I've depopulated LOTS of boards and have found the components to be useful many times (instead of having to wait to order them & costing $$). I have about 1,000 transistors of various sizes and I have no idea what to do with them and how to sort them. IDK if anyone has any suggestions on what to do or a good method for it. I've sorted by physical apprearance and can then sort by the numbers on them, but IDK if that is pointless or the best method..?

I also have a good number of chips that IDK what to call them, they have 6, 8, 12 pins and some may have 32 or more. I guess these are microcontrollers?

Then there are a lot of odd components which IDK what they are but I don't have pics of them, but I have plenty of them to sort if they are worth the time.

Below are some pics of common transistors (is that the correct term for these in the image below?) I have, I'd say 90%+ of the ones I have look like the two on the right in the image below.

 

The first thing you should do is separate static sensitive devices and store/handle them properly.

Separate them by polarity.

Then separate by characteristics that you care about: max current/voltage, beta, etc.

Separate by part number if you have sufficient quantity.

Test them to make sure they're still functional. Do more than a junction test on BJT. A curve tracer would be handy for verifying functionality.

 

The first thing you should do is separate static sensitive devices and store/handle them properly.

Separate them by polarity.

Then separate by characteristics that you care about: max current/voltage, beta, etc.

Separate by part number if you have sufficient quantity.

Test them to make sure they're still functional. Do more than a junction test on BJT. A curve tracer would be handy for verifying functionality.

Actually the first thing you need to do is see if you can lookup the datasheets. Part numbers might be that of the manufacturer of the device you are salvaging.

 

It's really hard, but if it has a house number it goes into the trash.

 

Actually the first thing you need to do is see if you can lookup the datasheets.

TOTALLY agree. I too have salvaged many components over the years. But you can't use what you've got if you don't know what it is. If you can't find a datasheet on line, pitch the part. Don't just bookmark a link to what you find. Start a datasheet archive and download everything; you can't assume that the document, or even the site, will be there when you need it next.

Note that many parts do not have the complete part number. If a part is marked "A123", the real part number might be 2SA123. 2SA and 2SK are common transistor prefixes that are abbreviated.

After only 20 years, my data library has over 19,000 files - about 10,000 unique part numbers and related app notes, plus duplicates filed under multiple topics.

ak

 

Hello,

Get yourself some transistor databooks.
The internet archive has some for download:
https://archive.org/details/TowersInternationalTransistorSelector
https://archive.org/details/MotorolaSmallSignalTransistorDataBook1984
https://archive.org/details/TransistorAndDiodeDatabook1stEd1973
https://archive.org/details/ToshibaSmallSignalTransistorSemiconductorDataBook1983
https://archive.org/details/MicroElectronicsTransistorsIcDataBookIssue1

Bertus

 

After only 20 years, my data library has over 19,000 files - about 10,000 unique part numbers and related app notes, plus duplicates filed under multiple topics.

I have over 23GB and nearly 33,000 files. I also file data in multiple places. I always file the data sheet by the part number but also sometimes by manufacturer and application or some other way the is likely to let me find it such as by description. If needed, I will even make a folder to save extra copies of related parts.

If I download a data sheet to look at it, I ALWAYS save it. I have found that if I look at a part then I am very likely to look at it again later. I am amazed at how often I start to download data for a part only to find that I already have the data sheet.

I am gradually getting data sheets for every part I have in my inventory. It is very frustrating to have a part but no data. Unfortunately, I have bought a lot of surplus parts over the years and have not been to find data on all of them.


p.s. I still use paper catalogs and data sheets as well.