I drive an 18 wheeler with a 53 foot drybox. I haul many different products back & forth across the country. Some of those loads are old outdated computers which go to disassembly plants for the precious metals.

I'm watching your 7yr old video's because there's nothing better on YT about tear'downs,scrapping etc. Excellent visuals and content! Thank you!

Wow! Been scrappin' for more than 50 years and always learning something new! Thanks!

Thank you, its so hard to know what is worth keeping and what isent. I wish you would make more of these videos for commonly scrapped items.

You showed me something interested, thank you for sharing this video.

@FlourgoldWizards

4 жыл бұрын

Rodney Jackson I could show you something quite interesting regarding gold!!!!

@coinsusa

3 жыл бұрын

@@FlourgoldWizards Hi

Thanx for taking the time to demonstrate and explain what to keep or not to keep. Seems like a nice little project to keep yourself busy and honest in between jobs.

Excellent, highly detailed and captioned video. Best of it's kind that I've come across.

@user-dj6dg7sz6n

7 жыл бұрын

chicks with dicks

I liked your video very much. the quality was excellent. I very much liked the macro close up shots. your explanation was also right on. Thanks

@RobThePlumber

9 жыл бұрын

Phil Galati Thanks, love that you notice the detail. It takes me a long time to make videos like that. I am working on several atm. Thanks for the great comment. Perfect one to leave off so I can go to sleep.Rob The Plumber

i could listen to you all day. well presented.

Good job, this video makes it a bit more hands on for the novice- thanks Rob.

@RobThePlumber

9 жыл бұрын

ballparkfrankplus1 Thanks for watching.

I've watched many hard-drive Scrapping videos and this is one of the best!! Have a Great Day!!!

When I was young i used to take apart electronic things just to see what was in there. This drove my dad nuts. Something about electronics fascinated me.

@magapickle01

4 жыл бұрын

I did the same thing and then joined the air Force doing repairs on microwave and satalite communications equipment . Boring ass job

Clear and professional; great sound, light and camera work. I would like to have seen how many hours, man-hours, and the stack of 'stuff' it takes to get one ounce of gold. Also, how to melt it and recover it. Thanks for a great start to the process.

@user-do3rh3iu5g

7 жыл бұрын

Patrick Phillips

@TheLexiconDevils

5 жыл бұрын

A lot 😂 honestly I make enough just scrapping boards and selling the components to refiners by the kg. I’m a mechanic not a chemist 😉

@altondavis4493

5 жыл бұрын

Lexicon Devil do you happen to have some info material on the process? I'd greatly appreciate any info.

Very nice video. As a scrapper I find these videos very usefull tools to help me in my daily tear downs. Keep up the great work. :)

@RobThePlumber

9 жыл бұрын

I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.

I use the magnets for securing small tools and stainless rulers on the wall, as well as plastic measuring triangles (with a small steel washer siliconed to the plastic first). Powering the hard drive plater can be very useful as a miniature sanding disc by glueing wet and dry sandpaper to it for precise grinding or small blade sharpening.

I like the close ups those help a lot . Learning of the parts what they do. Very cool

Any hard drives that still function normally can also be sold on eBay with the intention of data recovery specialist using them for parts. Often times many of the specific components are valuable since they're constantly changing. A very detailed listing with plenty of pictures and accurate descriptions of the different numbers on the label can yield some pretty nice sales numbers.

@atlantajunglepythons1744

2 жыл бұрын

Interesting. This apply to older models (1st half of the 90's?) Mainly Seagate + Maxtor, some working early SATA 1 IBMs

@iggy151

2 жыл бұрын

Probably

@ryandriver3281

10 ай бұрын

​@@iggy151❤ this

Thank you for breaking everything down in simple terms foe everyone. I found the video amazing.

thank you for all the details and tips show in your video.

Nice way to present a video mate, informative and to the point, thank you

thanks for sharing , it's a good video and was worth watching , i do scrap as a living income and have a lot of these hdd units and circuit boards in storage for the strip down purpose

Great vid bud . It's about time some detailed info was put up like this. Nice job. Happy holidays

Thanks, learning this and was fortunate to come across large amount of computer/server scrap!

Thanks for the great informative video! I'm looking forward to more, keep on taping (or whatever they call it these days - I know they don't use videotape any more)

Hi my name's Guillermo from the Dominican Republic,thank you for sharing this information with us, many people and by people, I'm referring to the vast majority, do not know this information thank you again I love recycling and that's very useful information. From the Dominican Republic Guillermo keep it up. I'll follow your videos and share with my friends.

Educational - well thought out and described. Thank you

I like it, I have like 5 hard drives bought at a gov auction on a pallet with some darkroom equipment so it was a bonus. Good practical info, so thanks!!

great video lots of valuable info, Have a GOLD DAY!!

What i think is i found that you discribed more than most vids do. To scrap anything one must know what to scrap that is valuable. Im still learning and im egar for more detailed info on these boards. I would like to know what each component has of value and what type of metals they contain. The IC chips. Would pulverizing them be a way to expose the metals? Ill keep watching for your vids. Thanks for the info

At last someone who knows what metals are worth bothering with, and what to discard. Good video .Keep em coming.

@thefirstsin

3 жыл бұрын

The neodymium magnets are good

Fantastic break down. great Stills. Never knew there was that much value in the hard drives. most ppl just say the toss them. will be looking forward to watching your other vids.. and +1 sub for you here. Keep it up.

Really great video. Lovely photography and super clear descriptions. Very enjoyable. 👍🏅

I have a load of old computers I wanted to scrap cause I am spring cleaning, thank you for this information, I will take some time taking them apart for cash. I want to use the side panels to create some sculptures, any suggestions on how best to do it?

I only scrap broken hard drives or I use them as props for my house. I would never open a working and good-health hard drive. You seem like a very nice person to be around! I collect vintage hard drives myself as I love vintage technology.

@atlantajunglepythons1744

2 жыл бұрын

Given that data storage has become mostly solid state or networked, highest and best use for drives under 3TB seems to be empty + scrap. Recently I put a card in a case for 1 TB device backup. The write rate is phenomenal; tco? $50. WD black....

Thanks for the great tips! I have scrapped metals for some time now, mostly steel,copper and aluminum. The electronics I saved but didn't know how to process them. Learning how to extract the precious metals is making my junk pile pay off!

@RobThePlumber

9 жыл бұрын

CRAIG HANSEN No problem! Thanks for watching and commenting. I hope you have subscribed!

damn it!! (about the magnets) I had so many of those over years from bad hard drives. I love how powerful they are. All I ever did is break them just playing with them lol

This video is really well made, thank you good sir :)

Cheers Rob. An older post but just been thrown at me by the tube. Easy watching and informative thanks and yes nice seeing those macro shots. Now, do I want to trash my old drives!? Lol

This guy is pretty informative. I can really appreciate that.

@yusufaaron5238

2 жыл бұрын

sorry to be off topic but does any of you know of a way to get back into an Instagram account?? I somehow lost the login password. I would love any tips you can offer me

@angelokylan1536

2 жыл бұрын

@Yusuf Aaron instablaster =)

Yes , i am a processor of recovering the metal from electronic stuff , nice video , thankyou ! When i scrap hard drives i burn , crush , pan out the heavys and save the sludge after evapen the panning water , the chips is where the panable gold and pgm's and a lot of silver and lead . I do it as a hobby now ! The gold plate in the sludge is minor compared to chip wire , copper is acid removed and redoxed in a different container. Great informitive video .

Thank you for the info, that was very helpful.

Great video. Great job explaining various parts and where the value is. Thanks .

Very interesting.... big thumbs up. Where do you source all your hard drives.... are they easy to find or do you need to go hunting? Also do you have a forge where you melt all this stuff down. If so have you done any videos on this process? Thanks....

I've got about 50 older hard drives that I brought home from a scrap yard I worked at. They weren't licensed to do ecycle so they were quite pleased when I asked if I could have them.

@lander3673

6 жыл бұрын

I recently scrapped about 50 hdd. The aluminum value ended up at about 40 bucks. I haven't taken in the stainless yet. Took me about 4 hours. I knew going into it the only value was the alum. I really wanted the magnets though. They are awesome!

I've learned a few things about metals in use for hard drives, thanks.

I like the vid. I scrap metal and I’m just getting into scrapping gold, I’m glad I watched this because it answered my question about gold in chips

Great presentation. Very informative. Thank you. Quality video.

Wow I never knew this, great video I might look into this as I often get computers given to me or find them in storage units I buy, is there an average of a value you get from scrapped hard drive?

Very educational. I learned that I will leave the scrapping of computer components to others! Thank-you!

Wondering about reclaiming the amplifier chip that the ferrite heads feed to .. Surely that can be useful to make a sensitive detector ?

Have a failing hard drive sitting in a junk pile that I haven't thrown out, mainly because I wasn't sure where to send it. However, after getting an idea to smelt some things, I decided to look up how to take apart an HDD and found this video. Thank you!

I love the attention to detail of the photos. I understand better what I've thrown away before. it won't happen again. Thank you

@RobThePlumber

9 жыл бұрын

thelousysloth Your welcome. Thanks for watching.

wonderfully done video with no frills... thanks

My son gets knackered HDD's from work. I strip them down for the magnets only. They're fiddly to remove from their steel brackets, but I found applying a little heat to the back of the steel, holding it in pliers, then wedging a Stanley blade under the magnet to gently pry them off, without cracking the magnets brittle outer coating. It works around 75% of the time. I cover damaged magnets with some insulating tape and use them to hang metal topped jam jars under shelving.

@JamesPond-cd3tp

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tip! :)

Nice grow light! How much do you sell the trees for?

Is there anything you can think of making with the/many aluminum harddrive frame/enclosures???

Rob, What do you do with the shiny discs that you get out of the hard drive since they aren't worth processing to get the palladium?

Precious metals - I didn't know where they were located so it's good to get a map where to look. Once I have removed the pins is there a way to purify the gold that plates them 'heavily'? Are the caps you showed better sold whole? Is there enough profit (beyond getting great magnets on brackets) in doing 10 to 15 of 1990's hdd's? (Have those in a box, and some old int + ext cd or dvd players; those have led lasers, but any other value?)

I love your show, exactly what I needed to C. Believe it or not I got my hands on some 1963 circuitry. Would love a show on were asbestos or other nasties could be when we scrap so that we can all be wary and careful. Have had 2 tradie friends die of asbestos related illnesses . Anyway keep your shows coming. 10/10 from me

What do you need recover gold or other precious metals..just asking please share👍

Excelente fotografía, muchas gracias por compartir tus conocimientos!!

7 years later and this video is still cool.

Very interesting wondering if you can use those parts for anything else. And can you sell those little gold parts and are they worth it. And last can those hard drives can be fix if they stop running let me know

Thank You , You Are First Class .

Could you do another video of a current scrap harddrive and weigh and record the value of metals in the device?

Great video. Thank you for the details.

Nice one. I got about 20 of old HDD's all 10GB to 80GB old IDE 3.5" drives; found yesterday they contain neodymium magnets that I plan to take out and change into a metal detector. After watching your vid I will be keeping the more valuable elements too. Cheers. A vid I watched said there is a 3rd smaller Nd magnet behind where drive actuator sits to hold it in place when off and in transport. Smart vid, learned some cool stuff in 7 minutes. Cheers Rob.

thank u for the info i learned alot i have like 9-11 hard drives from the 80s /90s...thank u again

hey man, so i just heard that these have a lot of different metals i used to play with one of these when i was a kid, i dont know but now i'm a bit scared about it do you know where i can find information about it?

good video do you know scrap value of gold silver etc in the drive in dollars ?

You're a master! Congrats!

Nice video; very concise and informative. I have been able to remove the gold leaf at the end of HDD connectors using a sharp chisel to get it started and then use a pair of pliers to remove it. Then I cut the gold leaf portion off and add it to an ever-growing pile of similar connector wires. There are a couple videos on how to remove the plating using household chemicals, and some nasty stuff too, but it seems worth the effort if you can get enough collected to do a big batch.

The part where you say "C45", those are called the reference designated, which used for the surface mount machinery to pick and place these tiny component parts onto the board before getting weld together. Bare in mind that all reference designated has different number and letter assign to it. It's up to the PCB manufacture or the board company that set these reference.

Love the video. But how do you get gold off of the gold plated fittings.

Very helpful. Keep it up. Thanks.

Indeed good video, How many amps/watts/volts does it take to run the motor?

Thanks again, I really have been looking for a HDD parts breakdown ;-)

@RobThePlumber

9 жыл бұрын

NYCClubMaster No problem at all. more to come. Thanks for watching!

Awesome, just took7 hard drives apart, glad I watched, oh, I love the magnets but you told me alot. Thank you

@goononthego9378

2 жыл бұрын

How much gold would you receive after 7 of them thinking of getting involved please let me know and thanks

Cool thanks for showing this breakdown of the hdd

Hello, Very interesting video about hard drives, I would have a question .. if possible .. how many hard drives do I need to collect a gram of gold .. Thank you

Great Description and Simple.. Thx for not wasting times. every second useful.. Like it

@RobThePlumber

9 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!

that is a very useful & formative video. thankyou

Thanks for good info, bro!

Very informative I like to learn you made it simple thanks

Explained very clearly Good work!

It's all around us! LIKED your video

It is really interesting . Thank You for the information .

a lot of valuable information, thanks!

There's an "m" somewhere in the middle of neodymium. Like the "r" in the middle of February that well all forget. Those platters make nice windchimes too. Even the little aluminum rings tinkle nicely.

Very informative and i appreciate your time

Good info Rob, thanks!

So much culmination of technology and inventions that can be had for just $40.

I like your light I have to get one so I can bring it in my shop and people can see what I’m doing better great video

that hard drive motor is fine to play with you can spin it using a microcontroller and a driver :) you can make a nice little grinder for example it is not very strong but it can do quite a lot of rpm

I should have watched your video first. It was very helpful in helping me identify and know the name of some computer innards. Now, I know what is inside a hard drive.

the video picture sais the arm has pure gold? like 24 k? not gold plated right? i like the Idea of Gold recovery from electronics but it seems like to much chemistry and use of dangerous chemicals to retrieve all that gold leaf. then for some reason after treating and smelting the gold it seems it doesnt go for very much. i like to gold pan for placer gold. was also curious about the ceramic pieces that contain silver and palladium, do you have to chemically separate that too or can you just smelt the ceramic off with borax? if so it would leave you with a silver palladium mix then you would have to try to separate those two or sell it as is lol

greta vids,and clear directions, Thanks ROB.

I had a flaky hard drive that was making me crazy, it was working, then not working, and more likely to stop working when warm. I finally replaced it and managed to copy all the files to the new drive. When I was about to scrap it, I took off the circuit board and found the contact points on the board that connect to the mechanicals were not plated, or tinned and some were corroded. I found this issue on a 2nd hard drive as well. Once I cleaned the contacts the drive worked fine.

how well do the froged housings melt down will they make good castings

The information was quite valuable. Thanks