Cleaning Out Old Components - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: TheAdmiralty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2023, 12:01:28 am
content: Haven't been posting around here lately but I'm gonna start this thread that I'm sure at least someone will find entertaining.Our company - which is fairly large and will remain unnamed - is moving and so is cleaning out a building that's been in use building PCBs and other assemblies since the 70s. You can probably imagine the indescribable amount of obsolete 'junk' that's being disposed of as e-waste. I think I saw the wire wrapping guns in the dumpster on the way out today.In a completely unrelated turn of events, I happen to have come into possession of hundreds of tubes of old ICs recently. Some more interesting than others. Everything is just piled up on a couple shelf units in the basement right now but my case of square cardboard mailing tubes and desiccant just came for organization + storage, and so as I start to sort it all and take inventory I'm going to show off anything weird or obscure I run into here. Lotta date codes from the 70s-80s on things I bet nobody has seen for a very long time.

author: TheAdmiralty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2023, 12:05:12 am
content: Boring start but I'mma get these out of the way, if anyone has any project ideas for 100 tubes/2500 qty of quad 2-input NOR gates I'm all ears.(Yes I'm at least going to cut the PO stickers out of things that have them, even if theyaredated over two decades ago.)

author: TheAdmiralty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2023, 12:24:53 am
content: Unfortunately the really old stuff was just stuffed in drawers and is pretty bent up, but these Beckman 7580 ADC hybrids are probably some of the older ICs before I get back into metal cans.https://datasheet.datasheetarchive.com/originals/scans/Scans-002/Scans-0048031.pdf

author: Terry Bites
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2023, 02:42:55 pm
content: Been there, done that. I found that, painful as it was, the economic use of my time was best served with a dumpster.(WEE regs hadn't come into force yet)I just had to push through the tears and enjoy the rest of the day.All those PDP11 power supplies too... ouch!Send a few of the hybrids to curiousmarc. How "low cost" were they I wonder?Get Usagi Electric to make you a 1k NOR flash drive.

author: TheAdmiralty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2023, 01:32:43 am
content: Yeah the unfortunate thing is that most of the ICs are old +5V chips (or worse) but they're still plenty capable for hobby projects or something like making a replacement furnace control board that I'mma do eventually. It's really the things like D-sub connectors, right angle LEDs, power BJTs, LDOs, relays, etc that might actually be useful.Still getting the bigger bulk piles counted and out of the way before I have to inventory the single tubes of stuff... got a lifetime supply of tiny FPGAs, 1Mb SRAMs, and ceramic 555 timers now apparently. Also another four sealed packs of Motorola '74F244 bus transceivers, VIHon these is 2V so plenty good for buffering random 3.3V crap up to 5V @64mA.

author: hanakp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2023, 07:21:46 am
content: Been there, done that.It's useful to check Ebay for current selling price of the ICs (excluding Chinese sellers, those are frequently counterfeit). If nobody offers them, it may be a sign they're rare and sought after. Those FPGAs in particular may fetch a pretty penny, they're common in industrial machinery that's been in active use for decades. If you have larger quantities in original packaging, you may even offer all this stuff to professional old component distributors like Quest Components or Bristol Electronics. They won't offer nearly as much as you could ask on Ebay, but it will be quick and hassle-free.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2023, 12:34:54 pm
content: It's hard to predict which stuff is still worth some money, and what is obsolete.I'm guessing that the 74F244 may be obsolete because of it's too high power consumption, while wire wrap guns apparently sell between USD15 and USD70, depending on model and condition.If you're not in a hurry, then maybe you can find some buziness minded teenagers and promise them a part of the profit of everything they sell for you.If you are in a hurry, there are companies specialized in dealing with obsolete and rare parts or you can make an auction out of it.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2023, 01:00:52 pm
content: Quote from: TheAdmiralty on July 08, 2023, 12:05:12 amhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer#DSKY