I suspect there are more than a few pack-rats here (like me), I am not longer doing much in the way of Engineering any more and it is time to down size soon, in preparation I have been getting rid of junk, albeit Good Junk.
My son just took a load to the scrap merchant today which consisted of large mains transformers, (very) old DC servo motors, large 10hp DC spindle motor, misc steel etc.
I have advertised loads of electrical, electronic and mechanical items, much of it new, locally on the Kijiji site. With no real luck at getting rid of any of it.
I guess there is a time to bite the bullet and ditch it, just seems a shame!
Max..

 

Or you could pass it to another pack rat.

 

I suspect there are more than a few pack-rats here (like me), I am not longer doing much in the way of Engineering any more and it is time to down size soon, in preparation I have been getting rid of junk, albeit Good Junk.
My son just took a load to the scrap merchant today which consisted of large mains transformers, (very) old DC servo motors, large 10hp DC spindle motor, misc steel etc.
I have advertised loads of electrical, electronic and mechanical items, much of it new, locally on the Kijiji site. With no real luck at getting rid of any of it.
I guess there is a time to bite the bullet and ditch it, just seems a shame!
Max..

I know the feeling. I have a garage full of "good junk."
Fortunately mine is smaller.

 

I suspect there are more than a few pack-rats here (like me), I am not longer doing much in the way of Engineering any more and it is time to down size soon, in preparation I have been getting rid of junk, albeit Good Junk.
My son just took a load to the scrap merchant today which consisted of large mains transformers, (very) old DC servo motors, large 10hp DC spindle motor, misc steel etc.
I have advertised loads of electrical, electronic and mechanical items, much of it new, locally on the Kijiji site. With no real luck at getting rid of any of it.
I guess there is a time to bite the bullet and ditch it, just seems a shame!
Max..

A couple of years after I got up here, I was "informed" that copper prices were going to skyrocket. So I had THOUSANDS of pounds of old motors and transformers in the back yard...just waiting for my bonanza......and waiting ......and waiting......for about 25 years. After 25 years, I figured copper was just about leveled off, so I finally just took all the stuff to the scrap yard. About three months later, copper DID go through the ceiling.....go figure.
Anyway...the moral to this story is....I have no clue what the moral is.

 

I just gave away about 1,500 DIP ICs from the 70's, 80', and 90s.

 

Getting rid of old junk makes room for newer and better junk.

 

Don't let your wife hear that! Or maybe she's already been eyeing you funny and considering a replacement.

 

If you think the wife is gonna dump you then keep the junk

You get to give her half after the divorce.

 

I have found the quickest way to prove you needed to hold onto everything is to get rid of one item even if it's something you have not used in years.

It's guaranteed that within a week you will need it or parts off of it and that should be justification that you need to hold on to everything else.

I've done it too many times to not know how that works.

 

I've done it too many times to not know how that works.

I understand. I never set the radio stations in my car because, if I do, the car battery will go bad.

 

If you think the wife is gonna dump you then keep the junk. You get to give her half after the divorce.

Too late! Wish I was aware of that 8 years ago.

I have advertised loads of electrical, electronic and mechanical items, much of it new, locally on the Kijiji site. With no real luck at getting rid of any of it.
I guess there is a time to bite the bullet and ditch it, just seems a shame!
Max..

Or you could pass it to another pack rat.

Prior and after moving to my new house I did it in two steps. My ham equipment I gave it basically for free to a friend of mine. After arriving here, I called a guy who collects garbage of any level of quality.

Next and last will be when I actually start to order things in the room where I am installing my bench.

What I find discouraging: only people living one or two continents away showed interest on things I got along the time.

 

I suspect there are more than a few pack-rats here (like me), I am not longer doing much in the way of Engineering any more and it is time to down size soon, in preparation I have been getting rid of junk, albeit Good Junk.
My son just took a load to the scrap merchant today which consisted of large mains transformers, (very) old DC servo motors, large 10hp DC spindle motor, misc steel etc.
I have advertised loads of electrical, electronic and mechanical items, much of it new, locally on the Kijiji site. With no real luck at getting rid of any of it.
I guess there is a time to bite the bullet and ditch it, just seems a shame!
Max..

I'm in the same boat. We are committed to down-sizing home and business and lots of stuff has to go and it's hard to do. You keep thinking that you'll get around to using those cool DS5000/modem sticks or fixing the beloved TDS420's power supply. But.. who uses 1200baud modems and I've bought a replacement scope. You also start to think what all of that stuff cost to purchase and it hurts more. Thousands spent in emulators, programmers and the like that you see on Ebay for next to nothing. But dead is dead, most of it earned its keep back in the day and it costs money to store.

Your comment about no one shows much interest in yesterday's cool stuff fits my experience too. I hate to just scrap all of it but think that's what I'll do. At least it's nice to have company. And the money I save on storage would re-buy that one item I'm sure I'll need someday.

 

I suspect there are more than a few pack-rats here (like me), I am not longer doing much in the way of Engineering any more and it is time to down size soon, in preparation I have been getting rid of junk, albeit Good Junk.
My son just took a load to the scrap merchant today which consisted of large mains transformers, (very) old DC servo motors, large 10hp DC spindle motor, misc steel etc.
I have advertised loads of electrical, electronic and mechanical items, much of it new, locally on the Kijiji site. With no real luck at getting rid of any of it.
I guess there is a time to bite the bullet and ditch it, just seems a shame!
Max..

Maxheadroom I say you're living dangerously on here with your OP cuz you're throwing away lots of NICE stuff! HP got the autodafe treatment just for letting some boring scrap stainless pay its freight

 

Maxheadroom I say you're living dangerously on here with your OP cuz you're throwing away lots of NICE stuff! HP got the autodafe treatment just for letting some boring scrap stainless pay its freight

You are neglecting the relative scale of value of things here.

Tossing something out that is worth near two years of the average persons living expenses because a few hours of work seemed like too much of a chore Vs something that is maybe worth a day or two of their wages in scrap value is not the same.

 

You are neglecting the relative scale of value of things here.
Tossing something out that is worth near two years of the average persons living expenses because a few hours of work seemed like too much of a chore Vs something that is maybe worth a day or two of their wages in scrap value is not the same.

Agreed. With any value on your time (more expensive as you get older!), the idea of considering all of your junk in detail rapidly becomes non-economical. I surveyed Ebay last year with a list of stuff I had. I'm sure I could have gotten some hits on that Promate II 17C44L module but not today (a search pulls up automotive wheels). I have a brand new in the box AC164012 adapter for the PMII. Someone has one marked down to 14.95 on Ebay today. It's over.

This thread has been cathartic. Thanks! I am going to load it all up and take it by EPO in Houston. It's a great surplus store - one of the last I know of that actually has real surplus - HP spectrum analyzer from the 80's - they have one. TEK 500 series scopes from the 60's, got those too. EICO, BK, Heathkit, the works. I visited with the owner awhile back and he allowed as how they have hobbyists et al that like to refurbish old stuff and he could find it a home. awwww.... He might make some money off some of it but the difference between them and me selling it is that they just put it in a bin and leave it there. For me, I'd have to create the ad, monitor Ebay, put it in a box, handle returns.. for 14.99. Nope.

OUT IT GOES.

 

- 75% of my through hole precision resistor stock I bought in the 1970s.

- The age of a lot of my small parts is measured in decades.

- I recently threw away a bag of about 10,000 new general purpose PNP no name (2N3904 ish) transistors. I had them since the 1990s and never used a single one.

- I have gone through my parts and have thrown away parts because the anti-stat bag was more valuable than the part that was in it.

- I have never thrown away a transformer.

- My assortment of surface mount parts is growing at an alarming rate.

- I have two different power opti-visors on my bench. My eyes are 62 years old.

I love electronics. It is a part of me. I would not be surprised to find something I had tinkered with when I was 12 years old, hidden away some where. If I find it, I am not throwing it away.

 

Vs something that is maybe worth a day or two of their wages in scrap value is not the same.

I thought two pole pig xfmrs are worth at least $20,000 which is all HP's stainless was worth?

Anyhow I wasn't giving anyone a hard time I know HP was choking on her silver spoon on estimation skills thread fair and square

 

I thought two pole pig xfmrs are worth at least $20,000 which is all HP's stainless was worth?

Not really. If you have ever took one apart they are nothing special.
Assuming they are standard 10 - 20 KVA pole mount units they have maybe 100 pounds of iron and some copper or aluminum in them of which carries a fair scrap value of between $20 - $100.

I have a buddy that has a huge scrap yard and to be honest many utility transformers have reached the point where many are not even worth processing on site anymore due to being nothing but a chunk of iron with copper clad aluminum windings which are worthless for scrap value.

In a way, old transformers are like vehicles. They may cost $10's of thousands new but when worn out they aren't worth any more than their weight in scrap metal value and that can be pretty low sometimes.

 

Not really. If you have ever took one apart they are nothing special.

Wow! I guess you're right! A refurbished 25 kvar xfmr is just $1k!
http://www.amazing1.com/products/pole-transformer-3kva-to-25kva-at-14-4kv.html?

 

Wow! I guess you're right! A refurbished 25 kvar xfmr is just $1k!
http://www.amazing1.com/products/pole-transformer-3kva-to-25kva-at-14-4kv.html?

Better yet they're asking only ≈ $1,200 for 50 KVA unit!

Best regards
HP