Scrap value of TV hardware?

[electroking]

Hello all, please rest assured that I an not planning to sell any of
my TVs for scrap!

Over the weekend, I saw a pile of maybe 30 junked TVs that were
lying on the side of the road awaiting garbage collection.
All sets appeared to be from the last 25 years or so. There were
mostly plastic portables along with a few wood consoles.

The strange thing was that all electronic hardware had been removed,
except for the CRTs that were dutifully smashed at the neck.
I have heard of deflection yokes being recycled for copper, but is
there any reason why someone would take the time to remove PC boards?

Thanks for your comments.

[radiotvnut]

I see this all the time around here. I think people are ripping the whole insides out, hoping to get every little bit of copper (or any other metal they can sell). It's rare to find a complete TV at the dump anymore. It's about to the point where if you expect to get a complete unharmed TV at the dump, you'd better get it as the people are throwing it away! Preferably, from their vehicle to yours!

A friend of mine had this problem at his old TV shop when he'd throw a TV away. People would bust the TV and leave the mess for someone else to clean up. If he was there and heard activity out back; he'd go tell them to either take the whole set or leave it alone.

[bgadow]

I was talking to a guy a met via freecycle. He scraps them out, and saves every last little bit of wire. Sounded like he wound it in big balls then burnt the insulation off. I gave him some junkers and he was elated. I remember back in the early 90s when I started hauling junkers home from TV shops, and the owners would always assume I wanted the chassis' for metal value. I would think it would take quite a bit of processing to get enough to be worthwhile.

I have a friend who is a tube audio guy; he buys large lots of tubes which he then cherry-picks. Recently we were talking and he mentioned how he didn't have room for this huge pile of tubes-30s radio stuff, all kinds of TV stuff. One of his ideas was to smash the whole pile, sift out the glass, and sell it for scrap metal. Luckily, I was able to save them from that fate!

[Phil Nelson]

Throwing TVs in the dump? It is illegal around here (Seattle area) to put electronic trash -- TVs, computer monitors, etc. -- into the landfill. The only approved way to get rid of them is to bring them to a hazardous waste center.

There is also no concept of "curbside finds on garbage day." If it doesn't fit into your trash can, they won't pick it up.

Phil Nelson

[MRX37]

I myself get the copper from the yokes... mainly from Console TV's, as there isn't much of a demand for those anymore.

Also, if the CRT is shot or close to shot, I get the yoke, and any parts off the chassis that I want.

Other then that, I try to repair the TV.

[andy]

000

[Findm-Keepm]

Funny this thread got going - my Dad retired from the TV business in May and
had all sorts of sets and chassis to get rid of. He went the scrap metal route and sold some $1400 in copper, aluminum, and circuit boards. His stash of yokes (no old ones, I saved them myself) yielded 130 pounds of #2 copper for $357.

Here's a breakdown of what one can expect from a TV in my area (Norfolk/Virginia Beach VA), based on prices at a scrapyard we dealt with (Dubin metals):

Yoke - of course, for the copper. $2.77 a pound, sold as #2 copper wire. 6-13 ounces yield. Sure wish Ferrite had a market......

Degaussing coil - copper or aluminum - you can tell it's aluminum wire if it's crimped to the wires going to the chassis. See above for the copper price, aluminum wire here will net $0.66 a pound, but that fluctuates more than the copper price. 6-23 ounces yield, high end is Sony big screens.

Common Mode Choke - #2 copper - usually an ounce, but some upper end Sonys and Philips sets have two, yielding 2-3 ounces.

Power cord - $1.15 a pound, sold as "scrap extension cord" Yield about 4 ounces.

Deflection/Pincushion Coils - # 2 Copper - 3-6 ounces total (2 to 6 coils on most color sets)

Switchmode Transformer - #2 Copper - 3-5 ounces yield.

Bare Circuit Board - $1.00 a pound, sold as scrap computer board. The Flyback, coils and all magnetic items (shields, heat sinks, etc) must be removed. Resistors, caps, chips and the like can remain. We found another yard paid 15 cents a pound for any TV chassis - we used them for the chassis that had lots of shields and other metals.

Heat Sinks - Aluminum - 5-11 ounces, more for stereo and projection sets with massive finned heat sinks.

Flyback - Sold as motor/transformers for $0.26 a pound

I'd estimate a CTC185 set yielding about 7 dollars in scrap metal prices, and a Sony Wega or similar Sony KVBR set yielding about 13-14 dollars.

So yeah, there is money in those junk sets.

Cheers,

[electroking]

Thanks Findm-Keepm for this most accurate answer. I trust I will keep earning
my salt designing microwave hardware!

[Hemingray]

I always salvage the PCBs and any other useful components from junked sets, for the purpose of reusing still-good parts. (Sort of a form of recycling)

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Hemingray

I always salvage the PCBs and any other useful components from junked sets, for the purpose of reusing still-good parts. (Sort of a form of recycling)

Most of the sets I fix are repaired using parts from old PC boards from junked sets. Given the state of used TV sales, it's usually not worth it to order new parts anymore.