Author Topic: Goodies on ebay disguised as scrap (Read 16372 times)

daqq · « **on:** April 29, 2015, 11:14:28 am »

While looking for something else I came upon this section of ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Scrap-Recovered-Gold-/162134/i.html

Basically it's various scrap, but there are some interesting items for those who know what they are looking at/for:

HP boards:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/39-HP-BOARDS-WITH-GOLD-TRACES-ON-BOTH-SIDES-10-POUNDS-HIGH-YIELD-/191567240966?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c9a4c1f06

Mil boards:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Collectible-Military-Board-/181705105142?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4e77def6
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASPRO-VME-Array-Memory-25500-3418606-003-1-3418205-001-101-Says-Boeing-D-SG-/111640002719?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19fe43409f

Goodies for the RF connonsuer:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CARDS-6-FOR-HIGH-GOLD-CONTENT-RECOVERY-5-1-2-x-4-1-4-1-2LBS-/111651143023?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19feed3d6f

Great wall tiling:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-recovery-over-23-Pounds-of-Sun-CPUs-/371295066207?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5672e9185f

Probably FPGA or similar dev/test boards:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/450lb-Circuit-Telecom-Server-Test-mother-Finger-Boards-Scrap-Gold-Recovery-NR-/131494473477?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e9dae6f05

Misc:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Computer-part-Electronic-Gold-Scrap-Looks-Expensive-/171745185453?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27fccf8ead
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Two-Hitachi-main-frame-system-boards-Scrap-CPU-for-gold-recovery-made-in-1999-/181724455700?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4f9f2314

I think it might be interesting to some of the locals... Damn, if I had money to spare for more toys...

Note: I have no relation to the sellers.

David

Whales · « **Reply #1 on:** April 29, 2015, 11:29:11 am »

"Super Computer part? Electronic Gold Scrap - Looks Expensive!"
It'd be interesting to see under the milled pressure chamber. RF amplifiers? Processor? Bare dies exposed directly to coolant?

SeanB · « **Reply #2 on:** April 29, 2015, 08:10:19 pm »

Likely absolutely nothing, as it is clearly marked as a seal integrity test board. Only things there are the nice pressure sensor and the schraeder valve. It will have a solid top layer like the bottom of ENIG plate.

marshallh · « **Reply #3 on:** April 29, 2015, 09:59:10 pm »

That "telecomms" board is actually a set of test/serdes characterization and development boards for the recently-defunct Tabula corp which aimed to bring out new FPGAs. Basically, by using time division multiplexing on the LUTs with a faster clock you could increase the capacity by an order of magnitude.

helius · « **Reply #4 on:** April 29, 2015, 10:47:07 pm »

It's unlikely that they still work after being thrown around like that. I'd love to have a working one.

daqq · « **Reply #5 on:** April 04, 2018, 02:02:44 pm »

Another find for the RF enthusiast:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302661059822?ViewItem=&item=302661059822
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5Lbs-roughly-250-pieces-of-VATs-mini-circuits-Scrap-Refining-L131/292483213667?hash=item44195ba963:g:2ccAAOSw73NaqTHw

dmills · « **Reply #6 on:** April 04, 2018, 05:08:58 pm »

What a truly odd little corner of Ebay!
Particularly so as some of what they are selling is almost certainly worth far more if you DONT recover the gold!

I still think the prices are insane for scrap there, the gold plating is just never that thick.

Regards, Dan.

PA0PBZ · « **Reply #7 on:** April 04, 2018, 06:14:03 pm »

Certainly worth more than $8:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Scrap-Recovery-100g-Gold-Plated-Connectors/392009904441

DC1MC · « **Reply #8 on:** April 04, 2018, 06:58:07 pm »

Quote from: PA0PBZ on April 04, 2018, 06:14:03 pm

Certainly worth more than $8:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Scrap-Recovery-100g-Gold-Plated-Connectors/392009904441

Holly shit, I wish the shipping will be less in DE, but whoever buys them, if they don't have some strange flaw will make at least 3 times the money.

DC1MC

bitseeker · « **Reply #9 on:** April 04, 2018, 07:19:52 pm »

The PCB- and panel-mounted stuff might be nice. The hacked off, crimped cable connectors less so. Yeah, what a nifty little corner of eBay.

daqq · « **Reply #10 on:** April 06, 2018, 10:11:06 am »

Quote

Particularly so as some of what they are selling is almost certainly worth far more if you DONT recover the gold!

Yeah, I almost cried when one guy I know told me what kind of test equipment he "recycled". He almost cried when I sent him a few ebay auctions and price estimates on how much similar gear was selling for these days. So I guess we're even.

daqq · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2020, 09:25:02 pm »

One of IBMs chunkier MCMs, a nice piece into any collection:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/22-x-IBM-Power6-Processor-Ceramic-CPU-for-Collection-or-Gold-Scrap-Recovery/184153486396?hash=item2ae067343c:g:8Q8AAOSw2OVeMywb
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-x-IBM-Power6-Processor-Ceramic-CPU-for-Collection-or-Gold-Scrap-Recovery/184153482884?hash=item2ae0672684:g:dmMAAOSw5G9eMyt1

thm_w · « **Reply #12 on:** February 05, 2020, 10:21:17 pm »

Cool connector
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-PCS-93-gram-rf-connectors-for-gold-recovery-scrap-any-use/372399637169

tooki · « **Reply #13 on:** February 06, 2020, 01:05:25 am »

Quote from: daqq on February 05, 2020, 09:25:02 pm

One of IBMs chunkier MCMs, a nice piece into any collection:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/22-x-IBM-Power6-Processor-Ceramic-CPU-for-Collection-or-Gold-Scrap-Recovery/184153486396?hash=item2ae067343c:g:8Q8AAOSw2OVeMywb
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-x-IBM-Power6-Processor-Ceramic-CPU-for-Collection-or-Gold-Scrap-Recovery/184153482884?hash=item2ae0672684:g:dmMAAOSw5G9eMyt1

Surely those don't contain anywhere near as much gold as you could buy for that price. I am totally OK with the price for them as collectors' items, but for gold recovery, there's no way that is worthwhile, right??

(For context, right now, gold is about US$50/gram. Given how thin the gold platings are, I doubt there's 11g of gold in those 22 CPUs. And that's if somehow the gold recovery process were free, which it's not.)

amyk · « **Reply #14 on:** February 06, 2020, 02:43:19 am »

Quote from: thm_w on February 05, 2020, 10:21:17 pm

Cool connector
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-PCS-93-gram-rf-connectors-for-gold-recovery-scrap-any-use/372399637169

Factory rejects, or just someone clueless who came across them and doesn't know what they are?

Vgkid · « **Reply #15 on:** February 06, 2020, 04:48:41 am »

What type of connectors are those?

daqq · « **Reply #16 on:** February 07, 2020, 09:19:01 pm »

Quote from: amyk on February 06, 2020, 02:43:19 am

Quote from: thm_w on February 05, 2020, 10:21:17 pm
Cool connector
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-PCS-93-gram-rf-connectors-for-gold-recovery-scrap-any-use/372399637169
Factory rejects, or just someone clueless who came across them and doesn't know what they are?

The latter is fairly common actually.

Quote

Surely those don't contain anywhere near as much gold as you could buy for that price. I am totally OK with the price for them as collectors' items, but for gold recovery, there's no way that is worthwhile, right??

Not sure about those particular ones, but there are ones (such as Pentium Pro) that are reported to have even a gram a piece. See: http://www.ozcopper.com/computer-cpu-gold-yields/
It's unlikely that the newer IBM MCMs have such a high gold content though. I would like to know

daqq · « **Reply #17 on:** February 12, 2020, 03:29:17 pm »

What were these?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/25-lbs-OF-HIGH-GRADE-CERAMIC-PARTS-FOR-GOLD-RECOVERY/153830343663?hash=item23d100c3ef:g:jVsAAOSwG5teRBST

helius · « **Reply #18 on:** February 19, 2020, 12:00:03 am »

The part number (21-01170-01) is from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), which had factories near to the item's location, in Maynard and Marlborough, Mass. I have not seen that part before, and it doesn't appear to be indexed by G**gle anywhere.

My wild-ass-guess would be that it has something to do with the VAX 9000 (Aquarius), which was a VAX supercomputer with vector extensions. The mezzanine connector looks like a FCI Meg-Array 10022671. These chips are probably not usable by breaking bond wires due to rough handling.

Incidentally, your "divide by cucumber error" sig is relevant to DEC microcircuits. The engineers there published a joke paper about "organic light emitting materials" in which they stuck electrodes into a pickle. That inside joke became the code number for Alpha CPUs, which were numbered EVxx for "Electro Vlasic" (Vlasic is a brand of pickle). EV also could stand for "Extended VAX", but the joke explanation for the name was preferred.

daqq · « **Reply #19 on:** February 19, 2020, 09:28:45 pm »

I just wanted to know what it was as it looked really cool. Damn, I would probably buy one if there was shipping to Slovakia.

The guy released some new photos of the devices ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Recovery-Ceramic-Chip-Gold-Bond-Wires-Brazing-Pins-2Lbs-Scrap-Refine/184176288713?hash=item2ae1c323c9:g:tPwAAOSwveheSKOs ). It looks more like some photodetector + readout than anything else. Can't imagine why a supercomputer would be built in this way.

daqq · « **Reply #20 on:** March 18, 2020, 07:42:14 pm »

The fairly expensive trim caps from Johansson as scrap:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Plated-Pins-and-Connectors-Scrap-Gold-Recovery-1-10lbs/283817720036?hash=item4214dab8e4:g:ZZ8AAOSw6wdecEZk

daqq · « **Reply #21 on:** April 20, 2020, 02:22:14 pm »

10kg of various coax connectors? Sure, why not?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10Kg-NET-LOT-Gold-Scrap-Recovery-High-Yield-Plated-Connector-Pins/184259507475?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D800d6d7e8e804138b4a6e369d70e4789%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D183948966691%26itm%3D184259507475%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A28501c13-8312-11ea-b6c9-fe0f55a31350%7Cparentrq%3A97f6b3a01710ad31c3d19800ffd64b32%7Ciid%3A1

duckduck · « **Reply #22 on:** April 20, 2020, 05:35:17 pm »

My God! The prices there are insane! US$30 + shipping for a pound of RAM sticks? I can't imagine that you could profit off of that if you were able to magically lift the gold off and then sell it for spot. Never mind the dangerous chemicals and labor involved...

Bud · « **Reply #23 on:** April 20, 2020, 07:02:37 pm »

Quote from: daqq on April 20, 2020, 02:22:14 pm

10kg of various coax connectors? Sure, why not?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10Kg-NET-LOT-Gold-Scrap-Recovery-High-Yield-Plated

If they were made in china do not expect any gold to recover.

daqq · « **Reply #24 on:** July 20, 2020, 07:10:19 pm »

Another set of goodies with precise resistors:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-LBS-8-oz-of-Scrap-1970s-FLUKE-Test-Equipment-Circuit-Boards-for-GOLD-Recovery/193584123866?hash=item2d12834fda:g:mdUAAOSwhUVfFMbN


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Author Topic: Goodies on ebay disguised as scrap (Read 16372 times)

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