Seeing a heap of scrapped laptops changed my take on saving components

I used to think hoarding old circuit boards was just clutter with no real point. Then my local repair shop hosted a tour of their e-waste sorting area, and the scale of it hit me hard. Watching how many perfectly good caps and resistors get tossed because devices aren't fixed opened my eyes. Now I pull and sort every usable bit before recycling, and it feels like actual helpful work. Turns out, being a packrat can be good for the planet after all.

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.holly1mo ago

Remember my friend who read @ryan_hayes2's comment and got obsessed? He just fixed his busted speaker with a capacitor from a microwave board.

ryan_hayes21mo ago

Totally get what you mean about seeing good parts get tossed. I started pulling old power supplies and fans from dead PCs after my buddy showed me his scrap pile. Now I've got a whole bin of salvaged mosfets and heatsinks that have saved a few projects. It's weirdly satisfying to know a part from a 2010 laptop is keeping something else running.

cole_bailey8527d ago

What's your process for testing salvaged parts before using them? I've had a few mosfets that looked fine but were actually fried, wasted some time on a board.