96
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 11:37AM
Location: "Somewhere in Guernsey"
Posts: 985

Mind the Unisecure (aka Rentacops), they bite!
Once nearly got nailed for salvaging a battery module from a dumped fluorescent fitting- even though I had permission I still got told off because they "had never heard of it"... grr.

The amateur radio club made a "skip fishing" rod for this very reason :)

-A

Smiley faces on the sun... ???!!!!

Nik

Sat Mar 21 2009, 04:22PM

Registered Member #53
Joined: Wed Feb 08 2006, 10:31PM
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 431

2 15/30 NSTs
1 17/10 NST
14 or so microwaves

All of which have been used to power various projects.

Phd in Drinkometry and .0174 radians in math.

Weston

Sat Mar 21 2009, 04:49PM

Registered Member #1316
Joined: Wed Feb 13 2008, 09:35PM
Location: San Deigo
Posts: 200

One person gave me an oscilloscope, volt meter, two lab power supplies, a frequency generator, and a organized cabinet of a few hundred 7400 series logic chips. A different person gave me an old tube amp that contained 5 12aux7 telefunken tubes. Another person gave me 5 huge organized part cabinets with capacitors, resistors, and semiconductors. I got almost all of my lab equipment for free

:-p Youngest Member On The Forum

It's HAMMERTIME!

Renesis

Sat Mar 21 2009, 06:38PM

Registered Member #2028
Joined: Mon Mar 16 2009, 03:13PM
Location: Norway
Posts: 177

I got a big, almost new mig welder from a guy for free. He thought it was busted, but he had just been running it on a 16 amp fuse. I run it on a 32 amp fuse, and it works like a charm. I almost feel kinda bad about it... Almost.

+ A 7,5kW air compressor, a 70hp industrial diesel engine, a whole buch of relays and contactors and so on. Dumpster diving is phun :)

If anything i write breaks the forum rules or the law, is dangerously incorrect or offends you in any way, please let me know.

Mads Barnkob

Sat Mar 21 2009, 06:48PM

Registered Member #1403
Joined: Tue Mar 18 2008, 01:05PM
Location: Denmark, Odense C
Posts: 668

25 Microwave ovens :)

English high voltage site: http://www.kaizerpowerelectronics.dk/
Personal homepage: http://www.disorder.dk/
youtube: http://youtube.com/user/MadsKaizer
There is no off position on the genius switch.

...

Sun Mar 22 2009, 03:12PM

Registered Member #56
Joined: Wed Feb 08 2006, 11:02PM
Location: Southern Califorina, USA
Posts: 2118

I inherited Wayne's gaage, that had a few kw worth of NSTs, caps of all sorts, some N2 tea lasers, 30lbs of flybacks a few tesla coil secondaries a few tools, even a small subwoofer, etc

At the UCSB junk table I have scored a 1u rackmout server (which is gong to be a new project case), a hotplate, a ultrsonic parts cleaner, a constant current power supply, a phase angle 0-50v 5a power supply (designed for powering electromagnets), countless computer power supplies, a few assorted smps/linear open frame power supplies, a stabilised HeNe laser (had a fried transistor in its psu), a water cooled tec coldplate, about 50lbs of assorted aluminum stock, a some precisions stages, assorted computer parts, etc

From various companies that my father has worked for we have ended up with about 100lbs of precison optical tables, stages, motorized micrometers, a HeNe lab style laser, glue dispenser system, some high vac equipment, tens of pounds of swagelock/etc fittings, tens of nice german modular switches, 500lbs or so of 5x 6awg cord, assorted tools, power supplies, etc, etc we also got a 7hp natural gas/propane generator for them for $40

As far as salvaging, I got soem awesome ferrite transformers and high RMS current caps, heatsinks, litz wire out of the psu for my VersaPulse laser (that wouldn't turn on without the rest of the motherboard), a few hv suppleis from plasma globes, laser diodes and dichrotic mirrors out of dvd/hd-dvd roms, transformers, etc, etc, etc

check out my website!

Dr. Kilovolt

Sun Mar 22 2009, 03:31PM

Registered Member #152
Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 09:36AM
Location: Czech Rep.
Posts: 2073

Unlike a lot of you here, I haven't really found/salvaged anything valuable, the most valuable things probably being two old microwave ovens.
I did, however, get 5 boxes of various old electronic components from my father's friend, who was giving them away.
The most unexpected find in one of those boxes, were 10 identical flyback secondaries for tube TV's, in new condition! However most of them are damaged in some way now, as the HV lead was badly secured to them. They should be possible to repair but so far I wasn't bothered.
There also were loads of of large relays and contactors, potentiometers/trimmers and old metalised paper caps, and two 15kV 390p foil caps (another unexpected find).

Most of my other components are from old TVs/monitors and photocopier PSUs (my father works with these).

hotcrazyfruit

Sun Mar 22 2009, 09:08PM

banned on 5/26/2009

Registered Member #1877
Joined: Sun Dec 21 2008, 08:03PM
Location:
Posts: 147

A 27 inch TV from a junk yard. worked perfectly, only i had to carry it several hundred yards

BANNED

Kolas

Sun Mar 22 2009, 11:46PM

Registered Member #102
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:15PM
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 109

6696A : Retrieved from a 3 phase induction heater.
I also salvaged the tube stand/water jacket, filament transformer, capacitor bank, grid resistor network, and 3 phase full wave rectifier.

coillah

Mon Mar 23 2009, 02:51AM

Registered Member #1517
Joined: Wed Jun 04 2008, 01:55AM
Location: Chico CA
Posts: 249

60 dollars worth of double sided copper clad pcb project boards from a radioshack manager

Hazmatt_(The Underdog)

Mon Mar 23 2009, 04:03AM

Registered Member #135
Joined: Fri Feb 10 2006, 06:06PM
Location: Stanton CA.
Posts: 1247

Gen. Radio 1233-A Power amplifier with all tubes intact. I've been tweaking on it trying to get it to output more RF power because it has 2x 807's, but it blew something out recently and I have to rebuild again. The phase splitter refuses to balance and I had to scrap the enitre HV section, so I'm planning on gutting the whole thing and maybe prototyping the amp until it does what I want it to do. I want to save the chassis if possible, but there are a lot of things I want to add to it like VSWR output metering, and cathode current metering on both tubes.

"Our five year mission to find new answers, methods and determinations to solving old problems with Tesla Coils, to seek out new simulations and approximations.... To Boldly go where no amature has gone before!" *intro Star Trek theme*

*guess im over the whole website loss thing by now... now to get $$ for a website...mmm*

Fabio

Mon Mar 23 2009, 06:27AM

Registered Member #122
Joined: Fri Feb 10 2006, 06:55AM
Location: Milano Italy
Posts: 83

Hi All!

2,5 kW RMS audio tube power amplifier designed for working at full power for months without problems. (was used to drive a shacker coil for a long term industrial vibration testing machine) plus the shacker (an enormous subwoofer without the cone), the waweform generator and some accessories (much more than 1 TON total weight!).... everything for free!!!!

Ciao!
Fabio.

La teoria è quando si sa tutto e niente funziona.
La pratica è quando tutto funziona e nessuno sa il perché.
Noi abbiamo messo insieme la teoria e la pratica: non c'è niente che funzioni...
e nessuno sa il perché! (Albert Einstein)

Steve McConner

Mon Mar 23 2009, 06:30AM

Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 04:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 3554

Nice amp Hazmatt :)

FWIW, that model apparently has a frequency range of 20Hz to 3MHz. From the looks of it, it's built like a push-pull audio amp, so you won't get much RF power out of it.

*edit* Fabio simulposted, so I just saw his 2.5kW tube amp. Awesome! Can I come over and play bass through it? :D I think the enormous Partridge lump in the first picture is the output transformer, not the power supply. It's probably separate because the rack would crumble under the weight!

Oh, also I see it has six KT88s in it too, but they're just driver tubes.

steve

Hazmatt_(The Underdog)

Tue Mar 24 2009, 02:15AM

Registered Member #135
Joined: Fri Feb 10 2006, 06:06PM
Location: Stanton CA.
Posts: 1247

Yea its designed as a push-pull amp, but I should be able to get at least 25W RF out at 50R. It has 2 cores in it to select from 20Hz to 20KHz eg. a big metal toroid, and a smaller ferrite toroid for 20KHz to the 3MHz. I am hoping that a redesign of the phase splittler will get it back on its feet. I'll probably have to redesign the B+ supply board too because the radiated heat is too much for the bias adjust pots I put on the new PCB.

Love the shaker amp. You can see the HT transformer in the big grey box. What are the 2 main output tubes?

I'd put that baby in a small row of theater seats, set up my projector and watch Die Hard or Terminator... heheheheh!

Will

Wed Mar 25 2009, 09:25AM

Registered Member #57
Joined: Wed Feb 08 2006, 11:28PM
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 23

At this time, not the most useful, but most definitely the most worth. I got paid to take it home.

"The more I learn the more I realize how little I really know." ~Will -- Xbox LIVE: WB1A2

Wed Mar 25 2009, 09:59AM

Registered Member #514
Joined: Sat Feb 10 2007, 06:27PM
Location: Somewhere in central Finland
Posts: 231

Will wrote ...

At this time, not the most useful, but most definitely the most worth. I got paid to take it home.

I dunno, I always salvage everything I can, but it's usually nothing valuable. I guess the most usefull thing I've dug out of the trash is my audio amp (Which is a total piece of crap, but good enough for me). Atleast it gets the most use, daily in fact, much to the irritation of my neighbors... I got all my speakers from people who would have otherwise thrown them away, so I guess they count too.

Also, I got my first proper soldering iron from the trash. It was a Weller with a dark red/brownish handle (I'm sure everyone has seen one of those). The power cord had melted, apparently from the iron resting on it while it was plugged in. I replaced the cord and it worked like a dream.

-"Apparently I really don't know what I'm doing".
-"I admire how seldom that stops you".

Proud Mary

Wed Mar 25 2009, 02:33PM

Registered Member #543
Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 10:26AM
Location: Brighton, UK
Posts: 1636

That's like asking for a favourite piece of music: answers vary with time, and mood, and experience.

But TODAY, my fave rave is a 10v-0-10V 100A transformer in lovely condition.

All my anxieties about not being able to supply adequate heater current to my Rubenesque valves and thyratrons were gone in a flash. Gone forever is that heart-sinking feeling of personal inadequacy that would come over me when poring over some valve data sheet, and seeing that 10V at 50A of heater current would be required if ever the valve were to be brought back to life. The days of having to avoid other experimenters for fear of having to admit that I would be hard-pushed to do more than supply 6.3V/4A to my heaters are over. Years of secret misery were washed away in a flash courtesy of the Apex Transformer Co of New Delhi! I could look women in the eye once more, I could search out valves with such huge heater currents that only the genius and the madman would ever think of using them, and felt so good with my salvaged transformer that I even polished the brass carbide lamp on my bicycle.

No PMs for any reason thankyou

aonomus

Wed Mar 25 2009, 02:43PM

Registered Member #1497
Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 12:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 771

Harry wrote ...

That's like asking for a favourite piece of music: answers vary with time, and mood, and experience.

But TODAY, my fave rave is a 10v-0-10V 100A transformer in lovely condition.

All my anxieties about not being able to supply adequate heater current to my Rubenesque valves and thyratrons were gone in a flash. Gone forever is that heart-sinking feeling of personal inadequacy that would come over me when poring over some valve data sheet, and seeing that 10V at 50A of heater current would be required if ever the valve were to be brought back to life. The days of having to avoid other experimenters for fear of having to admit that I would be hard-pushed to do more than supply 6.3V/4A to my heaters are over. Years of secret misery were washed away in a flash courtesy of the Apex Transformer Co of New Delhi! I could look women in the eye once more, I could search out valves with such huge heater currents that only the genius and the madman would ever think of using them, and felt so good with my salvaged transformer that I even polished the brass carbide lamp on my bicycle.

What about a re-wound MOT for 10V 50A?

Also, I rummaged through the junk pile and found another UPS board with lots of decent caps, inductors, and a few (probably working) FETs. Nothing as amazing as some of the stuff you guys have salvaged though.

My blog:

- mostly about electronics and other stuff, mostly to waste time.

Uzzors

Wed Mar 25 2009, 05:15PM

Registered Member #95
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 10:57AM
Location: Asker, Norway
Posts: 1188

Harry wrote ...

All my anxieties about not being able to supply adequate heater current to my Rubenesque valves and thyratrons were gone in a flash. Gone forever is that heart-sinking feeling of personal inadequacy that would come over me when poring over some valve data sheet, and seeing that 10V at 50A of heater current would be required if ever the valve were to be brought back to life. The days of having to avoid other experimenters for fear of having to admit that I would be hard-pushed to do more than supply 6.3V/4A to my heaters are over. Years of secret misery were washed away in a flash courtesy of the Apex Transformer Co of New Delhi! I could look women in the eye once more, I could search out valves with such huge heater currents that only the genius and the madman would ever think of using them, and felt so good with my salvaged transformer that I even polished the brass carbide lamp on my bicycle.

That was good for chuckle, nice to hear Harry!

Update your bookmarks, there's a new site in town! uzzors2k.4hv.org

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