eevBLAB #18 - Old Component Drawers

[EEVblog]

Dave goes through his original 35yo component draws before tossing them out!

[GNU_Ninja]

You ought to see if any of those old metal can transistors have grown whiskers. A teardown of a vintage transistor would make an interesting video. Check out the pdf below from NASA.

http://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker/anecdote/af114-transistor/2005-Brusse-tin-whiskers-AF114-transistors.pdf

 

[SteveLy]

Dave! Don't throw it out, but auction it off! Stick it on ebay. Your loyal followers will bid knowing exactly what they're getting and that proceeds will support EEVBlog. I'll bid for sure.

[Herr R aus B]

Dave!

Always think beginning at the end - and in the end, there surely once will be The Australian (And Not Austrian) David L Jones Museum - and they will love that stuff! so! Don't throw it away (and don't turn it on or even take it apart)! Keep it! It'll become relics worth several fortunes!!! Once! Some day! I guess... 

Regards!

Axel

[Tothwolf]

Dave, the Akro-Mils cabinets themselves are actually worth money. Just the styrene drawers are hard to find when you have existing cabinets with missing/broken drawers. I bought some cabinets and loose drawers a number of years ago which looked a lot like yours that I used to fill in and expand some of my other really old parts cabinets which had come from estate finds. I wasn't the only one bidding on those cabinets/drawers, either.

Edit: Holy cow Dave...you've got some serious money in those really old/salvage parts. This stuff is like gold to those of us who service/restore vintage gear and some of it can be quite hard to find today. A little soap and water will clean those old cabinets up, too. Isopropyl will take off the old label residue and is safe for polystyrene (just don't use isopropyl on polycarbonate plastics...it causes them to crack). Cotton rags work best when cleaning label residue off the front of these sort of drawers (paper towels will scratch them).

Short version: Just because a component looks old and crusty doesn't automatically mean it is worthless junk.

[ryanmoore]

 You've got a drawer full of old calculator buttons, and yet you took the piss out of the guy who saved five sets of used couch feet!?

[bitslice]

You've got a drawer full of old calculator buttons, and yet you took the piss out of the guy who saved five sets of used couch feet!?

Old buttons are much nicer than the awful Chinese neon coloured ones which eBay is swamped with.
Getting decent looking switches for a project is either expensive or as rare as hens teeth.

[Rasz]

put it on ebay, or give away to some newbies

You've got a drawer full of old calculator buttons, and yet you took the piss out of the guy who saved five sets of used couch feet!?

not only that, Dave has a drawer with rubber feet himself

[EEVblog]

Edit: Holy cow Dave...you've got some serious money in those really old/salvage parts.

Err, nope. 

[Tothwolf]

Edit: Holy cow Dave...you've got some serious money in those really old/salvage parts.

Err, nope. 

Check the current price for a new glass reinforced polyester TO-3 socket from Tyco/TE or many of the formerly common transistors in TO-39 cans sometime..."vintage" stuff isn't cheap.

Old aluminum electrolytics or paper capacitors, bleh...bin em or sell them to some audiophool, but old mylar (polyester) and other film capacitors? Nothing wrong with those at all, and it is nice to be able to match old parts or use period correct when rebuilding vintage kit. Old leds? Try finding a modern led to exactly match the look of that one faulty led in an existing display/control panel/widget so it won't look out of place... Sure, you wouldn't use this stuff in a new build or repair of a modern device, but it can be quite useful when you repair a lot of older stuff.

Besides, if there wasn't a market for vintage parts, they wouldn't be selling at estate auctions and on eBay. But hey, I'm just a guy that people toss money at to repair their old electronic "junk".

[station240]

2:35 Heh I've got 2 of those 0.01uF 800V caps myself, looks like we pillaged the same device.
I had planned to make a voltage tripler if I could just find a 3rd one, that was over a decade ago.

Anyway I'm slowly going through my decades of accumulated parts to sort into 3 piles:
1) Keep for current projects.
2) Bin
3) Stuff to list for sale on here, so someone else can play with my bag 'o 300 greencaps etc.

[German_EE]

My component collection is of reasonable size but I still have some parts that go back to the late 1970's, things like a matched PNP/NPN germanium transistor pair that were originally in a slow-scan TV receiver that I built. So long as you know where to find stuff there's no point throwing it away, a good example being the tape counter which radio hams still use to set the turns on roller inductors.

Part way through we see a toggle switch with a red plastic cover. I still have a bag of assorted plastic covers just like that and, once in a while, they still get used.

[EEVblog]

Besides, if there wasn't a market for vintage parts, they wouldn't be selling at estate auctions and on eBay. But hey, I'm just a guy that people toss money at to repair their old electronic "junk".

Tell that to this guy:


His entire life's work desoldering, salvaging, and sorting parts went for under $500. I could have bought it all. As incredible as it was, practically speaking it was mostly junk.

[VK3DRB]

KINDRED SPIRITS!

Dave's drawers had amazingly similar stuff that I had, and in some cases I still have. I still have TIP32C's and LEDs and T05 case transistors and regulators! I still have about 5 of these old boxes around.

The grey drawers with the E12 series resistors originally contained countersunk screws, machine screws, washers, nuts, cotter pins etc. Dave or maybe his parents would have bought the kit at K-Mart, because it was a K-Mart product. The entire box with the contents all cost around $5.99 if I recall correctly which was a bargain at the time. Even though us Aussies advanced in the 1970's by going metric, having ye olde imperial threads around was still useful. These grey boxes were available around 1979 and 1980. (Incidentally in 1977, I bought a hacksaw from K-mart for $1. I still have it and use it.)

I did throw out a lot of old resistors of the same vintage because the legs were so oxidized they were no longer solderable. The only bad thing about those drawers is the PTH resistor legs would find their way into lifting up the plastic dividers and migrate into the next compartment, gradually making a mess.

Thanks for the video Dave, I enjoyed it.

[nctnico]

I have a -content wise- similar bunch of components drawers hanging on the wall behind me dating back close to 30 years. One already got overrun with new parts; I still need to go through the other one. Lots of desoldered resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, leds, displays and other junk in there.

Still pondering on just binning what came/comes out of those or putting it on Ebay.

[Ghydda]

Dave, I'd gladly have every TO3 package component you've got, cause I collect those.  It's sad I know.
I really like that package for some reason.


Cheers
/Ghydda

[Vgkid]

With those drawers you could always donate them, or put them on the curb(and watch them disappear...)
What is the Fluke calibrator that I see?

[wagon]

I still have drawers of a similar vintage.  I still use them in my workshop, but I don't use them for common parts.  I've also got butter containers full of counters, heads, etc. that I ratted as a kid.  Doesn't take up much room, so stashed away safely they'll remain.  My huge box of ratted knobs still comes in handy too.

[Dave Turner]

Geez! You had some new fangled stuff in there.  - at least compared to stuff I chucked out a few years ago.

[Agent24]

Don't just throw them out
There's still likely to be some good stuff in there for someone who restores vintage gear or just collects old parts.

I'd sell them, even it was only for $1 - or just put it on Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) if you can't be bothered selling it. A great way to get rid of good, unwanted stuff if you'd otherwise chuck it out. Probably actually cheaper than dumping it since someone is bound to pick it up from you for nothing.

Myself, I try to use up my old components wherever possible. Why buy new if you already have some? Who cares if it's 30 years old if it works. Of course I test it first, but if it passes, then I use it. Most parts last for ages, really.

[elwarth]

Couldn´t resist going the same direction down memory lane.
How about it? Homemade matchbox-drawers also 30+ years old.
Content? E12 decade and crusty salvaged caps 

[Tothwolf]

I did throw out a lot of old resistors of the same vintage because the legs were so oxidized they were no longer solderable. The only bad thing about those drawers is the PTH resistor legs would find their way into lifting up the plastic dividers and migrate into the next compartment, gradually making a mess.

You might try to find a Hexacon MA-860 braid cleaner. It cleans the tin oxide right off the component leads and they will look like new. I use one all the time to clean up old Ohmite wirewound and Allen-Bradley carbon comp resistors.

[Tothwolf]

Besides, if there wasn't a market for vintage parts, they wouldn't be selling at estate auctions and on eBay. But hey, I'm just a guy that people toss money at to repair their old electronic "junk".

Tell that to this guy:


His entire life's work desoldering, salvaging, and sorting parts went for under $500. I could have bought it all. As incredible as it was, practically speaking it was mostly junk.

I've seen it, and I don't know what to tell you. I think that "lot" had two things working against it. One, I suspect that stuff just happened to be in the wrong location and wasn't all that visible to the serious buyers in the US and Europe. Two, it had no online catalog of its contents which makes it harder for potential buyers to find it. With all the Tektronix parts shown in your video, I have no doubt he had some uncommon Tektronix semiconductors in there, and those are very useful to people who restore old scopes and such.

I would still like to know what happened to all the Tektronix CRTs and transformers. I bought 3 CRTs just this year for some 500 series Tek scopes (I only needed one, but the price was right and I'm glad I bought all 3 since it turned out they had different phosphors and weren't exactly what the seller described).

Edit: ...and you know, we really don't know that this was Mr. Sparkes "entire life's work"...for all we know, he may have worked for Tektronix at some point and got the leftovers when they closed down one of their repair depots. Considering his setup, he may have also been operating his own repair depot. It isn't like you can run down to Dick Smith or Radio Shack and buy a custom transistor for a vintage 1960s, 1970s, or even 1980s era oscilloscope...unless you have a source for NOS custom parts ($$$) your only option is to salvage them from other instruments.

[mattvoce]

Hi Dave
Cant believe that the green 9 drawer cabinet was the exact one I had from the 70s which I think was from Tandy, low and behold mine had a draw full of reclaimed germanium transistors too.

[lowimpedance]

Hi Dave
Cant believe that the green 9 drawer cabinet was the exact one I had from the 70s which I think was from Tandy, low and behold mine had a draw full of reclaimed germanium transistors too.

Yep still have the same one too and yes its still used with similar odds n ends in it.

Dave has gotta hand his one down to Sagen.

[German_EE]

But what do we do if Sagan decides to be an artist, or a police officer, or thinks that a career in selling insurance is just the thing? All of those components will end up in his loft whilst he travels the world as an aspiring artist. I've always been interested in technical stuff but as a young boy I wanted to join the Royal Air Force, then I decided I wanted to be a police officer, and the electronics bug didn't really bite until I was fourteen or so.

Then I discovered girls at university and it all fell apart from there 

[crispy_tofu]

His entire life's work desoldering, salvaging, and sorting parts went for under $500. I could have bought it all. As incredible as it was, practically speaking it was mostly junk.

Life's work... if that dude was me, he would be heartbroken. 

IMO keep the first one! It'll be like a family heirloom (only less valuable) 

[Stuart Coyle]

Here's my old original parts drawers...


Look familiar?

[EEVblog]

Look familiar?

Looks like the same one!
Don't recall where mine came from.

[EEVblog]

But what do we do if Sagan decides to be an artist, or a police officer, or thinks that a career in selling insurance is just the thing?

I'm not a pushy parent, I don't care which Nobel prize he wins 

[Stuart Coyle]

I think my green drawers came from Jaycar or possibly Altronics in Perth.

[SteveLy]

But what do we do if Sagan decides to be an artist, or a police officer, or thinks that a career in selling insurance is just the thing?

I'm not a pushy parent, I don't care which Nobel prize he wins 

Even if it's the Peace Prize?? Your boy is lucky!! My mother is still waiting for my Nobel (physics) which will come as soon as I win the lottery twice without ever buying a ticket. (Seriously, my mum's a schizophrenic and used to quiz me all the time about how my Nobel prize was going, till I gave her a hard time about it. Now she only hints.)

Sagan will be awesome. He already is awesome.

Dave, you should auction off your old "junk". Don't toss it. Make it a fundraiser.