Because you said “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” My brother goes to the electronics bin every week where you can dispose of electronics. He always gets something out of it... Smart TVs from 30 to 50 inches where only the backlight, so that the screen is bright, needs to be replaced. Costs around €30-50. Great stereo systems where only one fuse is blown or the potentiometer needs to be replaced. Lots of stuff like that. Compressor, vacuum cleaner for hundreds of euros... All the things people throw away just because they think a repair would be too expensive or that it is even though you only have to replace a single, almost insignificant part.... Smart TVs, PCs, stereo systems, cordless drills, etc. Everything is repaired and sold on eBay. Or passed on to the family. Depending on who wants or needs what. Just awesome!

Salvaging electrolytic capacitors might be a good idea when we intend to use them for personal electronic projects that will only be used for a few years but I often restore synthesizers from the 80s and the most common failure are the electrolytic capacitors followed by coin cell batteries. That’s why I just use high quality electrolytic capacitors bought new from a reputable distributor. When you make a repair and expect it to last several decades, you have to understand that these parts have a limited shelf life and service life. For other types of capacitors like film capacitors that tends to be on the expensive side there’s no problems re-using them.

You shouldn't desolder anything until you need the part. Keep the pcbs in a box. Easier to find the part.

The nuts and bolts salvage is extremely useful. I have learned over the years that it’s not very useful to just put them in a container, because you really don’t know what you have available for your next project. I 3D printed (you can buy) different screw and bolt measurement tools and separated my reclaimed hardware into small ziplock bags (from the post office) with printed labels showing size and length. It’s saved me money and time.

Personally, I find it easier to keep the whole board and then salvage at a later date - context is often a big clue to what a part is when trying to identify it. For professional work, I think it only makes sense to use parts you can but new - otherwise you can end up with a design you can't take to higher volume.

Always separate waste electronics into modules before considering individual components. You can use a 12V audio system and USB hub from an old monitor as-is. Same goes for internal power supplies and their interference filters, any daughterboards/expansion cards and CRT monitor modules in door video phones.

I've been in the tech industry for decades. As time has gone on, I have assembled what I call the "magic box". Doesn't matter what you need, look in the magic box and you WILL find it.😊

I like switches and buttons. You can do a lot with an antique switch

The things you called LCDs are actually vacuum florescent displays. Mini vacuum tubes. ❤

Very good advice, nice to see this information in our throw away society. I have been in electronics for over 60 years & have been doing what you describe most of this time

4:37 Those are vacuum fluorescent displays. I always salvage them. They are not too difficult to drive and produce a nice glow as they are essentially a form of triode tube.

Back when the big plasma to led TV shift was taking place I found so many plasma TVs on the curb. I'd always scoop them up. Most times the TV didn't work but I really liked the selection of transformers available during that transition.

You did not mention the batteries in disposible VAPES ...... these litter the towns and roadsides .... the batteries are Lithium -ion and are FULLY rechargeable ( 4v2 max ! ! ) .... these can be used to replace ( HORRID LEAKY ALKALINE CELLS ) in small LED torches that use 3 to 4v5 Volts ( they do NOT leak fluids ) and many other projects ...... DAVE™🛑

It's good to see that there are still folks out there who prefer to salvage components when possible. Takes me back to my younger days in this hobby when parts were a lot harder to get and much more expensive.

I am more of the "keep the board and take the components off as I need them" mentality. Low power resistors are very cheap so I just buy them new. However...there always comes a day when I am building a circuit and I don't have the value I need in stock, so then those old circuit boards become an "electronics shop in a bin". Quicker to scour some old boards and lift that component you need than make a trip to the nearest Jaycar, about 30 kilometres from where I live. Yes, the exotic components are great fun and sometimes quite useful. LF transformers, wall wart PSUs (switchmode or Iron core) always worth hanging on to and often get used up on projects, even if just converting a commercial something that's battery operated to powered by the line source. Old inverters and UPS units are a fantastic source of high power MOSFETs. Some even have assemblies on heatsinks that you can de-solder and lift right out and use in your project. Even the boards themselves. Maybe not so much with modern multilayer PCBs, but the older single sided boards, once stripped of components can be used to build a new project on. There are two ways to go about this. a) Lift all the tracks off, they come off pretty easily when heated with an iron, then drill new holes to accommodate the new components as necessary. And just wire up point to point below, just like simple punched protoype board. b) If your project and the donor board has relatively simple traces, you can even adapt those to connect your new circuit. Sometimes you might need to break a track and drill additional holes etc.

One thing i save are the little electromechanical relays from discarded microwave control boards. They come in handy for all kinds of stuff.

I usually blast boards with a heat gun then knock out the parts, or pull out with a pliers. If low value parts happen to fall out, I still keep them. Even ICs that I know I will never use, or data sheets are unavailable, I still keep them since they look cool and they don't take up much space. For plastic parts like connectors, I hand desolder them before using the heat gun. I always test and keep good electrolytic capacitors since many times faulty devices are due to bad electrolytics and it's a pain to go buy replacements, and it's too expensive to buy them new in bulk.

Regarding toroid cores, there's a caveat: Most cores are designed for the 150 kHz frequencies that are found in switching supplies, while others are used for audio frequencies. If you're using them for RF, you may not have good results. Fortunately, there are cheap instruments (the NanoVNA) you can use to characterize your salvaged components.

For SMT ICs: it's good to run it under microscope and grab all names, then list all of them in some sort of document with source board identification. This allows you to quickly perform a search through your entire inventory of PCBs to check if you already have one. Then hot air can do a quick job if needed. (Recently did that to repair a broken 20W battery lamp of a friend with TP4056 I just ran out of, but had old breakout board with broken USB connector and working IC). For electrolytic caps: I desolder only things with quality comparable to Rubycon and use it only when I don't have new ones, becuase I f-d up calculations :D The things I love to take are crystal oscillators. Old quality is way better than new ones. Also opamps, but only ones that are audio-grade (even if I'm mostly prototyping diagnostic devices rather than audio equipment, but those op-amps are sometimes life-savers). Then it goes with CuAl - if it has copper or aluminum in it, it's probably worth salvaging (transformers, chokes, inductors, radiators etc.) I rarely salvage device chassis/box. Mostly if it's a flat steel surface (can be used as raw material to fabricate something else) or plastic (dumping that into "recycle" bin, waiting to get a shredder and pellet extruder).

Great video. One mans trash is another mans treasure. That's totally right, I have saved many circuit boards many years. I have at least two moving boxes filled with different circuit boards, because u never know when u need some components for other projects. And u also saving some money by doing this.

Thanks for these advice, you can add to the list optocoupleur, encoder, hd44780 lcd, précision resistor, old nokia lcd, stepper motor etc.

7:46 "Even if you don't need a new large transformer, they're also great for weight training". Who says an electronics nerd doesn't have muscles!

Good points. To top this off if our country does not get it self back together in a useful way, we will have to get our electronic components from other places, that used to be trash. Also in some cases some components are no longer made especially things for vacuum tube units, certain number transistors, etc.... Also most do not know this, but transistors in general can be used anywhere as a replacement as long as their current carrying is enough and their type MosFet, regular, Darlington, PNP, or NPN is the right type. Yes some are made for certain frequencies or used in certain places but if the things I mentioned match or are better then original the thing can work.

Connectors. IEC power connectors are very useful, and screw-type wire-to-board are very re-usable. I just got a lifetime supply of PCB-mounted BNC connectors from a salvaged DVR. I never re-use electrolytic caps because I have no way of knowing how much thermal or voltage shock they have endured. Boards with SMT devices are great for practicing soldering/desoldering skills.

during the covid shutdown i would spend 8-10 hr a day just going through a huge mess of old circuit boards I had, desoldering most of the same stuff you mentioned as worth saving. i really gave my TS100 a run for its money for a few months. At least now i have a closet thats only half full of stuff. Lol

Thanks for the information! I'm not a advanced electronics repair guy but a simple tinkerer, I partly collected a lot of old and damaged electronics because I tried to see if there was any value different metals. There's a scrapper from Australia that I've learned a lot from, but over in Sweden we don't have any place willing to buy whole PCBs or parts. But at least now I know a few things to save.

I desolder everything. Including chips and bga parts and smd parts and just everything like ports a tht components because its fun and a lot of microcontrollers are reprogrammable for use in projects

I like to salvage shift registers and multiplexers as they are useful for Microcontroller projects

Since I don't have that much space, I save usable components by cutting the PCB with a tin scissor, just around the component. I don't have to desolder directly. In this way, everything just fits in a single plastic box. Sometimes on a rainy Sunday I take out this box and test them in circuit for ESR, and if all tracks are disconnected from other components I even test for Farads if they are in the tolerance rate. Of course, I throw away the cheap Chinese ones.

For capacitors, resistors and so on, I tend to only salvage "exotics ones" like high voltage capacitors or 10W ceramic resistors. The rest are so cheap that it doesn't really worth it to salvage it. For connectors, I always salvage them since these can be quite expensive depending on the type ... and it's also generic and really versatile (nothing prevent you to use a DB9 connector for something else than Serial Port for exemple). For ICs, well, I tend to not salvage them unless they are really generic ones (things like CD4017 or flash memory).

despite not really understanding any of the concepts, i'll subscribe and comment to help you maintain the algorithms favor. i also watched the video in it's entirety, so there's that.

Great stuff, visit the salvage/ recycling centre once a week. BTW , those 5volt power supplies can be used to power valve rectifiers on old radios or Instrument amps. Thanks. Remind the folks to keep pliers and a small screwdriver handy for pulling/unscrewing parts out of old equipment.

So i'm not the only one that keeps this stuff ! 🤫

a yes i do love using old tvs and transformer for my deadlift training, good video its always exciting finding some odd device and taking it apart to see whats inside and what can be used, i prefer switches and relays, they can be always usefull

I like to salvage fans, stepper motors and DC motors and 8 ohm speakers. Even microservos if they are in an old robot or toy. Big caps are always handy for audio speakers and induction coils for the same. I also grab mechanical switches and dials and sliders (rheostats?). All good stuff. Great video.

Bulkhead connectors, terminal blocks and such are good to salvage also.

Awesome advice that I completely agree with! I love doing curls with MOTs

World rally in the arcade was a standing wheel controlled game with a high and low gear shifter I think. What I remember is the wheel would spin infinitely when you cornered. I suspect there was a hall effect or digital encoder to one wire serial protocol for input. It was super fun but hard

I agree, take only stuff that you need or may need and stuff that are rare and/or expensive. I salvage capacitors, resistors, diodes, transistors, logic IC's and opamps, also power amplifiers. However, many modules that I find over the years are just well usable as they are (some rectifiers with filters, some AF power amplifiers) and I keep them like that, many are used already in my projects. Transformers are always a keep, I used many low power 6V, 9V or 12V transformers to power some test instruments instead using a SMPS or battery with boost converter, because I have a clean and isolated power source. I found that old transistors (form before 2000 or with known brand markings) are better than modern ones, same for opamps. Even some stuff that you do not regularly use can be useful and needed after you throw it away (I used few PCI slots to make a back plane for an audio amplifier after I throwed away few broken motherboards with ISA slots that had have been better than the PCI ones) I built two linear power supply kits few years ago and powered with a salvaged 2x(12+12) transformer I made a symetric linear power supply for audio projects in my lab; one of them I built with salvaged components, (ICs, transisistors, resistors, capacitors) and the other with supplied components. Now, the one with original components is 15% off than the one built with salvaged components that works as in the first day. Same with a fairy complex signal generator that I built for myself, using salvaged components is more stable than one that I built for a friend with new components he bought from Aliexpress or amazon in bulk.

Nice video! Taking apart faulty devices is also very educational. When observing you can training how to take apart and learn about (common) constructions, smart and clever methods to save some screws or buttons, components you didn't know ever existed (by looking up the part number for a datasheet) and so on. I also have a pile with plastic parts, nice buttons, (chrome) decorations, display windows, panels (can be used with CNC), front panels, feet, screw posts (with correspondng screws) or other parts that isn't easy to print with a 3D printer. Especially screwposts are very handy when you frequently mod or extend a device/case and need some mounting construction. Using glue is ugly but glueing screwpost makes it possible to screw in a pcb or other component easily and you can remove/replace it.

Pro tip: DO NOT remove cables as shown at @2:50. Always prise the socket housing up using the plug itself, NEVER by the cables. This will weaken or break the cable away from its crimp.

I have 2 projects on my channel where I use old cases. My 20 amp linear DC 13.8V PSU for my shack is in an old PC case and used 2 rewound microwave xformers and my straight key "keyer" for my Hermes Lite II SDR is in an old remote extender plastic case, This was a great video.

Aged components are exceedingly expensive to buy and used for audio, medical, space and military equipment. For a very long time, I have sold old and verified components for exceptionally good money.

This was very informative. Thank You😎👍

I leave everything on the boards. I have an online database, where I hack the most viable components in. I give every board a number to find it afterwards. When I need something, I first search the DB, and if it's not in there I buy it new.

Personally, I wouldn't bother salvaging electrolytic caps from anything older than a few years, especially if they were used in power supplies or anything else with a high current load. Those little component testers often don't report ESR accurately if they report it at all. You could be dropping an old, electrically leaky cap in your brand-new project and not even realize it.

If you find something with a programmable micro controller, these are always worth taking, firstly they'll be programmed, so if you're repairing the same device, that is highly valuable, and if not, you can re-program them for other jobs.

Glad to know I'm not the only one that hoards scrap electronics, lol. For us over in the USA, I always save all the fasteners because most of them are metric.

I only keep specialized parts that I know I will not be able to buy. However I strip video cameras etc for the screws, you will find it incredibly difficult to by screws less that 2mm, I do also separate small screws into metric and imperial, US screws NC, NF are virtually impossible to get in New Zealand in smaller sizes. I too keep some wire, especially the fine stuff in quality Japanese or scientific stuff. I have also built up a stock of wired plugs and sockets, there are 100's but its nice to be able to connect to something rather than having to probe pins.

Hey man! Pretty interesting! I'd lovce to see a video of reusing transformers. Like disassembly rewinding, rebuilding

We used to call it un-solder. We used to use what was called a solder sipper. A rubber ball shape after heating the solder, you simply place the tube next to it and release the bulb. the solder was sucked up.

Heck yes. There needs to be wayyyyy more content regarding parts salvaging.

A professional print shop near me throws out those Canon print cartridges that have tons of sensors, screws, gears, steel shafts, bearing and components on them. I always grab them. I can’t believe a $500 consumable part gets disposed of rather than recycled by Canon.

I find turning the CB component side facing down over a biscuit tin or equivalent get a small gas blow lamp heat up the solder side components fall off the CB very eastly

Great video, not directly related but do you plan to make a video about winding of smps transformer?

Omg thanks for the video. I like salvaging big flat screens off Craigslist and the boards I don't use and never will I always wanted to scrap the good components but I'm just learning about tech and don't know what to take. I figured I'd just take them all but meh

I have used 50Hz transformers for physio after breaking my wrist! Sharp edges though - I padded it in a hat I had handy.

If we don't have scarcity of spaces we can always keep electronics and other technological products. Theses are best engagement of time and learning differentiated latest version of technology.

I used to remove almost every component, but then buying the same stuff because I wanted to be sure the components would last. Donated most of my stash to a local makerspace last year. I don't make lots of experimental stuff, I only repair when needed. Keeping everything is a good thing as long as it isn't hoarding shit that does not get used again ever... Same with silicone vs vinyl wire. Small lengths of silicone wire? Sure. Vinyl though, nope.

The main components which can be very expensive and which I always salvage, whether I need them or not, is the IGB-Transistor, mainly found inside power inverters and induction hods.

Interesting, thank you!

Salvaging the pwm signal ic that drive the mosfet of pwr supply is a great asset to replace in other supplies during repairs and projects.! though they are the most rare component that can be found good in smaller pwr supply's 😢

Very helpful! Thank you!

Hi just sub’d to your channel, great video mate, great instructions also, cheers. 🤙🏼🇦🇺 Joe from Australia 🤙🏼🇦🇺

General rule of thumb keep all the heavy stuff😃

This is a beautiful video, thank you

4:35 I don't wanna be the nerd but those are actually vacuum fluorescent displays

Excellent. Please keep this up. 👍👍👍

Thanks ...great vid!

great video, very informative !:)

3:20 I have a question i haven't been able to get an answer for. Im in the process of building an axial flux generator, I've basically everything done, ive just to make the serpentine coils, i have a few extension cords ive stipped to the copper. My question is, can they be used to make the serpentine coils or does it need to be "enameled magnet wire" Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Very good video, liked & subscribed, good luck

This video is full of treasures ❤

I save the plastic shell from any powersupply I'm tossing. They are great for little projects.

I have saved one big 5A transformer ,I use it quite often as a paperweight and dumbell😂

When he's talking about LCD displays, he's showing neon displays and the display on the top. I know what the Device was I forgot the name, but it is AC. D. Player. Slash DVD player. meant for vans or vehicles. The bottom one. looks like it went to a stereo set.

I want to add, save TO-3 packaged stuff. Used to be cheap, now kinda expensive and hard to get sometimes.

6:45 those transformers are /not/ from a plasma TV! - They are for the CCFL backlight of a LCD-TV. Why doesn't the images and text correspond?

I have a question for you sir i have many car amps and power bricks but dont always fix them as my knowledge is quite small compared to peoples like yourself how did you learn so much and get into it

Anything with spooled magnet wire i keep, not a shred of copper slips through the cracks, if its conmon transformers il strip em and add the metal to my pile. The pcb mounting thingys that ne555 type chips plug into i use often, made a habit of setting every gold plated pin aside to be harvested oneday when i feel like doing chemistry again. The 1kv and up ceramic caps i keep, enclosures i keep, plugs, bizarre components i keep, 12v relays , fasteners as you say. Potentiometers and any other variable components, antennas of all kinds, rectifiers that can take abuse, any vacuum tubes or bulbs besides common ones

Great Video! But those werent LCDs, they were VFDs (Vacuum Fluorescent Display)

I was fortunate to get to scavenge from a vacuum spark sintering machine from a metallurgy lab, and the other equipment too before it was scrapped, found some amazing transformers in the sintering machines spark source, a 25kv coiled core with some strange red bitumen like coating, its gotta be from the 80’s , im still working on firing it up as soon as I figure it out, regular wave inputs get little effect but the pulse when tapping it on a battery gets a crack of a discharge. Not sure what class of transformer it is, the internet is not helpful regarding its identification. Got a beautiful induction coil setup from inside a sampling type of machine, big amplifier tube, many fantastic capacitors to suit, a few proper spark gaps, some of the most boring looking machines have the coolest parts

i am interested to know what the module to check the capativity value is. could anyone willing to share?

All of it. I might need it before I die, er, well, probably not, but you never know!

I wouldn't waste my time on small capacitors(low voltage, low capacity); they cost 3-5 cents each, and they are often already half dead by the time you desolder them of an old PCB.

To be honest, I usually don't bother with most capacitors or resistors unless they are a special/unusual type (for example, class X/Y caps, or high power resistors), because there are just so many different possible values for them that the odds that I'll need that exact value at some later date are relatively low, so I'd prefer to just buy exactly what i need when I need it. I especially usually avoid electrolytic caps because it is so easy for them to turn out to be bad anyway (even if they're not completely bad, they have a tendency to "drift" or develop high ESR over time, so I generally prefer using new ones).. I do keep an eye out for particularly large-value or high-voltage caps, though, especially if they're in an unusually small package (i.e. supercapacitors). I will also sometimes pull any small through-hole bypass caps off of old discrete electronics boards, because when you're working with that sort of thing, you need a lot of them (and they're pretty much all interchangeable for that purpose). I do usually pull things like diodes (and bridge rectifiers, etc), too, because they are often more flexible in what kind you can use where, and having a small variety of them on hand can sometimes be useful, particularly the higher-power versions. I also always pull any power cord sockets (e.g. C8, C14, etc), because I've always got a ton of cords for them and they're a great way to supply AC power to anything I'm building that needs it. I usually only pull other kinds of sockets if they match up to something else I'm pulling (i.e. there's a module I'm keeping intact which has a particular cable attached, so I grab the socket it plugs into too), or if they're a really common type I expect to easily find other things which will match with (e.g. PCIe power connectors, etc). Otherwise I don't bother because they're often a real pain to get off without damaging them, and who knows whether I'll ever have anything to plug into them...

I imagine a day, when either crowd sourced or via AI assistance, a comprehensive repository of diagrams/data-sheets will become easily available, where components & sections can be defined, maybe a circuit board has a section that can be cut off & soldered with key inputs/outputs to a personal project to serve that modular function…

Have you really been uploading only 4 months and have over 1K subs? That seems awesome!

surface mount components are the easiest things to salvage. just heat up the whole board and smack it against a hard surface or scrape them off. hundreds of useful components salvaged with a few seconds of actual effort.

You make it look so easy 😅

The "LCD's" you showed, are not LDC's at all. They're a different (and often more superior) style of display, called a VFD (vacuum fluorescent display). They're basically like if you made a display out of a neon sign. They can withstand an insane amount of temperature, have a perfect 180 degree viewing angle, are bright, and exceptionally responsive. I always save these, because they are a very cool, and somewhat rare piece of old display tech, that is not too difficult to drive. As I said, they are rare, but some are multi colored, and some have cool graphics on them. Most commonly found in audio equipment. If you don't have the driving circuit, they're very easy to figure out the wiring of, and can easily be multiplexed.

Lovely salvage all😊you have a great Channel

I always find interesting things in trash. I found a 90s pc last night. Some of this motherboard capacitors are dead, i Hope to replace It from another found TV or similar boards! If not, i Will buy it

I got lots of funky ICs while stealing from junkyard

I order components with my employers account so they are all free and the best.

Similar habits. Thanks!

Thx.

another consideration is the collapse of supply chains because of war, etc. Anyone who has watched Soylent Green can see some things that are cheap today may be like gold in the future

I found a nearly brand new high end HP laser printer in the trash. Hardly used and works fine. $800 retail.

I'm gonna take a guess and say that you also don't know what "burn and slap" is hahaha Basing this idea on the fact you called VFD displays "LCD"