TV coils or funnels at the end of CRT tubes

[vancouver]

First post. Thanks to all that have taken the time to share their experiences! It makes for interesting reading. Too bad I've missed the good old days of a few months ago when prices were high for commodities. I saw some time ago a person take a tv from a bottle depot(they recycle tvs and computers now) and slam dunk it on the ground. He then tore off the plastic cover and then slam dunked it on the ground again. This time taking a plastic cone with a tube that broke. He then left the tv there broken to bits. I wondered why did he not take the computer beside it instead? The part he took couldn't have been worth more than $5. Unless there is some precious metal in there. Since then I have taken a TV apart to see what he got. It is like a plastic covering a vacuum tube with copper wiring around it.
Is there some special metal in the tube? Tungsten or some other material that has value? Or is it the copper or the very dark grey metallic halves that house the copper wires? He must have to go some place specially to sell that kind of part. Scrap yard or electronics store?
It was a very curious choice that this guy made. What does he know that I don't ?
Any thoughts appreciated.

 

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[pygmy]

The details of how a cathode ray tube works don't matter, as what he did was simply the quickest way to get a small mass ,maybe a quarter pound , of copper and on to the next one. When I was doing it I lumped these deflection coils with electric motors and transformers and sold them as they came out at about 20 cents / pound. I did not waste time unwinding the copper wire to sell separately.
Nowadays this "dirty" irony copper would maybe fetch 5 cents / pound .

 

[vancouver]

Thanks for the explanation. I guess that he had the time to take the copper out of the plastic holder and get a higher price for the copper.
It wouldn't have been worth the effort if he was getting only 5 cents a pound .

He seemed to know exactly what he was doing though.
Very determined at it. I've seen some tvs stripped of their circuit board and wires
once in awhile in back lanes and always wondered why it was left like that.
Is it worth taking the circuit board or wires too? Do they get something at a tv shop for it maybe??

 

[pygmy]

Remember you are talking of the past.
The past being only 3-4 months away when scrap was paying 4-10 times what it is now.Some scrap is now no longer wanted at all.
Circuit board scrap was fetching 25-30 cents/pound. Now it's worthless like steel scrap.
I don't think the past peak prices will come back in my generation.
They were an abberation.
Also you speak of "TV-Shops". In my country these disappeared years ago.
They won't come back.
I'm wondering if your doing a rip van winkle here ?
I still see people living in the past collecting worthless scrap completely unaware of the present and future upheavals in society and the impending doom. When I talk to them their eyes turn glassy. It's sad.

P.S scrap newsprint is getting $150/tonne

 

[BCR]

It's the actions of these "backyard" recyclers that raise my ire. It's because of the actions you witnessed that government cracks down on recyclers. TV's have to be properly and safely processed like computer monitors do. Would you want some young kid coming across a dead TV smashed up and it still holding a lethal amount of voltage in the Horizontal Output Transformer??

Unfortunately not everybody reads the news or is in the loop regarding prices for metals and electronics, so they go out getting this stuff thinking they struck gold only to realize they will be getting only peanuts.

$$ can still be made doing this, you just have to call your yard and see what has the most value right now and concentrate on that.

 

[vancouver]

Too bad if the prices don't come back soon. I am sure they will be high again but not likely next year though.

TV shops are still around here and they do other electronic repairs too, not just TVs.

They'll never go away around these parts even with the big box stores. Must be a regional difference.

Yes over here steel and iron is no longer paid for. The yard will take it for free and not charge for taking

it off of your hands. Non-ferrous also is well in the dumps.

Have to change with the times and sell everything whole if possible.

The guy is homeless but they are much more in touch with scrap prices

than anyone outside the industry by far around these parts. Word spreads very very quickly with the dumpster divers.

Nothing goes to waste.

Question.

When selling circuit borads what does one have to do to it before selling?

Do you have to cut off all resistors capacitors, cooling fins etc??

Anyone sell them? Where do they buy them? Over here the scrap yard doesn't take them...

TIA

 

[pygmy]

I would not waste your time collecting , processing or storing (hoarding ) pcb's until the price goes up ( if ever it does ).
You even said your yard doesn't take them. If you still want to persist then try other yards or try a comp. tv. recycler; they might on-supply to another dealer but by the 50 ton truck loads.

 

[vancouver]

Thanks for the advice pigiron. I'll leave PCBs alone.

There's always other fish to fry.

 

[Detect9]

Seems like alot of work for such a small amount of wire. In my area they pay 7.5 cents a pound for circuit boards. Would take a truck load to make it worthwhile.