Junk management / General Chatting / Forums

Forums

4hv.org :: Forums :: General Chatting

« Previous topic | Next topic »

Junk management

1 2 next

Move Thread

LAN_403

Conundrum

Sat Nov 07 2009, 02:55PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061

Hi all.

What approaches do you use for managing large quantities of broken/repairable equipment, components etc?

I have to sort this disaster area out, but the problem is knowing what parts to keep and what is unlikely to ever be useful.

I have a partial list, the main bulk is used /broken LCD monitors and TVs, always handy but what to use them for? the last one that got "ecycled" developed an annoying fault with the OSD so am reluctant to sell them on for this reason.

Also have a lot of "old stuff" such as stepper motors, etc but the driver boards are being a pain.
Mainly seems that nothing actually gets fixed due to other issues (koff gf /koff) but it seems a shame to just throw them away.

any ideas?

if anyone would like some components from them before they are disposed of, please pm me or reply here.

btw i just added a load of phone mast parts to the list, so on the flip side there should be plenty of monster heatsinks for future projects.
-A

Steve Conner

Sat Nov 07 2009, 03:01PM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

As my late grandmother used to say, "The secret of being tidy is to throw away things that are still useful."

So that's what I do, throw it away, or better still don't bother taking it out of the Dumpster in the first place.

Conundrum

Sat Nov 07 2009, 03:05PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061

ecycle comes to mind, artists are often on the lookout for unusual looking techno-trash for their projects.

someone might have a use for those microwave parts...

I did notice that often one component on a board is useful, so perhaps i can remove that part and give the rest away.

(case in point, OCXO modules)

-A

"Bother" said Pooh, as the laser vaporised his remaining eye...

ragnar

Sat Nov 07 2009, 04:28PM

Registered Member #63 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:18AM
Location:
Posts: 1425

Love the weirdo microwave boards Andre!

wrote ...
Mainly seems that nothing actually gets fixed due to other issues (koff gf /koff) but it seems a shame to just throw them away.

First, fixing stuff around you is important, it's appropriate for a man to do and your gf will love it! But this best applies to stuff you share, not other people's junk

Steve really nailed it regarding throwout. Ask yourself:

Am I really going to even look up the datasheet for that mystery MOSFET?

Will I ever be able to replace this part? If not, how can I justify a tray for it?

Is this PCB useful as a module? If not, what (if anything) is worth desoldering and filing?

Do I have a PCB footprint for this part? Would I be prepared to make one to use it only once?

Amongst those questions you may find both extremes of 'anally meticulous' and 'oppositional-defiance-disorder bowerbird', but somewhere in the middle may suit your level of storage and organization. It's only recently that I migrated towards the former.

Here are some examples I apply personally.

1) If I've paid money for electronic components, they go in labelled trays.

2) If I've found ten or more matching parts for salvage, they go in labelled zipper bags as surplus.

3) If I've found a PCB full of loot but I don't know what half it is, it's probably bin material.

Yes, from a purely economic perspective, it's wasteful to junk perfectly good second-hand parts. But discounting externalities, the cost of accumulating and debugging bad bits probably cancels out buying new components, however the important net result is sanity and a tidier lab.

Think of it like a time-memory tradeoff. Unless you remember exactly what's in your stash, it probably isn't going to get used. And documenting what's in the stash could consume a lot of your time. So do neither!

aonomus

Sat Nov 07 2009, 04:40PM

Registered Member #1497 Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 05:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 801

I follow something similar

1. If I've paid money, the parts go into labelled generalist trays or bins. (Or in the case of parts for a specific project in progress, into a bag for that project with the pcb, etc).

2.
- Multiple matching useful parts: salvage
- Useful item as a module (power supply, filter, etc): storage box

3. Random pcb: bin most likely

MinorityCarrier

Sat Nov 07 2009, 06:50PM

Registered Member #2123 Joined: Sat May 16 2009, 03:10AM
Location: Bend, Oregon
Posts: 312

There ought to be a 12-Step Spiritual Recovery fellowship named Packrats Anonomous.

I have thousands of parts in labled plastic drawer organizers and more excess inventory in labeled boxes stacked on shelves I put up in my garage. I have on several occasions swept through and sold off to E-bay certain IC's (unused military TTL, and ECL chips) and assorted oddball things like 10-bit digital compass encoders. I threw away a whole lot of TTL chips, old memory chips, old bipolar power transistors (TO-3 and TO-66 case), various medium and hi current std recovery diodes, but kept CMOS and linear IC's, MOSfets and fast recovery diodes. I threw out a whole bunch of old electrolytics with 1970's and '80's date codes.

I got rid of a lot of gear when I moved from Idaho to Oregon. I don't have enough lifetime left to pursue all the things I imagine doing, so I need to get realistic, focus on a core set of pursuits and get rid of stuff I'm not likely to use. I built a lot of custom electronics associated with videography and photography, that I have stopped using. As painful as it may seem I'll probably throw all that away and donate my wilderness video files archive, computer, and cameras to the local Environmental organization.

I'm also contemplating is donating a lot of parts and widgets to a local "Science School".

As Steve said, I leave things in the dumpster now.

Conundrum

Sun Nov 08 2009, 12:51PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061

hmm. intererestingly, the microwave modules contain some nice brass "spark gap" imitations with nuts.

i might sell them on ebay..
-A

ragnar

Sun Nov 08 2009, 02:12PM

Registered Member #63 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:18AM
Location:
Posts: 1425

MinorityCarrier wrote ...

I threw out a whole bunch of old electrolytics with 1970's and '80's date codes.

Good move, they could have been very dry :P

I find lead length also a good measure of value. The longer the leads, the more worthy of keeping.

If you've got capacitors old enough to have solder-tarnished or stubby leads, they probably make that value in a smaller can now so there's no point footprinting it

3l3ctrici7y

Sun Nov 08 2009, 04:04PM

Registered Member #1806 Joined: Sun Nov 09 2008, 04:58AM
Location: USA
Posts: 136

Conundrum wrote ...

hmm. intererestingly, the microwave modules contain some nice brass "spark gap" imitations with nuts.

i might sell them on ebay..
-A

Interesting..
It is; bolts with brass nuts, bolted to dielectric with the arc jumping from nut to nut?
That's very clever :)

Conundrum

Sun Nov 08 2009, 06:00PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061

i think they are for adjustment of the cavity not spark gaps.. still somewhat useful.

shame i can't get to the rest of the OCXO modules..
-A

"Bother" said Pooh, as the ZPM failed to initialise...

1 2 next

Moderator(s): Chris Russell, Noelle, Alex, Tesladownunder, Dave Marshall, Dave Billington, Bjørn, Steve Conner, Wolfram, Kizmo, Mads Barnkob