I'm sure some have experienced throwing stuff out and then needing it shortly afterwards.
There's probably some kind of "obscure law" about this, I'm not sure, but I have seen it many times.
A few years ago at my job we had a massive clean up of "obsolete spare parts" to make space for new inventory.
Tons of electrical and mechanical parts went in a dumpster destined for the scrap yard.
Literally, the day after the dumpster was picked up, a sensor failed on an old machine and guess what.......
It's kind of spooky when it happens that soon.
There's probably some kind of "obscure law" about this, I'm not sure, but I have seen it many times.
A few years ago at my job we had a massive clean up of "obsolete spare parts" to make space for new inventory.
Tons of electrical and mechanical parts went in a dumpster destined for the scrap yard.
Literally, the day after the dumpster was picked up, a sensor failed on an old machine and guess what.......
It's kind of spooky when it happens that soon.
Another method is when at your next move, you find a box still taped shut from the previous move DON'T OPEN IT!
Just throw it away.
But not many are so brave, although it is totally logical.
Jan
Just throw it away.
But not many are so brave, although it is totally logical.
Jan
I'm glad there always have been some hoarders between the descendants of Izaak Enschedé, they kept lots of things that are now considered historically important. No ICs, though.
Impressive!!!!
Congratulations.
Do you press and punch the front modules?
I guess so given the machinery you describe elsewhere.
"In principle" and counterintuitive as it looks to outsiders, the Electronics part is the "easy" one, while "mechanicals" are complicated/expensive.
I am talking Commercial production of course, hobbyists can always house stuff in Altoids tin cans or hand drilled Hammond chassis.
Juan,
Yes we can make sheet metal pieces here. The turret punch is CNC so I just put in a sheet of aluminum and punch the start button. However after 10,000 to 100,000 or so punches the tools do need to be sharpened depending of the actual punch size, material being punched and tool coatings. So about once week there is a bit more work.
Then there is the press brake to bend the pieces. In 30+ years that tooling has been changed 4 or 5 time.
Yes we can make sheet metal pieces here. The turret punch is CNC so I just put in a sheet of aluminum and punch the start button. However after 10,000 to 100,000 or so punches the tools do need to be sharpened depending of the actual punch size, material being punched and tool coatings. So about once week there is a bit more work.
Then there is the press brake to bend the pieces. In 30+ years that tooling has been changed 4 or 5 time.
When Professor Leach (RIP) mentioned that folk couldn't get MPS8099 or MPS8599 for one of his designs, I called OnSemi and related the story. (Was it still Motorola at the time?) I still have a reel courtesy of them.
Taking Marcel's advice, next trip westbound will take a trunkload of semi's to Surplus Electronics in Mentor OH.
For the official record, my wife's shoe collection is on a par with Imelda Marcos, and she has no intent of slimming it down.
Taking Marcel's advice, next trip westbound will take a trunkload of semi's to Surplus Electronics in Mentor OH.
For the official record, my wife's shoe collection is on a par with Imelda Marcos, and she has no intent of slimming it down.
The company does not produce money anymore since 2016. If they don't produce someone else will. Maybe we should more care about historical companies and their knowledge?!
Of course all the stuff that is kept by hoarders is historically important, that is among the made up reasons why they keep all the stuff 🙂 "They don't make them like these anymore", "If I throw these away I need them the day after" etc. Truth often is that the majority of that kept stuff is never used anymore and ends up on a dumpster anyway.
If one cares about historical importance better design/build a real device with the parts (the parts were meant to a part of a device) and store the crucial spare parts IN the device for future maintenance/repair. Makes more sense than keeping 100 pieces Signetics (these sound the best) NE5534 in a Tupperware box. There is a higher chance that a working device will still be used in decades to come. The NE5534 is then already 30 years superseded by the way better OPA1655....
Anecdote: a few months ago a very young couple were given a beautiful and famous old nineties amplifier with a pair of loudspeakers and they were surprised what to do with that as they are both smart phone aficionados. They asked me for the "cable". Which cable I asked? RCA/cinch or the 230V cable? They showed me the amplifier and wanted a cable from their phone to the amplifier. "The one that goes to the phone input" -> thereby pointing at the "Phones" output. Won't work I said. "You don't understand anything of technical stuff Jean-Paul" 😀 Needless to say that the nice scratchless Kenwood amp suddenly was gone and a Bluetooth boom box was used.
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jean-paul,
One of the reasons to hoard is simple, no likes to take out the garbage. 😉
I should note I do keep NE5532s & 4s on hand for repairs, however they were not purchased new, instead they were saved from scraped equipment.
I have found that stuff we used to throw out now can be sold on eBay! This yields a few thousand dollars a year.
More interesting is there are now laws requiring recycling of used electronics. Of course I know of no recyclers who want anything with a CRT or even old vacuum tube gear.
A bit more interesting is scraps of copper wire. They want the copper but not with the insulation. So they burn off the insulation with a small fire. Not exactly environmentally friendly.
Most of what we scrap are the metal punchies from punching out parts. This gives us a few hundred dollars a year. We do have to keep the receipts to show compliance with the law!
So rather than hoard useless stuff or even throw it out, we use it for lunch money! (With decent spirits on occasion!)
One of the reasons to hoard is simple, no likes to take out the garbage. 😉
I should note I do keep NE5532s & 4s on hand for repairs, however they were not purchased new, instead they were saved from scraped equipment.
I have found that stuff we used to throw out now can be sold on eBay! This yields a few thousand dollars a year.
More interesting is there are now laws requiring recycling of used electronics. Of course I know of no recyclers who want anything with a CRT or even old vacuum tube gear.
A bit more interesting is scraps of copper wire. They want the copper but not with the insulation. So they burn off the insulation with a small fire. Not exactly environmentally friendly.
Most of what we scrap are the metal punchies from punching out parts. This gives us a few hundred dollars a year. We do have to keep the receipts to show compliance with the law!
So rather than hoard useless stuff or even throw it out, we use it for lunch money! (With decent spirits on occasion!)
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Probably all wrong, but I associate the combination of music and prison with Saint Quentin, because of Johnny Cash's song.
A techno disco with the door locked after 22:00?
Yes many have found that out and even sell their defective stuff/garbage on Ebay. Then when the buyer complains they use to say that there is no warranty according European Law.
There is the Joliet Correctional Center from the The Blues Brothers movie, but it's no longer a prison.
No a real well known prison! No matter how tempting your idea may be.
When I sell audio power amplifiers I used to include the Audio Precision test plots. I did get one inquiry asking after they looked at the plots if it worked! I see no reason to sell anything that hasn’t been tested and is in good working condition.
Stuff that is junk gets stripped apart and the recycle-able parts are sold that way and very little goes into the dumpster. I do understand very few folks have enough metal to sell, but fortunately we do.