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Salvage It! BY JULIAN EDGAR Scrounging and (gulp) buying the bits There are lots of ways to scrounge otherwise expensive parts for nothing or next to nothing. Here’s how to go about it. E ACH MONTH in this column, we describe how to use components salvaged from cheap and discarded goods – bits and pieces from printers, VCRs, electric typewriters, old computers, washing machines, coffee makers, cassette decks, speakers and other equipment. But where do you get these goods cheaply? It’s no good paying $40 for a VCR just to salvage one small DC electric motor – a motor that you could have bought for $10 brand new! However, at the other end of the spectrum, it’s well worth picking up an electric typewriter for $10 if it yields four stepper motors, a solenoid, heatsinks, rubber feet and springs, to name just some of the salvageable components. So how do you go about obtaining these potential treasure troves of bits? Garage sales The greatest difficulty with garage sales is also their greatest advantage – each is a lucky dip. So if you’re after a specific piece of equipment (say a high pressure coffee maker to get the silicone hose, temperature switch and solenoid), you could go to literally 50 garage sales and never see one. Alternatively, at the very first house, you could find that some “fruitcake” is selling five coffee makers at $10 for the lot! Unwanted consumer goods at garage sales can be really cheap. I recently bought two non-working VCRs (big, heavy, old and high quality) for $4 for the pair. Large portable sound systems – say a bit scratched and battered – can be picked up for five or ten dollars, while a box of obsolete computer parts – disc drives, cases, printers – could be labelled at $10. An old mobile phone complete with plugpack charger might cost you $2 and I have never been to a garage sale where the prices weren’t open to negotiation. Expect to get at least 30% off any marked price. Electronic repairers Companies that repair electronic or electrical goods throw out a huge number of broken appliances and other goods. Typically, a VCR or printer or dishwasher or stereo is taken in for a quote and then proves uneconomic to fix. Invariably, the owner doesn’t want it back and so it goes into the repairer’s rubbish output. If you approach a repair shop – especially a small repair shop – and tell them your name, what junk stuff you’d like and what you’ll be doing with the parts, you’re likely to get a favourable reception. Most electronic technicians hate having to throw out so much that is potentially still good for parts. However, they’re not going to go to any particular trouble for you (eg, putting stuff aside) if you never show up again, so it makes sense to call in frequently. This electric typewriter was bought by tender for $5. Inside you’ll find good quality stepper motors, metal rods and rollers, microswitches and a power switch. Buying by tender works well with outdated electrical items. 96  Silicon Chip Auctions Auctions can be wonderful places siliconchip.com.au Want cheap, really bright LEDs? We have the best value, brightest LEDs available in Australia! Check these out: Luxeon 1, 3 and 5 watt All colours available, with or without attached optics, as low as $10 each Low-cost 1 watt Like the Luxeons, but much lower cost. •Red, amber, green, blue and white: Just $6 each! Lumileds Superflux These are 7.6mm square and can be driven at up to 50mA continuously. •Red and amber: $2 each •Blue, green and cyan: $3 each Partly disassembled VCRs can be picked up from electronics repairers for nothing. The best bits inside are the fabulous quality bearings, hardened steel shaft and diecast alloy bearing supports of the video head. You’ll also find solenoids, microswitches, springs, belts and pulleys. to buy equipment. However, you need to find the right sort of auction – one that is relatively small and auctioning general or household lots. People getting rid of an old printer, an electric fan, or a “box lot” comprising a TV, clock radio, audio mixer and a computer game often have no reserve prices on the goods. That means the highest bidder takes it home. As an example, the box lot that I recently bought at an auction (which actually did consist of a small B&W portable TV, a brand new audio mixer, a brand new reverb unit, an old clock radio and two new hand-controllers for computer games) cost me just $12. And just a few weeks ago, I bought an electric pedestal fan (I wanted the plastic blade for a wind generator project) and a chair (that I didn’t want) for $2. An old electric typewriter – a very large and heavy one that yielded some really good parts – cost $5. Tender sales Tender sales of the sort that I am describing are held at tender centres – rather like huge secondhand stores. The goods are arranged for inspection and, as with an auction, each item has a “lot” number marked on it. However, unlike at an auction, when you make a bid (called a tender) you have no Asian Superflux Same as above, but much lower cost. •Red and amber: Just 50 cents each! •Blue, green, aqua and white: $1 each. Go to www.ata.org.au or call us on (03)9419 2440. Ozitronics www.ozitronics.com Tel: (03) 9434 3806 Fax: (03) 9011 6220 Email: sales2005<at>ozitronics.com K28 – Voice Activated FM Tx . . . . . . . . . . . $17.60 K32 – Two Stage FM Tx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15.40 K74 – PC Printer Port Relay Board . . . . . . $53.90 K74A – Assembled K74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $70.40 K141 – Multi-Mode Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $32.45 K141A – Assembled K141 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $48.95 K142 – 12 Channel IR Relay Board . . . . . . . $92.40 K146 – 40 Sec Message Recorder . . . . . . . . $30.80 K148 – 4-Digit Timing Module . . . . . . . . . . . $30.80 K153 – DTMF Tone Grabber . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40.15 K154 – 4-Digit Preset Down Counter . . . . . $32.45 K156 – Dual HI/LO Switched Relay . . . . . . . . $19.80 K173 / 5 – Serial / Parallel RF Tx . . . . . . . . . . . $52.80 K174 / 6 – Serial / Parallel RF Rx . . . . . . . . . . . . $60.50 Prices include GST – shipping extra. Full documentation available from website. Rat It Before You Chuck It! Whenever you throw away an old TV (or VCR or washing machine or dishwasher or printer) do you always think that surely there must be some good salvageable components inside? Well, this column is for you! (And it’s also for people without a lot of dough.) Each month we’ll use bits and pieces sourced from discards, sometimes in mini-projects and other times as an ideas smorgasbord. And you can contribute as well. If you have a use for specific parts which can siliconchip.com.au easily be salvaged from goods commonly being thrown away, we’d love to hear from you. Perhaps you use the pressure switch from a washing machine to control a pump. Or maybe you have a use for the highquality bearings from VCR heads. Or perhaps you’ve found how the guts of a cassette player can be easily turned into a metal detector. (Well, we made the last one up but you get the idea . . .) If you have some practical ideas, write in and tell us! November 2005  97 numbers). I got six of them – a 50% success rate! The tip Plastic storage containers are handy for storing all those scrounged parts but keep only the good bits. They take up little room and the original bulky stripped chassis can be discarded. idea of the amounts that other people are bidding for the same items. That’s because the tenders are submitted in writing. So how does it work? The goods can only be inspected on certain days – usually a Friday, Saturday and Sunday every fortnight. At the inspection, a clipboard is issued and you fill in your contact details on the form. Carrying the clipboard around with you, you then write down the “lot” numbers of the items that you’re interested in and state what you’re prepared to pay for them. Note that some items will have a reserve but you’re not told what it is. The following Monday, you hear which of your tenders were successful. A small processing fee is paid for each successful tender, together with the equivalent of a buyer’s premium – again around 10%. For the sorts of goods being described here, tender centre sales work brilliantly. That’s because there’s no auctioneer jacking up the starting price and very often on old electrical goods, yours is the only tender that will submitted. As a guide, I recently tendered $5 each on 12 items that included electric typewriters, computer printers and photocopiers (all were different lot If you’re lucky enough to live near to a rubbish tip that either allows you to take stuff at will or sells salvaged goods for only a nominal fee, you’re laughing. This is by far the best way of getting the widest variety of goods at the lowest cost. Unbelievably, many goods to be found at the tip are in full working order. Included are washing machines, dishwashers, VCRs, portable stereos, plugpacks, PCs, monitors, TVs and clocks – in fact, any electrical consumer item that you can think of. But it gets even better. At larger tips, you’ll also find a range of industrial discards. Generally, these are not in full working order but it’s still common to find large heat exchangers, fans, pumps and so on. Finally, what were once very expensive commercial and industrial goods can also be found. In this category are photocopiers, film processors and laboratory equipment. Depending on the set-up, you can either salvage the good bits and pay for just those items, or you can take the whole item and salvage the wanted bits at your leisure. It’s easy and fun Buying old electronics goods, stripping them for useful bits and then getting rid of the rest is easy, effective and good fun. You’ll learn a little about how things work, you’ll get some good components to build interesting projects and you’ll also be doing your bit for recycling. SC The Latest From SILICON CHIP Completely NEW projects – the result of two years research & development • • • • 160 PAGES 23 CHAPTE RS From the publishers of Learn how engine management systems work Build projects to control nitrous, fuel injection and turbo boost systems Switch devices on and off on the basis of signal frequency, temperature and voltage Build test instruments to check fuel injector duty cycle, fuel mixture and brake and coolant temperatures Mail order prices: Aust. $A22.50 (incl. GST & P&P); Overseas $A26.00 via airmail. Order by phoning (02) 9979 5644 & quoting your credit card number; or fax the details to (02) 9979 6503; or mail your order with cheque or credit card details to Silicon Chip Publications, PO Box 139, Collaroy, NSW 2097. 98  Silicon Chip Intelligent turbo timer I SBN 095852294 - 4 9 780958 522946 $19.80 (inc GST) NZ $22.00 (inc GST) TURBO BOOST & nitrous fuel controllers How engine management works siliconchip.com.au