Don't forget to stop by your local recycling center/scrap yard when looking for parts to make big amps, etc. One place near me often has industrial machinery that usually contains big transformers, big caps, big heat sinks, and all sorts of other neato stuff. These places usually buy scrap at one price and will sell at another, higher price. So you can buy stuff by the lb/kg! Don't forget to bring your tools and some leather gloves so you can remove just the stuff you want, and watch your knuckles!
During one recent stop I saw a lot of transformers and a bunch of pole-mount cell phone base stations in weather/rfi tight aluminum boxes that have heatsink fins completely covering one side. I picked up a really cool XY table with steppers and drivers for $100 (about 100 lbs of aluminum in the thing).
MR
During one recent stop I saw a lot of transformers and a bunch of pole-mount cell phone base stations in weather/rfi tight aluminum boxes that have heatsink fins completely covering one side. I picked up a really cool XY table with steppers and drivers for $100 (about 100 lbs of aluminum in the thing).
MR
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picked up today
I picked this up at a local scrap yard today for $15. It is about 12"x9"x4" including the 1" high heatsink fins. The heatsink plate is milled from a solid block of aluminum. The box has tig welded corner seams. The walls are 1/4" thick, and the heatsink plate is about 300 mils thick.
This was made by Andrew Corp. I believe it is a tower mounted diversity receiver preamp or something similar. There were a couple 850-960 MHz isolators, Motorola RF amplifiers and some multipole ceramic filters inside it, and a switching power supply.
The scrap yard had a bunch of even bigger boxes- 16"x12"x9" with 3" fins covering one side of the box.
Look around! This stuff is out there!
MR
I picked this up at a local scrap yard today for $15. It is about 12"x9"x4" including the 1" high heatsink fins. The heatsink plate is milled from a solid block of aluminum. The box has tig welded corner seams. The walls are 1/4" thick, and the heatsink plate is about 300 mils thick.
This was made by Andrew Corp. I believe it is a tower mounted diversity receiver preamp or something similar. There were a couple 850-960 MHz isolators, Motorola RF amplifiers and some multipole ceramic filters inside it, and a switching power supply.
The scrap yard had a bunch of even bigger boxes- 16"x12"x9" with 3" fins covering one side of the box.
Look around! This stuff is out there!
MR
Attachments
Dead computer monitors are a good source for caps and smaller heatsinks, and often pieces of aluminum that can be used for chassis or amp covers.
I am always on the lookout for this kind of stuff -- recent score was 3 medical equipment power supplies with some 440V CT 400ma power transformers (+ all the bits to go with).
Boeing Surplus in Renton/Seattle is a neat place -- last trip i left with a 12' long piece of 8" square 1/2" thick aluminum tube, ideal for making chassis that double as heatsinks.
dave
I am always on the lookout for this kind of stuff -- recent score was 3 medical equipment power supplies with some 440V CT 400ma power transformers (+ all the bits to go with).
Boeing Surplus in Renton/Seattle is a neat place -- last trip i left with a 12' long piece of 8" square 1/2" thick aluminum tube, ideal for making chassis that double as heatsinks.
dave
yep, a boeing badge gets you a 20% discount. sadly, the new management is going for maximum profit instead of maximum movement, so its not the treasure trove it used to be. however, i got a 22x22x6 chassis from a piece of high power radio equipment that included a couple big heatsinks and a nice switching power supply for 10 bucks a while ago. they had another of the same chassis for 10 bucks without the extras the same day, and i really wish i would have grabbed it. youll understand when you see the pictures im going to post someday. ive also seen some incredibly huge heatsink/chassis things there, which im sure would have kept a stereo high power class a amp to just a few degrees over ambient, and they regularly have some nice scopes for sale. fun place.
-Chris
-Chris
I have a scrap yard just a few km`s away in the next town. They`re specialised in electronic scrap and I even know the owner of the company.
I`m sure there are some fine pieces once in a while but because as I know me I hesitated to go there until now, I really fear soon to make the second big electronic scrap yard around here out of my home.
But looking at Your great find maybe I should consider this again
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