June 2013
Since money for hobbies is hard to come by these days, is it worth trying to salvage parts from old electronic equipment to build new projects? What kind of equipment has the most usable parts — old TVs, computers, stereos? How far do component values deteriorate over time to become unreliable? Any advice out there?
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I've been an electronics hobbyist since junior high school (I'm 57 now) and I've salvaged many components from PC boards and other electronic hardware for use in various projects. Sometimes the old stuff, in the many boxes of salvaged parts I have, has made it possible to complete a project. Don't forget to save hardware items also! I can't count how many times I've pulled out a bin of fastener hardware or brackets and found just what I need.
Another fantastic (and usually very inexpensive) resource for electronic and hardware parts is the surplus electronics market. In most larger cities there is at least one, and sometimes many, surplus electronics stores. I would say you have a very good chance of that in Houston. For example, anyone who lives in the SF bay area of California ("Silicon Valley") has a goldmine of surplus stores! One thing I usually do when visiting a larger city (if I'm driving, not flying - too expensive to transport) is to check the phone book for an Electronics - Surplus section and make some phone calls to get an idea of what's available.
If you decide to go ahead with salvaging parts from boards, you can begin inexpensively by using a soldering iron and a "solder sipper" (spring loaded vacuum device) and some solder wick to remove components. You will need to be careful not to heat individual component legs very long so as not to damage the components. It can be done. As you progress with this you can do some web searches for some less expensive desoldering equipment that will make it easier to remove components. You may even find some of this equipment at one of the surplus stores! Good luck!
Absolutely! Since I was a kid, I've kept a stash of boards from dismantled equipment from which to salvage usable parts. While it started out of necessity, even now that I can afford to buy new parts for projects, it's still handy to have a selection of salvageable stuff on hand, and the best form of recycling is reuse.
If you are anything like me, sooner or later it will be 2am on a Saturday and you will find yourself needing a specific part you don't have and more often than not the junk box will save the day.
Most components hold up well with age. Semiconductors are almost always good, unless you are unlucky enough to find the part that resulted in the equipment being discarded in the first place. Reasonably modern components don't tend to drift much, although electrolytic capacitors may be suspect, particularly if they were used in a switchmode power supply.
It is certainly worth salvaging parts from old electronics. My favorite tools for this are a desoldering iron (Parts Express model 372-202) and a Black & Decker heat gun (model HG1300). A good first device to take apart would be a VCR. Look for a heavy one made in the 80's or early 90's, it will have many basic parts like capacitors and inductors, along with more interesting bits such as a VFD display and a motor control chip.
In terms of what else to take apart: I would not recommend TVs, you can get a nasty shock from one, and the boards don't have much on them. Older computer boards have more through-hole chips than newer ones. (Heat gun works well here.) Stereos have a lot of good parts, from heavy duty transistors, to graphic equalizer chips.
I have not seen much deterioration of component values. Very old electrolytics sometimes can't hold a good charge. Most of the resistors in an old Vidicon camera I took apart were out of spec. In comparison, stuff from 20-30 years ago normally holds up very well. Capacitors with 'J' markings and resistors with gold bands almost always measure as expected.
Also, to dispel a couple of 'myths' about salvage that I frequently hear. “Don't bother removing LEDs or transistors, they always burn up.” This is not true, you can save anything if you work quickly enough. “Remember that salvaging costs money in electricity to run the iron/heat gun.” Not really, at 12 cents per KW/H, it costs about half a penny to use the 45 watt iron for an hour. If I use the heat gun, the cost per hour rises to a measly 16.5 cents.
