At a recent garage sale I bought a box of old hard drives. I have a
project that requires several very strong magnets and when I saw this
box of 25 Hard drives for $5.00 I took them home. Taking the drives
apart was an educational experience. After seeing the way different
manufacturers go about mounting what are almost identical components I
realized how many ways there are to approach the same problem.
Obviously ALL of these drives had a problem and were not in working
condition. The most common cause of failure I noticed seemed to be
failure of spacers between the two magnets. Another vexing problem
was finding the hidden six point screws that were covered by security
tape. On the first drive I learned just how pesky the adhesive used on
the security tape can be. A box cutting razor blade worked nicely
though. Other must have tools were a set of various six sided star
wrenches, a small Phillips, a small straight screwdriver and a snap
ring removal tool. One or two older units needed a small open end
wrench but they were rare.

I have a use for the magnets but I am wondering about some of the
other parts and how I could use them. I have been told the circuit
boards are considered "HAZARDOUS" and I will probably have to take
them to a local re-cycler and pay a fee to dispose of them. I will
wait until I have a big box of them before I do that though.

The cases appear to be all Aluminum although some of them have a Black
paint on them that I am wondering about: Can I just use paint thinner
to clean them up or is there some kind of dangerous chemical in the
paint that could be a problem ? Some of the older drives are really
thick Aluminum and I think I have a few projects where I can use them.

The small drive motors look like they might be fun to tinker with
also. I hooked one up to a large 9 volt dry cell battery and I was
amazed at how fast it was spinning.

The hard drives ring like a bell when you strike them and I made a
wind chime out of several just to irritate the neighborhood squirrels.
There is a small amount of Copper windings that might be salvageable
but even at $3.00 a pound they might not be worth messing with.

I have two prescription bottles filled with assorted screws and nuts
and another with small bearings that I may find useful someday.

My 21 year old Nephew came over at the tail end of my disassembly
project and he wants me to call him the next time I get a box of them
so he can help me take them apart.

If any of you have any suggestions for projects using these parts let
me know about them. The magnets are working perfectly for the use I
intended.

Dennis

On Jun 6, 12:12 pm, TwoGuns wrote:
At a recent garage sale I bought a box of old hard drives. I have a
project that requires several very strong magnets and when I saw this
box of 25 Hard drives for $5.00 I took them home. Taking the drives
apart was an educational experience. After seeing the way different
manufacturers go about mounting what are almost identical components I
realized how many ways there are to approach the same problem.
Obviously ALL of these drives had a problem and were not in working
condition. The most common cause of failure I noticed seemed to be
failure of spacers between the two magnets. Another vexing problem
was finding the hidden six point screws that were covered by security
tape. On the first drive I learned just how pesky the adhesive used on
the security tape can be. A box cutting razor blade worked nicely
though. Other must have tools were a set of various six sided star
wrenches, a small Phillips, a small straight screwdriver and a snap
ring removal tool. One or two older units needed a small open end
wrench but they were rare.

I have a use for the magnets but I am wondering about some of the
other parts and how I could use them. I have been told the circuit
boards are considered "HAZARDOUS" and I will probably have to take
them to a local re-cycler and pay a fee to dispose of them. I will
wait until I have a big box of them before I do that though.

The cases appear to be all Aluminum although some of them have a Black
paint on them that I am wondering about: Can I just use paint thinner
to clean them up or is there some kind of dangerous chemical in the
paint that could be a problem ? Some of the older drives are really
thick Aluminum and I think I have a few projects where I can use them.

The small drive motors look like they might be fun to tinker with
also. I hooked one up to a large 9 volt dry cell battery and I was
amazed at how fast it was spinning.

The hard drives ring like a bell when you strike them and I made a
wind chime out of several just to irritate the neighborhood squirrels.
There is a small amount of Copper windings that might be salvageable
but even at $3.00 a pound they might not be worth messing with.

I have two prescription bottles filled with assorted screws and nuts
and another with small bearings that I may find useful someday.

My 21 year old Nephew came over at the tail end of my disassembly
project and he wants me to call him the next time I get a box of them
so he can help me take them apart.

If any of you have any suggestions for projects using these parts let
me know about them. The magnets are working perfectly for the use I
intended.

Dennis

Dunno about the hard drives - but I do have some in the junkbox, will
be interesting to explore them. Have seen articles about using the
magnets in wind generators.

Most modern consumer/computer stuff is scarce on the recyclables - I
did a project with old vcr parts recently, worked out real well, vis

Pull out the head drum assembly, dismantle - it provided 2 by 16mm by
6mm bore high speed precsion bearings and a length of ground 6mm rod.
Also were 2 by brass bushings with setscrews that provided ready made
shaft positioners stops for a optical encoder I was building. Nice
quality machine screws, setscrews as well.

Old VCRs are an EXCELLENT source of high quality hook up wire in a
multitude of colors as well as shielded audio cable, with pre-stripped
ends (nice and neat) - MUCH nicer than you can buy in Tandy etc. The
power transformers are a good score too - they are designed for
continuous use, so I used one as float charger for the standby SLA
batteries in the workshop - BTW, the batteries, typically 12/40Ah came
as pulls from electric mobility scooters, they get changed on a time
used basis and are usually good for a few years more use for portable
operation.

Since metalworking came into my life, now scouring dump bins and hard
rubbish collections for interesting and recyclable mechanical/metal
bits - anyone got any good hints on this for recycling? - being a
novice, I haven't developed the "eye" that comes with experience...

Andrew VK3bFA.

" If any of you have any suggestions for projects using these parts let
me know about them. The magnets are working perfectly for the use I
intended.

Dennis

1. aluminum cases - ignore paint, take to recycler
2. disks - same as above
3. motor - generally two motors a polyphase motor and controller to spin the
disks and a voice coil motor to position the heads - both can be handy
4. misc caps and resistors - usually a few are worth salvaging, SMT parts
aren't worth the effort
5. failure mode - probably NOT magnet spacers, most likely head crash or
failure of magnetorestrictive head or associated input circuitry, though
sometimes its the output that gets zapped.
6. bearings - save bearings


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

wrote in message
...
On Jun 6, 12:12 pm, TwoGuns wrote:
At a recent garage sale I bought a box of old hard drives. I have a
project that requires several very strong magnets and when I saw this
box of 25 Hard drives for $5.00 I took them home. Taking the drives
apart was an educational experience. After seeing the way different
manufacturers go about mounting what are almost identical components I
realized how many ways there are to approach the same problem.
Obviously ALL of these drives had a problem and were not in working
condition. The most common cause of failure I noticed seemed to be
failure of spacers between the two magnets. Another vexing problem
was finding the hidden six point screws that were covered by security
tape. On the first drive I learned just how pesky the adhesive used on
the security tape can be. A box cutting razor blade worked nicely
though. Other must have tools were a set of various six sided star
wrenches, a small Phillips, a small straight screwdriver and a snap
ring removal tool. One or two older units needed a small open end
wrench but they were rare.

I have a use for the magnets but I am wondering about some of the
other parts and how I could use them. I have been told the circuit
boards are considered "HAZARDOUS" and I will probably have to take
them to a local re-cycler and pay a fee to dispose of them. I will
wait until I have a big box of them before I do that though.

The cases appear to be all Aluminum although some of them have a Black
paint on them that I am wondering about: Can I just use paint thinner
to clean them up or is there some kind of dangerous chemical in the
paint that could be a problem ? Some of the older drives are really
thick Aluminum and I think I have a few projects where I can use them.

The small drive motors look like they might be fun to tinker with
also. I hooked one up to a large 9 volt dry cell battery and I was
amazed at how fast it was spinning.

The hard drives ring like a bell when you strike them and I made a
wind chime out of several just to irritate the neighborhood squirrels.
There is a small amount of Copper windings that might be salvageable
but even at $3.00 a pound they might not be worth messing with.

I have two prescription bottles filled with assorted screws and nuts
and another with small bearings that I may find useful someday.

My 21 year old Nephew came over at the tail end of my disassembly
project and he wants me to call him the next time I get a box of them
so he can help me take them apart.

If any of you have any suggestions for projects using these parts let
me know about them. The magnets are working perfectly for the use I
intended.

Dennis

Dunno about the hard drives - but I do have some in the junkbox, will
be interesting to explore them. Have seen articles about using the
magnets in wind generators.

Most modern consumer/computer stuff is scarce on the recyclables - I
did a project with old vcr parts recently, worked out real well, vis

Pull out the head drum assembly, dismantle - it provided 2 by 16mm by
6mm bore high speed precsion bearings and a length of ground 6mm rod.
Also were 2 by brass bushings with setscrews that provided ready made
shaft positioners stops for a optical encoder I was building. Nice
quality machine screws, setscrews as well.

Old VCRs are an EXCELLENT source of high quality hook up wire in a
multitude of colors as well as shielded audio cable, with pre-stripped
ends (nice and neat) - MUCH nicer than you can buy in Tandy etc. The
power transformers are a good score too - they are designed for
continuous use, so I used one as float charger for the standby SLA
batteries in the workshop - BTW, the batteries, typically 12/40Ah came
as pulls from electric mobility scooters, they get changed on a time
used basis and are usually good for a few years more use for portable
operation.

Since metalworking came into my life, now scouring dump bins and hard
rubbish collections for interesting and recyclable mechanical/metal
bits - anyone got any good hints on this for recycling? - being a
novice, I haven't developed the "eye" that comes with experience...

Andrew VK3bFA.


Verge shopping - Council verge collections, do they have them in Victoria?
(does the 3 mean Victoria?)
&
Old photocopiers

On Jun 5, 9:12 pm, TwoGuns wrote:
At a recent garage sale I bought a box of old hard drives. I have a
project that requires several very strong magnets and when I saw this
box of 25 Hard drives for $5.00 I took them home. Taking the drives
apart was an educational experience. After seeing the way different
manufacturers go about mounting what are almost identical components I
realized how many ways there are to approach the same problem.
Obviously ALL of these drives had a problem and were not in working
condition. The most common cause of failure I noticed seemed to be
failure of spacers between the two magnets. Another vexing problem
was finding the hidden six point screws that were covered by security
tape. On the first drive I learned just how pesky the adhesive used on
the security tape can be. A box cutting razor blade worked nicely
though. Other must have tools were a set of various six sided star
wrenches, a small Phillips, a small straight screwdriver and a snap
ring removal tool. One or two older units needed a small open end
wrench but they were rare.

I have a use for the magnets but I am wondering about some of the
other parts and how I could use them. I have been told the circuit
boards are considered "HAZARDOUS" and I will probably have to take
them to a local re-cycler and pay a fee to dispose of them. I will
wait until I have a big box of them before I do that though.

The cases appear to be all Aluminum although some of them have a Black
paint on them that I am wondering about: Can I just use paint thinner
to clean them up or is there some kind of dangerous chemical in the
paint that could be a problem ? Some of the older drives are really
thick Aluminum and I think I have a few projects where I can use them.

The small drive motors look like they might be fun to tinker with
also. I hooked one up to a large 9 volt dry cell battery and I was
amazed at how fast it was spinning.

The hard drives ring like a bell when you strike them and I made a
wind chime out of several just to irritate the neighborhood squirrels.
There is a small amount of Copper windings that might be salvageable
but even at $3.00 a pound they might not be worth messing with.

I have two prescription bottles filled with assorted screws and nuts
and another with small bearings that I may find useful someday.

My 21 year old Nephew came over at the tail end of my disassembly
project and he wants me to call him the next time I get a box of them
so he can help me take them apart.

If any of you have any suggestions for projects using these parts let
me know about them. The magnets are working perfectly for the use I
intended.

Dennis

The PCBs have some recyclable value. Your typical recycler (junk
cars, etc) probably won't take them, but if you are in a big enough
metro area, there should be a specialty recycler that will pay you to
take the PCBs. They send them off to China for cheap labor and pull
the high value components. Or they just run them through a chipper
and somehow reclaim the substrate materials.

Everything is recyclable. Pretty much anyway.

Some places charge to take lead acid batteries. Others pay you by the
pound to take them. If someone is charging you a hazardous charge to
take something, check around a little bit. You may find that someone
else will pay you to take them(or at least take it for free). Pretty
good chance they are double dipping the system if they are charging
you to take "waste".

JW

TwoGuns wrote:
At a recent garage sale I bought a box of old hard drives. I have a
project that requires several very strong magnets and when I saw this
box of 25 Hard drives for $5.00 I took them home. Taking the drives
apart was an educational experience. After seeing the way different
manufacturers go about mounting what are almost identical components I
realized how many ways there are to approach the same problem.
Obviously ALL of these drives had a problem and were not in working
condition. The most common cause of failure I noticed seemed to be
failure of spacers between the two magnets. Another vexing problem
was finding the hidden six point screws that were covered by security
tape. On the first drive I learned just how pesky the adhesive used on
the security tape can be. A box cutting razor blade worked nicely
though. Other must have tools were a set of various six sided star
wrenches, a small Phillips, a small straight screwdriver and a snap
ring removal tool. One or two older units needed a small open end
wrench but they were rare.

I have a use for the magnets but I am wondering about some of the
other parts and how I could use them. I have been told the circuit
boards are considered "HAZARDOUS" and I will probably have to take
them to a local re-cycler and pay a fee to dispose of them. I will
wait until I have a big box of them before I do that though.

More properly called e-waste. Not hazardous, but there
may be local restrictions on disposing it in the trash.
The restrictions are more to encourage and make recycling
profitable than to keep a hazard out of the waste stream.

The cases appear to be all Aluminum although some of them have a Black
paint on them that I am wondering about: Can I just use paint thinner
to clean them up or is there some kind of dangerous chemical in the
paint that could be a problem ? Some of the older drives are really
thick Aluminum and I think I have a few projects where I can use them.

The small drive motors look like they might be fun to tinker with
also. I hooked one up to a large 9 volt dry cell battery and I was
amazed at how fast it was spinning.

The little quill shaft that the heads pivot on usually
contains two very nice miniture bearings. One background
project is to build a wind speed and direction sensor with
that quill shaft.

On Jun 6, 6:14 pm, "Den" wrote:
wrote in message

...



On Jun 6, 12:12 pm, TwoGuns wrote:
At a recent garage sale I bought a box of old hard drives. I have a
project that requires several very strong magnets and when I saw this
box of 25 Hard drives for $5.00 I took them home. Taking the drives
apart was an educational experience. After seeing the way different
manufacturers go about mounting what are almost identical components I
realized how many ways there are to approach the same problem.
Obviously ALL of these drives had a problem and were not in working
condition. The most common cause of failure I noticed seemed to be
failure of spacers between the two magnets. Another vexing problem
was finding the hidden six point screws that were covered by security
tape. On the first drive I learned just how pesky the adhesive used on
the security tape can be. A box cutting razor blade worked nicely
though. Other must have tools were a set of various six sided star
wrenches, a small Phillips, a small straight screwdriver and a snap
ring removal tool. One or two older units needed a small open end
wrench but they were rare.

I have a use for the magnets but I am wondering about some of the
other parts and how I could use them. I have been told the circuit
boards are considered "HAZARDOUS" and I will probably have to take
them to a local re-cycler and pay a fee to dispose of them. I will
wait until I have a big box of them before I do that though.

The cases appear to be all Aluminum although some of them have a Black
paint on them that I am wondering about: Can I just use paint thinner
to clean them up or is there some kind of dangerous chemical in the
paint that could be a problem ? Some of the older drives are really
thick Aluminum and I think I have a few projects where I can use them.

The small drive motors look like they might be fun to tinker with
also. I hooked one up to a large 9 volt dry cell battery and I was
amazed at how fast it was spinning.

The hard drives ring like a bell when you strike them and I made a
wind chime out of several just to irritate the neighborhood squirrels.
There is a small amount of Copper windings that might be salvageable
but even at $3.00 a pound they might not be worth messing with.

I have two prescription bottles filled with assorted screws and nuts
and another with small bearings that I may find useful someday.

My 21 year old Nephew came over at the tail end of my disassembly
project and he wants me to call him the next time I get a box of them
so he can help me take them apart.

If any of you have any suggestions for projects using these parts let
me know about them. The magnets are working perfectly for the use I
intended.

Dennis

Dunno about the hard drives - but I do have some in the junkbox, will
be interesting to explore them. Have seen articles about using the
magnets in wind generators.

Most modern consumer/computer stuff is scarce on the recyclables - I
did a project with old vcr parts recently, worked out real well, vis

Pull out the head drum assembly, dismantle - it provided 2 by 16mm by
6mm bore high speed precsion bearings and a length of ground 6mm rod.
Also were 2 by brass bushings with setscrews that provided ready made
shaft positioners stops for a optical encoder I was building. Nice
quality machine screws, setscrews as well.

Old VCRs are an EXCELLENT source of high quality hook up wire in a
multitude of colors as well as shielded audio cable, with pre-stripped
ends (nice and neat) - MUCH nicer than you can buy in Tandy etc. The
power transformers are a good score too - they are designed for
continuous use, so I used one as float charger for the standby SLA
batteries in the workshop - BTW, the batteries, typically 12/40Ah came
as pulls from electric mobility scooters, they get changed on a time
used basis and are usually good for a few years more use for portable
operation.

Since metalworking came into my life, now scouring dump bins and hard
rubbish collections for interesting and recyclable mechanical/metal
bits - anyone got any good hints on this for recycling? - being a
novice, I haven't developed the "eye" that comes with experience...

Andrew VK3bFA.

Verge shopping - Council verge collections, do they have them in Victoria?
(does the 3 mean Victoria?)
&
Old photocopiers

Yep, VK3 is Victoria (Australia) - some municipal councils still
organise hard rubbish collections, here its once a year - eagerly
awaited - small fleets of white vans crawl the streets, looking for
items of value......the occasional fight over some item...the screech
of tires as people race towards the same pile of "junque", gloating
rights at the next club meeting..

The council has sold the scavenging rights, and there are penalties
for picking up other peoples rubbish.

This is totally Un Australian, and is ignored - its part of our
heritage, along with going to the tip and bringing something home.
There hasn't been a prosecution yet, will be interesting if they try
one as a test case. Its a fundamental right to scavenge - they can go
and get stuffed.

I do miss owning my van, it was great for spontaneously scavenging -
it just aint the same with a "nice" Subaru wagon...

Andrew VK3BFA.

On 2008-06-06, William Noble wrote:

" If any of you have any suggestions for projects using these parts let
me know about them. The magnets are working perfectly for the use I
intended.

Dennis

[ ... ]

3. motor - generally two motors a polyphase motor and controller to spin the
disks and a voice coil motor to position the heads - both can be handy

Hmm ... mount a small mirror on the voice coil motor and use it
to move the beam from a laser pointer.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:14:52 +0800, "Den"
wrote:

Verge shopping - Council verge collections, do they have them in Victoria?
(does the 3 mean Victoria?)


No, Mexico in Oz

We keep getting them crossing the border even though they have
to cross the Nullarbor to do it. Mind you, it didn't keep the
rabbits out either. VBG

Alan VK6YAB

On Jun 7, 10:28 pm, Alan wrote:
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:14:52 +0800, "Den"
wrote:

Verge shopping - Council verge collections, do they have them in Victoria?
(does the 3 mean Victoria?)

No, Mexico in Oz

We keep getting them crossing the border even though they have
to cross the Nullarbor to do it. Mind you, it didn't keep the
rabbits out either. VBG

Alan VK6YAB

What on earth are you talking about? - is there some interstate
rivalry I am totally unaware of?

Andrew VK3BFA

On Jun 7, 11:23*am, wrote:
On Jun 7, 10:28 pm, Alan wrote:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:14:52 +0800, "Den"
wrote:

Verge shopping - Council verge collections, do they have them in Victoria?
(does the 3 mean Victoria?)

No, * * Mexico in Oz

* * * *We keep getting them crossing the border even though they have
to cross the Nullarbor to do it. * * Mind you, it didn't keep the
rabbits out either. * * * * * * *VBG

* * Alan * * * VK6YAB

What on earth are you talking about? - is there some interstate
rivalry I am totally unaware of?

Andrew VK3BFA

Likewise. I get Nullarbor and the rabbit problem but Mexico?

wrote:

The council has sold the scavenging rights, and there are penalties
for picking up other peoples rubbish.

So you can't put a sign on your rubbish bin, located on your property, that indicates
contents free for those interested?

Wes

wrote in message
...
On Jun 7, 10:28 pm, Alan wrote:
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:14:52 +0800, "Den"
wrote:

Verge shopping - Council verge collections, do they have them in
Victoria?
(does the 3 mean Victoria?)

No, Mexico in Oz

We keep getting them crossing the border even though they have
to cross the Nullarbor to do it. Mind you, it didn't keep the
rabbits out either. VBG

Alan VK6YAB

What on earth are you talking about? - is there some interstate
rivalry I am totally unaware of?

Andrew VK3BFA

Huh? Interstate rivalry?

There are other states?

--
Jeff R.
ex- VK2K**

On Sun, 8 Jun 2008 09:46:30 +1000, "Jeff R."
wrote:



Huh? Interstate rivalry?

There are other states?

Yes, Western Australia and the rest of them

The reference to Mexico is a New South Wales thing, Victoria is
"south of the border"

Victoria is not too bad really, I have a cousin living there.