Ewaste Scrapping - Make the Most Money on Computer Power Supplies
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 พ.ย. 2021
- Shark Scrapper is scrapping more ewaste for value comparisons. This time we look at how to make the most money from computer power supplies. Should you sell as is, scrap for the wire and boards OR micro-scrap the components, copper and aluminum off the low grade boards?
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Shark Scrapper Private Label hot sauce is out of stock. - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
You are probably the first person on TH-cam i seen respond back to everyone's comment and not complain about it in your videos you are amazing keep this up I'm a new subscriber for you and ill definitely be watching your videos man Good job and keep up the good work
Welcome aboard - it's great to have you here. Thank you for the compliment. I've learned a lot from my viewers and enjoy the interaction.
Very thorough comparison, Professor Shark!! It's always so easy just to tell someone "It's not worth the time", but to actually SHOW them why makes all the difference. And as you said, there are differences from yard to yard. I have found a place that takes low grade boards for $.38/lb. I get $.18/lb on transformers, so I don't strip the transformers from the boards anymore.
It's amazing how the prices can vary and so important to understand the math behind one's decision. Spot on man!
Hey Roger. It get 15 cents a boars. Boo! Everything except low grade board that are depoped will be going to my yard.
I love these types of videos. I make spreadsheets for everything I can justify. Keep it up!
Awesome, glad I'm not the only spread sheet nerd in the scrapping world 😆
The black slotted plugs are gold connectors.
Exactly as I expected. You do it the way you do it because as a business man you know time is money. Excellant presentation! I always enjoy watching these videos. If only all, "professors" , were as good at teaching as you are. I had fun.
Thank you Martha - I can't tell you how much your comment means to me.
I love these comparison videos, they are very helpful. I love the Excel too!
I'm so glad! thank you
Buddy, Thank You, I always try to be the most efficient with my time. this is exactly what I was looking for. there is always a sweet spot, where to stop, and when you have volumes of material, it makes a big difference.
Glad to help
Very informative video. I can see why one would lop off the wires on a power supply and sell the wires as dirty copper, and the brick separately. Most of us don't have time to just sit around micro scrapping. Time is money too. Thank you for taking the time to give a thorough comparison.
Glad it was helpful! I enjoy putting these together and sharing the info.
Very interesting ! Good idea to break all the info in an Excel sheet, well done !
Thank you - glad you found it useful.
How your scrap yard categorizes things matters a ton. That wire with connectors, you called copper 2 at over $1 a pound. I just brought essentially the same thing to my scrap yard and they call it ribbon cable at 45 cents a pound with or without connectors. Connector ends and small transformers and inductors are all considered steel and they pay 6 cents a pound. So it's very much worth knowing what YOUR scrapyard categorizes it and what they pay.
Very, very true. Thank you for sharing that very stark difference.
My fav scrapyard considers it #2 as well :)))
This was another Brilliant Comparison and that Spread Sheet was Fantastic and Your Explanation Spot on - it all makes Sense - Thank You so Much - man - we enjoyed that very much ! Cheers from us in Australia !!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love when you make those comparisons. Thanks Shark
Thanks Judy - I enjoy making/sharing them.
Love these comparisons!! Well done you
Glad you like them! I find these exercises very useful and enjoy sharing them.
Thank you for helping so many people with these interesting comparison videos! :D
My pleasure Alrik, thank you for the feed back.
Shark cage is looking AMAZING
Thanks Paul - I love having this space...well, except each month when I pay the rent 🤣
personally, I always save my power supplies. I make trickle chargers, LED power supplies, and other psu out of them. They're good for sooo many things!
There are certainly good uses for them. Of course, I'd have thousands piled up if I didn't scrap them given the nature of my work.
This is the best scrapper channel I've found so far! Kudos! You got yourself a subscriber. I just do a little scrapping for fun, and I don't do anything on PSUs. I don't even collect them if I don't find them already dismounted from the case. Being a hobbyist makes me even more selective on what I spend my time on. The low yielding materials only make sense, if you bring significant amounts to the yard. Like >100kg. I don't want to plug my small home shop with such storage of junk.
Thank you for the nice words and for joining the fun. It's great to have you here.
This is a fantastic video!!!!! Keep up the great work. I appreciate you
Thanks Brian - glad you like the video. It was fun putting it together.
Super amazing video. Thanks for breaking it all down!
My pleasure! It was a lot of fun making it.
thanks Shark. Once again a really informative episode.
So glad you enjoyed it Gabriel. It was lots of fun putting it together.
Very well demonstrated and your right for me personally I am disabled. So I do this just for something to keep busy and have something I can do. Therefore as you said for those like me time really has no value as the point is just keeping busy and make as much as possible from every item we scrap. I have no place local to sell boards so I strip all components and collect them till I have enough to further process and recover the metals. Even after boards are strip the plain board has copper, silver, lead and occasionally even some gold tracing.
That's one of the great things about scrapping. It can be a great hobby OR business. It's awesome that you have this hobby.
Awesome video. I never realized how much time I was wasting on these. Although I'm not 100% about the money. I enjoy taking stuff apart, helping the environment a bit and honestly I enjoy bringing a nice clean product to the scrap yard but this video definitely opened my eyes a bit.
When I was doing this as a hobby, I didn't give time much consideration. But now, I must balance time vs profit on everything.
@@sharkscrapper I'm in a lucky situation at home so my income is basically the gravy. I'm definitely about making money but I'm in a situation where I don't have to focus on just the money. I don't think I'd enjoy scrapping if it was that micromanaged but I get it. Thank you for the reply.
Awesome. Loved the breakdown even if i wasnt looking to scrap stuff.
Glad you enjoyed!
Thanks for taking the time to compare the levels of microscrapping.
Of course I do this all is my spare time when I’m not doing a million other things.
When you have huge volumes of scrap, the more efficient the better.
When it’s sparse, then you make the most of what you got. Either way, I definitely won’t quit my day job!
👍
Good plan Dr. A. Keep scrapping as a hobby, but keep the day job.
@@sharkscrapper I also love how organized you are. With limited space in my garage and shed, I definitely have to reevaluate things better.
25 years in the Navy taught me a little about organization - that and a few years scrapping out of my garage. It's tough but doable. The key is to NOT let things build up. It's hard to stockpile unless you live somewhere where you can store thing outside. Even then you need to keep it neat and protected from the weather.
That was an excellent break down Sharky. 👍
Glad you think so!
Very informative, love your channel
Thanks so much!
Great breakdown vid, really enjoyed this 👍
Glad you enjoyed it.
Love all the math, I would love to see the average hourly/step break down. Because one would not skip to the last few steps without doing the ones previous. I see the more time spent equals less per hour made, but if you average the first step with any of the other steps, the hourly comparison would look more appealing.
Those times were factored in.
I always pull all the copper. Including the brass from the prongs in the plugs and the ends on the cables. It takes me an avg of 15 minutes per supply using all manual tools. I would get just shred prices for the supplies, which is about $65 a ton, as no yard in my area would pay power supply prices. I also have a pile of fans that I hope to sell as fans. They are used in a lot of projects and art. I also have no local places to send the boards and they just go as breakage online. I am also saving capacitors in hopes of finding an easy way of cleaning them up for the aluminum.
Your comment is a great example of how important it is to understand how to maximize your return based on what your local yards take and pay. Keep up the great work.
Very cool, I really like to scrap electronics, usually clean and not very hard to do. Great video 👍👍
Thank you - sorry my response is late, it just showed up in my que for some odd reason.
@@sharkscrapper No worries 👍
The only thing I would suggest is get a pair of craftsman aviation snips with the long nose. That way you can snap through those wires and one swoop, save even more time. Awesome video I made a video the other day asking if I should cut the wires off of the power supplies or do I need to leave them on to get the price
By now you know it really comes down to what your yard will buy and how much they pay for each category. Don't be afraid to ask them either on the phone or when you're there. The good yards are happy to help you understand how to sell to them. If they don't want to answer your questions, find another yard.
Great video. Lots of good information. I'll be scrapping those out. See you Friday!
Glad it was helpful Laura.
I really enjoyed that video. 👍
Awesome, thank you!
love the computer scrapping
It can be addictive.
Very well done. I do e scraping for something to do. And your spot on.
Thank you Joe - glad you enjoyed the vid.
@@sharkscrapper I have been doing it for about 10 years. I learned quickly some things are not woth the time. If I can't do it at $20+ an hour I'm not doing it
Fun fact, I'm working on power supplies as I watch this. I'm micro scrapping them right now, but may have to end up just clipping the wires and finding a yard that will take them w/o wire.
Now that's timing 🤣
This is the video I’ve been looking for !! Thank you much. I’m a relatively new hobbyist. It feels good to take apart and recycle some of these electronics that the tech world keeps leaving behind so quickly for the newest model, the newest features, etc. Looking forward to watching more of your videos - I want to be efficient!
Can you tell me what type of drill bit you use on the Dewalt driver ? The long black thin one? Is it like a universal bit ? So many of these electronics have all different screws, hex screws, etc. i spend wayyyy too much time trying to find the right bit and it seems like jt saves you a lot of time to use that same bit on (most) or the screws in the boards and outer casing.
Unfortunately, there's no getting around changing bits. I've been using a 4' long flex head PH1 lately (available through my Amazon link). But I still need to switch to a torx, especially for HP products. The other frustrating thing is some electronics are made with the Japanese standard Phillips screw. It's just different enough to make it difficult for a worn screw bit. I keep a couple different hand screw drivers at the ready just in case.
like the comparisons
thanks Peggy
Love the comparison videos! It wasn't until I worked with you on the collaboration did I realize that "Mako" speed was named after the worlds fastest Shark, the Mako shark!
Would love to see more collaboration videos, maybe shark tours Boardsort
😏
Mako speed was suggested by one of my viewers a year or so back. I liked it and keep using it. Now if only I was really that fast 🤣
Great video! Silver Scorpion sent me here!
Welcome - it's great to have you here.
@@sharkscrapper Thank you! 😃
Scrapped on & off over the years, best thing for old powers supplies is reuse, turned a few of the into benchtop power outlets, they have multiple DC voltages great for a electrical supply on a work bench. 👍 3.3 v, 5v, 12v, & often -5 & -12v. And 24v across the -12 and +12v. 😊
Most of them needs a small jumper to run if not hooked to a motherboard. Lots of videos on how to make them work outside of a pc.
It's always good when you can reuse/repurpose for sure. Of course, I go through 50 or more a week so scrapping is the way to go for me.
I come from Ian Matthews. You made me laugh with the spice 🤣 liked and subscribed
Welcome to the channel Steven. Ian is such a great guy. I really didn't mean to cause him any discomfort. I had sent him the sauce as a surprise not realizing he was sensitive to spicy things.
@@sharkscrapper lol all good he took it like a champion. Also pleasure to be here and see what you do . I took on scraping a few months ago as a hobby . So I'm slowly learning all the good stuff
Very interesting 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for the visit
@@sharkscrapper I'm new to your channel but enjoy watching these types of videos😁 I've often wondered what the difference in price would be on this type of e waste. I watch a few similar channels and they all do things differently so this video explained it well 😁
Thank you Mick - I'm glad you found it useful. AND...welcome to the channel, it's great to have you here. Scrapping ewaste is on of those areas where there are few "wrong" ways to do it. Obviously, burning wire or dumping heavy metal laden acid waste is in the wrong way to do it category. But questions such as what to break down, what to depopulate, etc, are so dependent on each scrappers situation: how much time you have, prices at your yards, biz vs hobby, and the list goes on. I'm always mindful of this when I make the comparison videos and try to present the information in such a way that each scrapper can make a better informed decision for what will work for them.
Thanks Sharky. Some I open, some I dont.
My pleasure Jason
Wow you are great
Thank you
I scrapped out 2 power units today and it took alot longer then I wanted. You can take those electric motors apart and cut the copper out mildly easy.
Some PSU's can be more difficult than others to take apart. Lots of variability in the design.
and if it is E
you brake transformers
and F
you depopulate all components from the boards, pcn goes to be burnt for heating pump
it would get us somewhere the same, unless workforce is under 1-2 dollar per hour
good insight into scrapping computer power supplies mate
*a like left👍Au👍full view*
Glad you like it Billy.
Here from Silver Scorpions mention. Interesting stuff!!
Awesome, welcome to the Shiver. I like that Silver Scorpion and really like the name.
Nice
glad you liked it Road Hog
Mr Simple Economics himself. LOL A very good demonstration video. Yep, when I did the scrapping I was a self-employed individual, just me to fend for, so I had the time to do what you did. A lot of the micro work at that level was done by me on the weekends watching College and NFL football, Same if there other Sport Season was in full swing. So yes, to each their own, but it kept a roof over my head, fed, utilities, vehicles, and everything associated in the needs department. Thanks Shark and really enjoyed 👍
Glad you like it Barry. How do you scrap while watching TV? Man I'd be cutting myself left, right and center 🤣
@@sharkscrapper LOL, I'll never admit that I did or didn't get cut up.
@@barrywest3758 🤣
Power supply wire isn't #2 wire, even with the plugs removed. A large amount of power supply wire is actually insulated aluminum wire.
At the non-ferrous yard that buys my scrap it is Insulated Coper Wire #2. With so many differences in how yards classify and purchase materials we can't just say this is, or isn't, #2 wire. It is whatever our yards will pay us for. If your yard requires that you separate any aluminum wire that is mixed in the bundle from the copper wire, then that is what you must do.
So micro scrapping is the way to go for the long run. But when you're flat out then snip and toss. Great video very informative well done two thumbs
It all comes down to how you want to spend your time...kinda pretty much like anything 🤣
It’s best to also know the weight of your scrap and some yards only pay by the pound and anything less you get nothing so know who your dealing with and do the math!
Most of the larger deck scales measure in 1 pound increments just like my deck scale, so that's very normal. The big vehicle sized scales measure in 20 pound increments. It's very unusual for yards to measure in finer increments, except for some that specialize in e-scrap like Boardsort.com.
at my recycling center, they take all the screws, nuts, and bolts under short steel, which pays more than shred.
Where are you located?
@@sharkscrapper near Indianapolis, IN
Ohh brother I would pull out all the capacitors and make a kick ass capacitor bank
Shocking 🤣
With gloves like that sometimes using your knuckle works to use your phone's touchscreen.
Good point, I've also found gloves that don't interfere with the touch screen.
From where are we getting this money?
Version D: Just do it all and compare it on a spreadsheet. Show it to fellow scappers. Result: Priceless! Thx*
As a hobbyist I'm still collecting power supplies and wonder what to do with em. There are a few places in town that refurbish PCs, but I couldn't figure out yet how to identify a "good" power supply. (ReUse is still best) But some of them will be taken apart completely one night come winter - just to see what's inside. Cheers*
LOL at version D. Yes, reuse is still best use. I should have mentioned that some of the newer power supplies do resell but they need to be on good condition. The higher the wattage the more likely someone will purchase it - again if in good condition and functioning.
Hey man I work in a place where they always bring us laptops, computers, tvs, microwaves etc, what do you recommend me scrapping off them to start to sell?
No short answer to that one John. I'd start with taking the PC's apart. I have several videos on how to do that what the components are worth. Laptop can be time consuming to scrap. I usually sell mine as is. Microwaves are an easy scrap - again I have vids on those. Don't bother with the TV's - not much value there.
@@sharkscrapper where do you sell laptops at? Those are the most we get here
My yard buy the connector end as copper content @ .20 per pound
That's cool
There's a few problems... your numbers are skewed because they're all different power supplies. If all were the same, you would strip them much faster, as you'd get into a routine and do them in batches .. stack them and unscrew them all in one shot, then cut the wires of all in one shot then remove fans of all in one go and so on.
Your methods are also quite UNoptimized ... for example, I wouldn't use hand tool like pliers to cut the connectors off the cables, it takes too much time. I'd just use a paper guillotine or something that can be operated with a foot pedal .. for example, put the cable under the blade, press pedal and the blade goes down cutting the wires in one shot. If you collect enough cables, like for example a barrel, you could have something automated (like those wood splitter machines), a blade that rotates at a fixed rotation so you can just slide the cable into a channel and at next rotation the cables will be cut.
What you are calling "problems" are the realities for most scrappers but, as you point out, are also opportunities for efficiency. Yes it would be faster to do all the same design PSU, but we rarely have all the same kind. Your suggestion to batch the process is a one of those never ending "Lean/Six Sigma" challenges that can only be answered with more time trials and analysis. Which could make for an interesting video some day. Certainly some form of automated cable cutting device would make removing the wire faster/easier but how many scrappers have or can afford such a device. I certainly appreciate your ideas and suggestions. In time I may be able to implement, or at least test some of them.
What happened to thee high grade or like I say ter one, boards
Power supplies do NOT have any high grade boards.
Did you forget to weigh the wire after you cut it off and include it in the final comparison?
No it's included in each of the scenarios. You'll the a line for ICW #2 in the spread sheets. You'll see that in scenario C the weight is very similar to scenario A at 5.1 lbs BUT that is the weight of the weight of the wire with the ends cut off plus the weight of the wire from inside the power supplies.
Thumbs UP
Up here I make 38 cents off of power boards .. and the only giving 30 for the power supply .. but you know I take all the copper I can get so I scrap all power supply’s but I’m a hobbyist.. and yes more Spreadsheets please you don’t know how much they do for me I consider a lot of stuff I do all off those spreadsheets you make👊🏻👊🏻
LOL - more spread sheets?! Don't believe I've heard that before 🤣 Knowing you as I do, it makes perfect sense that you're taking the time to get the copper. Keep at it!
@@sharkscrapper yes sir .. I’ve got my savings account cooper buckets and buckets with copper I melt 👊🏻
My yard only pays shred value for power supplies
That's unfortunate.
Time is the important factor here
If only time was free 😆
@@sharkscrapper You know time flies & you cant buy any more of it
very interesting to see how your hr profit drops the more you scrap out ,if you had a ware house full of them you could employ a guy on min wage and by just cutting the wire off he would be making you a extra 80 dollars a hour or 640 dollars a day
Now all I need is a warehouse full of them 🤣😆
Hello my friend, just watching, 💥 your $crapping friend TECHNICUS Channnel
Hello my friend - trust you are safe and all is well.
It can be a hobby more then money and plus we are recycling e waste
Hobby scrapping is a very different consideration. Usually the hobby scrapper doesn't worry about time. In fact, the more time they spend scrapping the happier they are.
There's no copper inside the wiring
I'm not sure I understand your comment. The wiring is insulated copper wire, ICW.
@@sharkscrapper the insulation wire isn't copper
Sorry but I have to disagree. Yes, I have found some Al insulated wire and we may see more of it moving forward, but most of the wire is Cu. All you have to do is look at the end after you cut it.
@@sharkscrapper I've been scraping for a while and all my computer power supply the insulated wire was not copper
If your in to all this save the power supplies for a rainy day when you can't get out and make the big money.
If you have the room, that's not a bad idea. Always good to have meaningful activity when the weather isn't cooperating.
All the labor in processing escrap is a waste of time. The refinery pays .30-.40 cents/lb for power supplies. Skip the local yard & just send them to the refiner. I own a recycling business and there is very minimal processing. Unless there are definitely internal components worth more than just scrapping the whole thing, leave it alone.
We are of similar mind on the cost of labor. Where are you located?
Your life could be so easy and peace in mind when you stop looking time ticking, looking always on watch give you a kind of unrest in your mind. Its my own opinion may i m wrong here
In business it's very important to know on what activities to spend your time. Understanding what brings me better ROI brings me great peace of mind.
Shred pile
You are being scamed if you only. Get 0,20$ for your lowgrade
I don't know if it is a scam or just unfortunate market conditions. But I'd sure like the prices to be better.
The wires off the power supplies are generally not copper wire
While I have not conducted a rigorous analysis, I've not come across any that were not copper. Additionally, my non-ferrous buyer continues to buy them from me as #2 Insulated Copper Wire.