How to get rid of CRT tubes

Thread Starter

uraniumhexoflorite

Joined Oct 23, 2016
216
So recently I took apart a CRT tv for parts. I'm left with the tube and have no use for it. Since it has a variety of toxic metals and other nasty stuff, I'm gonna assume that the garbage people won't take it and since I already stripped it of it's electronics, scrappers probably won't be interested either. Is there any way that I can easily get it off my hands without having to pay someone?
 

bertus

Joined Apr 5, 2008
22,270
Hello,

Is there no waist point or recycle center where you can bring the tube?
In holland we have these waist points where you can bring it for free when you are a citizen of the town.
Companies will have to pay for getting rid of the waist.

Bertus
 

Thread Starter

uraniumhexoflorite

Joined Oct 23, 2016
216
There are centers, but I just wanted to know if there was a way to get rid of it and not have to drive there (they aren't terribly close but not too far either). Do you know if I could drop it off at the public works building or city hall or something?
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
The bare CRT is in danger of imploding, the safest way is to destroy the tube first, this can be done with great care by a sharp blow to the very end/neck of the tube, preferably remotely in a sealed container.
I have shot one with 22 to the front of the screen to see what would happen, 1/2." thick glass was thrown about 20-30ft.!:eek:
Max.
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Our local refuse collector picks up hazardous waste free of charge. I just need to call them. I was able to get rid of a huge CRT TV from my parents home after my dad passed away last year. Just a simple phone call no problem.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
I was able to get rid of a huge CRT TV from my parents home after my dad passed away last year. .
I think the whole item is usually no problem, most municipalities or re-cyclers have a drop off, also here some of the high end electronics stores have free dumping container.
The OP's dilemma is it is just the CRT.
Max.
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
The bare CRT is in danger of imploding, the safest way is to destroy the tube first, this can be done with great care by a sharp blow to the very end/neck of the tube, preferably remotely in a sealed container.
I have shot one with 22 to the front of the screen to see what would happen, 1/2." thick glass was thrown about 20-30ft.!:eek:
Max.
Often they will have a nipple where the air was removed. I have sapped off the nipple with a screwdriver and sharp blow from a hammer.


Or us my dad's method.

1. Place CRT at bottom of basement stairs.

2, Go to top of stairs.

3. Toss brick downstairs toward the tube.

4. Quickly close basement door.

5. Wait for implosion.

;)
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
I think the whole item is usually no problem, most municipalities or re-cyclers have a drop off, also here some of the high end electronics stores have free dumping container.
The OP's dilemma is it is just the CRT.
Max.
If OP has a Best Buy nearby Best Buy will take them. It was a lot easier for me to make a call. I nearly busted a spleen just getting the damn thing into then out of my car. ;)
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
What I do is place the CRT in the recycling/garbage container, neck up and with a hammer, safety glasses on, swipe the neck right at the socket end, all you usually get is a hiss as the air rushes in, after that you can smash it into small pieces.
It is the front that is dangerous.
I recall getting a TV in for repair that had a CRT broken, obviously from a blow to the front.
On examination, a beer bottle was found in the glass fragments in the back, obviously somebody did not like how the game turned out!:p
Max.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,152
Once I decided that we needed to open a large CRT to check up on our vendor (I think it was NEC). We placed the CRT in a heavy cardboard box with the neck sticking out of the box. We wore safety goggles and most of us stood back a few meters while one anointed technician approached slowly and crushed the nipple. We had all worked with CRTs for years and expected a violent event, and thinking about it now, I should have sent the job out so we would have less liability. The "implosion" was terribly disappointing.

That said, the EPA is concerned about the lead in the glass (there to reduce X-Ray emission, after all this is a particle accelerator) from leaching into groundwater in the presence of acidic soil. If you want to dispose of it "responsibly" you need to turn it in to a recycling center or a hazardous waste disposal center. My solution when I had accumulated several CRT's was to sell the house and move out of the country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqMbhq80lX8
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,152
One flaw in the video. You aren't discharging the flyback transformer. It isn't even connected or shown in the video. You are discharging the tube itself which is really a huge capacitor. And if the TV has not been on recently there is probably no need to discharge.
I was in the lab with my boss, talking about some difficulty with the production CRT displays being made in Taiwan. There was a 14" color CRT on the workbench at which we were sitting. He was tapping on the tube with his pencil, very close to the anode button. I said something like "look out for the anode" and he said "What, this...YEAoooWW!" as he touched the anode button. (one of my most fond memories -he is still a great friend).

Color Cathode Ray Tubes can hold a soak charge of many KV for months or years. Never assume that it is safe to touch the anode button. Even after discharge, the voltage can rise again.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
the safest way is to destroy the tube first, this can be done with great care by a sharp blow to the very end/neck of the tube,
Break off the tiny glass teat between the pins to let the vacuum out.

Edit: I'm about the third person to say that.
 
Last edited:

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
You just like writing the word "teat". :p
Actually, I like to let the vacuum out. That, "whoosh" is a rush like the sound of hitting the high score on a pinball machine.:)

I have worked on so many recalcitrant TVs, in front of completely unappreciative customers, that any chance I get to hit one with a hammer is a joyous occasion. Letting the vacuum out of a CRT is like cutting its throat and watching its life blood gush out.

(We don't have emoticons for maniacal laughter or murderous rage.)
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Actually, I like to let the vacuum out. That, "whoosh" is a rush like the sound of hitting the high score on a pinball machine.:)

I have worked on so many recalcitrant TVs, in front of completely unappreciative customers, that any chance I get to hit one with a hammer is a joyous occasion. Letting the vacuum out of a CRT is like cutting its throat and watching its life blood gush out.

(We don't have emoticons for maniacal laughter or murderous rage.)

There were only two things that could be wrong with those old TVs (at least according to the customer)

1. "The condenser"

2. "The tube"

I don't know how many times I would be asked. Is it "the condenser" as if there is only one. :)
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
I just crush them and throw the glass bits in a random dumpster in town.

As for the supposed lead concerns it's a stupid california tree hugers illogical logic thing. The fact is the lead is trapped in the glass and to leach out into surrounding groundwater sources would take the glass dissolving which in normal time scales could take 1000's of years to happen. Whereas the the countless tons of raw lead we gun owners throw out into the environment everywhere every year does what exactly once it comes to rest and they care how much? :rolleyes:

Realistically being trapped in a glassy solid is one of the most environmentally safe ways to render a hazardous material inert. ;)
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
I just crush them and throw the glass bits in a random dumpster in town.

As for the supposed lead concerns it's a stupid california tree hugers illogical logic thing. The fact is the lead is trapped in the glass and to leach out into surrounding groundwater sources would take the glass dissolving which in normal time scales could take 1000's of years to happen. Whereas the the countless tons of raw lead we gun owners throw out into the environment everywhere every year does what exactly once it comes to rest and they care how much? :rolleyes:

Realistically being trapped in a glassy solid is one of the most environmentally safe ways to render a hazardous material inert. ;)

What? Are you talking about lead in the glass as the most toxic part of a colored tv crt? You do realize that all that powder on the inside of the screen is the problem - the phosphors. Those powders that are barely attached to the glass and make a plume of dust when you drop the scraps in the dumpster.

The zinc, vanadium and silver salts will likely be the biggest issues. Not each the most toxic but when combined with solubility in biological fluids - and the quick solubility of the nano-scale particles one can see dangerous levels quite easily. Nickel salts can be surprisingly dangerous as allergens in the lungs when they are inhaled.

Also, the insoluble dusts like silicates and phosphates can stay in lungs for a very long time. They can cause coughing and mucus for extended periods. Not causing the continuous cutting action of of fibrous asbestos and associated scarring but the dusts will show up on an X-ray and look like asbestos silicates or worse and scare your doc.

If California tree huggers are stupid, what term do we use for a CRT crushing, dumpster-space stealing North Dakotan?
 
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