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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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Old components - worth anything?
I've inherited my grandfather's shop, and there are boxes of
old components, from transistors in metal cans to rolls of cotton insulated wire and capacitors that look like wax sealed rolls of paper and foil. Little to none of it is actually "new," it's mostly removed from older equipment. There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Is any of this worth anything? I'd like to junk anything without value, but not if it's useful. Do people repair older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?" Not many tubes in the collection. Comments are welcome. |
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Old components - worth anything?
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Old components - worth anything?
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Old components - worth anything?
In article , B Stanton
(ll.com) wrote: There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Those are selenium rectifiers. No longer used except as replacements in very old equipment. Smell like rotten eggs when they fail. I still have a battery charger that uses selenium... Do people repair older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?" Might well be so in the case of the capacitors, but one would have to be really dedicated to authenticity, I would think, unless a modern component doesn't fit the bill. |
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Old components - worth anything?
B. W. Salt. wrote:
In article , B Stanton (ll.com) wrote: There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Those are selenium rectifiers. No longer used except as replacements in very old equipment. Smell like rotten eggs when they fail. Definitely not a good thing to breathe in. I still have a battery charger that uses selenium... Do people repair older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?" Might well be so in the case of the capacitors, but one would have to be really dedicated to authenticity, I would think, unless a modern component doesn't fit the bill. -- The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to minimize spam. Our true address is of the form . |
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Old components - worth anything?
CJT wrote:
B. W. Salt. wrote: In article , B Stanton (ll.com) wrote: There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Those are selenium rectifiers. No longer used except as replacements in very old equipment. Smell like rotten eggs when they fail. Definitely not a good thing to breathe in. I still have a battery charger that uses selenium... If you use it often, replace with silicon. A series resistor is required to simulate the original voltage drop. As CJT notes, it's NOT a good thing to breathe...poisonous, I've heard. The old rectifier 'will' go out...not if, but when. Do people repair older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?" Often, restorers will use the shell of the old component to hide the new--for authenticity. OTOH, some of those old wax caps bring high prices on Ebay, due to a misguided quest for an 'authentic' sound..... jak Might well be so in the case of the capacitors, but one would have to be really dedicated to authenticity, I would think, unless a modern component doesn't fit the bill. |
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Old components - worth anything?
" B Stanton wrote in message
... I've inherited my grandfather's shop, and there are boxes of old components, from transistors in metal cans to rolls of cotton insulated wire and capacitors that look like wax sealed rolls of paper and foil. Little to none of it is actually "new," it's mostly removed from older equipment. There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Is any of this worth anything? I'd like to junk anything without value, but not if it's useful. Do people repair older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?" Not many tubes in the collection. Comments are welcome. Yes, rec.antiques.radio+phone IS the correct group for this posting. The cloth covered wire is used by some restorers of 1930s; 1940s radios (authentic, look for restorations). The transistors may be of value - especially if they are no longer available (1950s and 1960s transistor radio restorers). In any event do NOT chuck to the garbage. Find a bright young mind (high school) that is interested in electronics -- and needs his first "junk box of components -- there is at least one in every neighborhood gb |
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Old components - worth anything?
B. W. Salt. ) writes: In article , B Stanton (ll.com) wrote: There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Those are selenium rectifiers. No longer used except as replacements in very old equipment. Smell like rotten eggs when they fail. I still have a battery charger that uses selenium... I don't think anyone uses them. The standard routine when they need replacing (or for that matter you just want them out of the house) is to use a silicon power diode with a series resistor to compensate for the differences. Getting replacement parts is not the issue here, people just don't want to put selenium rectifiers back in a piece of equipment. Michael |
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Old components - worth anything?
jakdedert wrote:
CJT wrote: B. W. Salt. wrote: In article , B Stanton (ll.com) wrote: There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Those are selenium rectifiers. No longer used except as replacements in very old equipment. Smell like rotten eggs when they fail. Definitely not a good thing to breathe in. I still have a battery charger that uses selenium... If you use it often, replace with silicon. A series resistor is required to simulate the original voltage drop. As CJT notes, it's NOT a good thing to breathe...poisonous, I've heard. The old rectifier 'will' go out...not if, but when. Do people repair older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?" Often, restorers will use the shell of the old component to hide the new--for authenticity. OTOH, some of those old wax caps bring high prices on Ebay, due to a misguided quest for an 'authentic' sound..... really? I think I have a big box of them out in the garage someplace! jak Might well be so in the case of the capacitors, but one would have to be really dedicated to authenticity, I would think, unless a modern component doesn't fit the bill. -- The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to minimize spam. Our true address is of the form . |
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Old components - worth anything?
I don't think anyone uses them. The standard routine when they need replacing (or for that matter you just want them out of the house) is to use a silicon power diode with a series resistor to compensate for the differences. Getting replacement parts is not the issue here, people just don't want to put selenium rectifiers back in a piece of equipment. Michael The first time you have one fail and smell it, it'll be abundantly clear why people don't use them anymore. |
#11
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Old components - worth anything?
Not anymore. You can't recover usable components from modern
electronics so there are no kids scrounging it. The values of components used in tube circuits are usually drastically different from what's commonly used in modern digital circuits and won't have much appeal. gb wrote: In any event do NOT chuck to the garbage. Find a bright young mind (high school) that is interested in electronics -- and needs his first "junk box of components -- there is at least one in every neighborhood |
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Old components - worth anything?
Mike Berger wrote:
Not anymore. You can't recover usable components from modern electronics so there are no kids scrounging it. Sure you can, I'm not a kid anymore but I still scrounge plenty of usable components. The most useful stuff usually lies in power supplies and CRT displays, lots of nice juicy power semiconductors and inductors, lots of capacitors, diodes, fuse holders, connectors, etc. Digital devices often have eeproms, various logic devices, LEDs, all sorts of stuff. If anything there's more cool stuff to salvage than there was 20 years ago. |
#13
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Old components - worth anything?
" B Stanton wrote in message ... I've inherited my grandfather's shop, and there are boxes of old components, from transistors in metal cans to rolls of cotton insulated wire and capacitors that look like wax sealed rolls of paper and foil. Little to none of it is actually "new," it's mostly removed from older equipment. There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Is any of this worth anything? I'd like to junk anything without value, but not if it's useful. Do people repair older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?" Not many tubes in the collection. Comments are welcome. Probably like gold dust to repairers and old radio enthusiasts who like to keep equipment authentic at all cost. |
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Old components - worth anything?
On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 07:44:22 GMT, Alt Beer wrote:
" B Stanton wrote in message .. . I've inherited my grandfather's shop, and there are boxes of old components, from transistors in metal cans to rolls of cotton insulated wire and capacitors that look like wax sealed rolls of paper and foil. Little to none of it is actually "new," it's mostly removed from older equipment. There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material. Is any of this worth anything? I'd like to junk anything without value, but not if it's useful. Do people repair older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?" Not many tubes in the collection. Comments are welcome. Probably like gold dust to repairers and old radio enthusiasts who like to keep equipment authentic at all cost. I believe the rectifiers you are describing use selenium. I think anything containing selenium classes as toxic waste, and must be disposed of properly. The capacitors will probably fail a leakage test if you do one. The other components are probably usable. Aidan Grey |
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Old components - worth anything?
There was a movie made in the early 90"s starring the late John Ritter,
where he poisons his wife with old radio parts, and he is shown scraping away at the deadly selenium rectifier. Marg Toggenberg (not) of CSI fame plays the detective. I recommend a Google search of groups for that one. John K |
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Old components - worth anything?
Aidan Grey wrote:
I believe the rectifiers you are describing use selenium. I think anything containing selenium classes as toxic waste, and must be disposed of properly. You mean like Selsun Blue? -- If John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin. |
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Old components - worth anything?
There was a movie made in the early 90"s starring the late John Ritter,
where he poisons his wife with old radio parts, and he is shown scraping away at the deadly selenium rectifier. Ok so it's Marg Helgenberger and a TV show in the late 90's. Here's the link. http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=htt...org/tvshow.htm. |
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