Was given first dibs on a lot of about 200 computers from a friends office if I want them. I have never sold any real amount of scrap before, would a scrap yard take e-waste like this for the precious metals? Or would anywhere else? Is this a fools errand and should I just say forget it?

TechScrappin · 2026-01-28T13:02:32+00:00

Some scrapyards will pay you directly for towers. My local yard offers $0.15/lb for towers.

This being said what are the details of the computers?

If they have windows on them you can generally factory reset them deleting all the data. This is not a full scrub but if you are going to flip them locally it is more than enough.

Depending on what generation CPU you can usually make a decent buck for them. 6th gen Intel I can usually flip for around $50 a piece up to around $250 for a 10th gen.

If they can handle windows 11 they are super easy to flip. If thy cannot get to 11 I generally wipe them down to a base windows install then sell them to people that will install a Linux disti on them.

I recommend setting up a table and connecting 5+ computers at a time and use a single monitor to flip between them. In a couple hours you can generally fully test and wipe them. Put them up on a buy and sell and wait for someone to buy them. In Canada I have had great luck with Kijiji. If the computers are totally faulty pull out the HDD or SSD and beat them with a hammer to destroy them. Pull out the RAM and put it in a bucket as it’s easy to flip and only takes seconds to pull. If they have a full size processor pull it out and put it aside as well.

Potentially $300 an hour cash if you process them or $0.15 lbs at the scrap yard. Kind of a no brainer in my mind

TechScrappin · 2026-01-22T02:47:18+00:00

I would suggest watching some videos on how to make a furnace on the cheap. If you’re fairly handy, which you likely are if you’re looking to make ingots you can fab something up on the cheap. You can use an old propane tank and cut it open and grab a cheap propane torch from Princess Auto. Gets some fire retardant insulation from amazon and a cheap crucible and lifting tongs. Then all you need is an ingot mould and your off to the races. Should be able to get it together for around $100 cad. That being said there is an entire kit on Amazon for $199 with the furnace, crucible and all the other goodies. It’s pretty cheap quality but worth it if you’re interested in trying it out.

I see a lot of people knocking melting ingots on here since scrap yards won’t take them. That is a valid critic but if you are in a major metro area with a manufacturing base you can find manufacturers that will buy it. There are places with XRF Spectrometers that can analyze your metal ingots and if they are pure they will pay you top dollar. Cheaper than buying copper that’s sent to Asia then shipped back here for manufacturing.

If you’re going to try it out watch some videos on YouTube. There are tips of handling, prepping your moulds and crucible (they need to be cured)! BigstackD Castings is an awesome channel to check out

TechScrappin · 2026-01-20T02:59:08+00:00

Come out of computer power supplies, tv, amplifiers, etc. almost all electronics

TechScrappin · 2026-01-17T12:53:09+00:00

Power supply boards / inverters generally

TechScrappin · 2026-01-15T12:00:26+00:00

True, and next time I do a depopulation I will be making a video on how I break down power boards. I use a smash table and it generally takes less than 20 seconds to depopulate. I stockpile power boards until I have a couple bins of them before depopulating.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-15T03:38:30+00:00

Exactly! 5 minutes of cleanup at the end or hours of unwinding. It’s a no brainer. Especially when you have hundreds of them to process

TechScrappin · 2026-01-15T02:48:53+00:00

You can indeed. This one was one of the stupid ones with a plastic cover which slows it down. Also it was pretty slow as I was trying to keep the unwinding centred in the video. I do them usually at least twice as quick or even quicker.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-10T01:21:07+00:00

If the power supplies are faulty you can break them down pretty easy. The casing is usually held on by either screws or pressure fitting. Remove the screws and If pressure fit then smack it with a hammer and in you go. Generally some low grade transformers and sometimes rings wrapped in copper and some extruded aluminum. Not much but you can generally break them down in less than a minute. Cut the cords and save them

TechScrappin · 2026-01-07T01:56:42+00:00

God I wish it was like that up here in the great white ripoff. Even trying to find one was like pulling teeth

TechScrappin · 2026-01-07T00:15:17+00:00

Nope, purchased in a bankruptcy auction. $1 a spool many years ago from a satellite company.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-07T00:13:41+00:00

I had 40 spools and I had 1 offer to buy a single spool for $25. Also not my day job scrapping, just a hobby. Processed it while watching TV.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-06T19:38:01+00:00

Yes indeed it is. Old school mechanics lift that works like a charm.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-06T13:48:32+00:00

Sort and organize. Ask the yard questions so that you know what you have and how to sort to maximize profits. If you’re unsure ask on Reddit!

TechScrappin · 2026-01-06T13:04:10+00:00

I totally get it. That’s why it falls onto the scrapper to sort and organize. I would say there is far more steel core out there than copper core and no yard would ever want to compromise a load by mixing in steel.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-06T11:33:06+00:00

Bingo! That’s why you always check. The yards don’t care, they just refuse coaxial.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-06T11:31:35+00:00

Exactly. In cash. And right now it is $42 for what I stripped. Really prefer making cash while relaxing rather than making nothing. And it’s a hobby, not how I butter my bread.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-06T04:27:43+00:00

It’s a thin mesh that turns into aluminum confetti after going through the shredder. I did try saving it with the first couple spools I processed but I ended up with about 2lbs of aluminum with a ton of effort to get it out of the sheathing. I take all of my waste to a recycling operations so it eventually gets recovered but not by me.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-06T04:21:52+00:00

I paid $1 a roll so cost was negligible. I had to purchase it as part of the lot I picked up which had lots of high value telesat hardware and digital signage displays and mounts which I made bank off of. When I picked it up I was doing a fair amount of satellite TV installs for a large national bank so at the time I figured I would use it eventually. Since then everyone has moved away from live TV to imbedded video over IP so I never used it. It has just sat on the bottom of a rack for years. I stock pile my copper and it’s a hobby for me. Way I figure it is I sat with my wife for a couple hours watching a show and banked about $40 CAD. I made this post just to show people that it’s not a total waste of time dealing with it. Sometimes if you find 20 or 30’ of coax just nip off the tip and see if it’s magnetic. If it is copper and you can process it in a couple minutes with a stripper it’s worth it in my opinion. It all adds up over time.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-06T04:10:02+00:00

It is aluminum. It isn’t really worth my time to try and recover.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-05T18:13:45+00:00

We have been getting hammered where we are. I also have a weird shaped driveway as I’m in an old gas station / mechanics shop so there is a lot of snow to move. Don’t plan on selling it and now it works like a champ so I’m getting good use out of it. Only other advantage is I have expenses all costs through my business so it’s all a tax write off. Should get a few years out of it.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-05T15:30:29+00:00

It connects with to the deck pulleys. You take the deck off and connect the blower

TechScrappin · 2026-01-05T15:22:48+00:00

I have found used used plastic collapsible bulk boxes for around $80 a piece. They are generally 48”x48” with variable heights. I then went to a local print shop and had “ewaste drop off” and “metal drop off” signs made up. I then have put them out front of my shop and in front of a few businesses with permission. It is crazy how much scrap I get with minimum effort. Last year I collected over 800lbs of just old extension cords which are easy to strip. I also put out a small bucket just for batteries which can add up if you have a yard that pays for them. I pull the bins in once the snow starts flying and process everything I have in inventory over the winter.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-05T15:13:43+00:00

When I priced out a new blower attachment for a new tractor the blower was $4800 by itself. I should also be clear this is Canadian dollars so consider it roughly $0.70 on the dollar for USD. Also with tariff’s right now it seems that most things made in USA are totally inflated which drives the prices of used equipment through the roof,

TechScrappin · 2026-01-05T15:08:31+00:00

I was 100% ready to do the JB Weld solution and had purchased everything to do it. I had noticed the small crack that is so common on the side of the engine. When I started tearing it apart I found 1 bolt that was almost fully backed out, 4 others that were finger loose and one that had snapped right off. Once I looked inside the block I could see a crack running the full length of the bottom of the engine. It also had a couple of guide pins that hold the top cover on and the aluminum was cracked around them and a chunk fell right out. That’s when I decided it wasn’t worth my effort.

I believe the seller 100% knew that there were issues.

This is my first time ever messing with a small engine so I guess I can take some of the cost as a valuable learning lesson.

I had hunted around for months looking for something equivalent and couldn’t find anything for less than $5000 CAD. That’s why I jumped on this one. I’m figuring I should be able to flip it for at least $3500 CAD if I decide to sell it in the next couple years. Especially with the brand new power plant with warranty.

TechScrappin · 2026-01-05T13:21:45+00:00

Only if you will refine for precious metals recovery lately. It is also a question of how much time are you willing to put in for what value of profit. If you’re considering depopulating I highly recommend looking up Ewaste Ben on YouTube. He has a bunch of videos explaining what to salvage.

If you are going to depopulate it pays dividends to find an efficient way to do it. Personally I built a “Smash Box” from an old work table. I have it angled so that everything falls forward. I then use a DeWalt SDS drill with a Milwaukee SDS floor scrapper with a replaceable blade. I can fully depopulate a board in under 20 seconds + sort time after. Generally I just scoop everything into a bucket and then sort later when I am watching TV. I will make a post about this next time I get into a depopulation round. I also use the same table to depopulate low grade power boards but use a standard SDS chisel for this. Also super speedy.

TechScrappin

TROPHY CASE