Depopulating Boards for Gold Recovery

How & why I partially depopulate circuit boards for gold recovery.
Mostly for the higher value items like IC Chips, Gold Band Crystal Oscillators, Gold fingers, Gold pins, MLCC's, Tantalum capacitors etc.
Scrapping tools, safety gear, wire strippers, metal melting furnaces, crucibles and ingot moulds that I use or recommend.. www.amazon.com/shop/ewasteben
My Cool Bracelets & Rings are from gthic.com?aff=116
My Camera, Gopro Hero 8 amzn.to/2WBCAnD
To contact me by email: [e-mail]
Postal Address:
Po Box 459
Yarraville
Victoria 3013
Australia
Keep scrapping & Have fun!

[@sharkscrapper]

Watching this vid takes me back many years to when I started watching your videos. I've learned so much from over the years, thank you.

[@davegdm954]

agreed. I would never be where I am today with out ben

[@tyleranderson-]

So true. I have learned almost everything from ben

[@scrapwomblecreatives6944]

yes Bens deffo an old bugger , whoops i mean very skilful am only joking about you been old mate am 58 have learned of you too loads including peach voddys nice lol

[@sharkscrapper]

@@scrapwomblecreatives6944 🤣

[@chriskrabach2290]

@@davegdm954 .l..l.l..ll..l...l no

[@brissyboy7164]

As a beginner i am learning a lot from your vids for 3 years now ( as well as other scrap channels ) and finally i found a board buyer in Brisbane thanks Ben ............ Thumbs Up

[@susanpiele3372]

I'm watching your scrapping marathons again I get to watch you scrap things and I get to watch your chickens doesn't get any better than that

[@leordzcabalan9252]

i remember before 1 of your video, u throw away the top of gold corner bga's and call it rubbish 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@RoeMantic]

Here we go a depop video. Nice man!

[@THeiss-O-I-C-U-8-1-2-B-4]

@@scrapwomblecreatives6944 I cry when I see him selling the boards without depopulating them like the TITLE said...but still he is very worthy of watching and the Aussie accent always tickles me.

[@willielittle8144]

I like when you take time to show how you take things apart

[@JohnnySwedishScrapper]

Thanks Ben for visit my live it realy made my day you where there short, but still you come and said hello, i can tell ppl reacted at my react, im honored great stuff great video

[@kevinbromage]

Hi from the UK a very good vid. Looking forward to all of your video that are still to come.

[@barrywest3758]

Ben this is an awesome informative/educational video on board depopulation. I really enjoyed 👍👍. Thanks for the entertainment. Cheers

[@susanpiele3372]

Your new camera is working fabulously no problems on my end hope you can hit the streets soon and pick up all those PCS that are out there waiting for you, I hope your chickens are doing well

[@steelisthemeal]

Ya in the top tier of scrappers Pro level 😁👍

[@damian8mac8]

Great video! Thanks for the knowledge.

[@fuzzybobbles]

Noticed with the new camera anything you hold above the bench in your hands is slightly out of focus.

[@voltdivin]

Great video Ben!

[@josephcormier5974]

Lovely video always like to see what every thing is thank you

[@deniskoprivnjak4436]

Hello from CROATIA

[@Chewy_GarageBandDad]

So to be clear, in no way do we want to depopulate,recover or attempt to refine rubbish? I’m just messing with you Ben. So have you ever thought about being a mentor? It’s taken me nine months, but I finally produced a 5.5 g button this week. I’ve learned a lot from you Ben.

[@tawnihaynie1065]

Good day Ben and Chook. This is a great video, no matter what site your on. I only use Utube. I'm staying busy depopulatimg casino gaming boards. Please Ben, stay safe and healthy and take care of yourself and your family members same goes to members. Ttyl my friend ☺☺☺😇😇😇🙋

[@michaelpannett6210]

Thank you for the video,very helpful. i like you system, You buy boards off people then take what you can off them but leaving enough to sell and getting your money back and probably profit meaning your basically getting them parts you took off for free.

[@sheldonlatimer6688]

Great video , so informative

[@gizmodious]

Hey Ben the gold corner @ 34:58 is a copper top. Or what u call the 2nd lower tier of gold corner. Scrape inside the black circle with a screw driver and you'll see copper. Great video! 👍

[@Reasonist]

Ben, go get yourself one of those thin flat metal tools they use to open smartphones. A little tappy tap with a hammer on one of those and those ocillators come off clean way more often that what that large flathead screwdriver is doing for you. Cheers mate, another fine video 🤘🏼👌🏼

[@tasoagelopoulos7407]

The amount of boards you get... hire someone to refine and recover all precious metals.. you will make a ton more money!!! Cheers. Enjoy watching your vids while I'm scrapping!

[@mdeshkov2207]

Please, explain more about this blue palladium capacitors

[@Horns-knowledge]

Always good and helpful......................thanks

[@fuzzybobbles]

I use a hot air gun or hot sand bath for removing chips. Takes a bit longer, but hard to see if the chip was removed or not fitted during manufacture.

[@SilverScorpion]

Great video

[@RoeMantic]

Wish my scrap yard would give me copper back lol!

[@nikkolaus]

I think the in-built microphone sounds just fine..

[@riverboat28]

Yup, sounds just as good as his other setup

[@pedrotosato]

Put the video at 1440p60fps if you can. Great vid, very informative.

[@bevsman3284]

Very nice copper bottle Ben. All my scrap yard gives me is low prices.

[@bradcrank274]

I'm getting the gold recovery bug ,lol cheers man very nice

[@raydeforge9010]

Ben I use wood chisel to remove chips. Works gresy

[@CezarPopescu]

congrats for your new gopro (sound's fine btw)!

[@franklinneely3006]

You know in south Mississippi they give you one price for all the computer boards no matter what is on them

[@RafalScrapper]

How you can leave gold edge crystal on first board??? lol basically that line at one side of tanties it is the positive sight of capacitors and it is important with the way it is mounted in the circuit inductors no need to have any marks cause it is no difference which way you mount them in circuit same as resistors nice vid 👍😀👍

[@Slavicplayer251]

i saw a new method for ic chip gold recovery using a impact or hammer mill to turn them into power then the powder can be gold paned or put in a concentrater like a sluice goose goldrop or wave table ect.

[@riverboat28]

You ever see that commercial for blendtec blenders. I was thinking the same thing. That thing would reduce whole boards to powder.

[@lahorigoldsmith8570]

nice and informtive helpd a lot

[@michaelbrumfitt]

👍nice to be given the gifts,when you fully depopulate a board it becomes a no grade🙂👍

[@jetman1963]

Ben, have you tried a sharp wood chisel for getting those tight gold band crystal oscillators in one go? I like this type content. Cheers

[@keytefirerefining1355]

That's how I do it. Often use pliers too nice and quick

[@gabrielmaligeorges6996]

Nice video Ben. See u soon!

[@sharkscrapper]

I found copper drinking vessels were the perfect container for a Moscow Mule 🤣

[@bigredbullion3883]

Very awsome

[@tassoss13]

I love the greek yogurt bucket in background of every episode

[@patrick8198]

You can use a micro torch, run a little heat around those chips…… They will slide right off .

[@shaneyork300]

Just so you know for future reference... Arkansas is pronounced Arc - Can- Saw. Don't ask me why, because I don't know! I always thought it was weird. Thank you for a great depopulating video!! Have a Great Day My Friend!!!

[@patrickvogt8560]

Nice boards But lot of work but i make the same and its lot of Fun too stockpile the Parts i love this work 😁

[@greekgods3399]

love it

[@edduarte2063]

Great information would like to know some of the prices on some of these things

[@janepeacock-baillie3380]

Hahaha😂 im still waiting for Ben to sell me all his great collection lmao.. 😮

[@expressionoffreedom7165]

I'd be more interested to understand the unit price of everything. What's a price per chip value for scrap vs entire boards? Why wouldn't it be better to just shred the entire boards? I'm more interested in the why than the how.

[@ashtonwithers624]

Those telegrom boards with all the really good metals on it you should take quite a bit of because there is a lot

[@zeantonio-seuze4272]

Hi I'm from Brazil and I found your videos fantastic, I don't know the English language, but I use google to translate comments. I'm learning a lot from you. Is there a manual or book that teaches the components of silver, gold and palladium? thanks

[@SeethETruth-dc4bq]

Future reference.... Arkansas is actually pronounced (sounds like) Ark-an-saw.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

You mean it's not the AR version of Kansas?!😱😉

[@wefukthenwo]

The ends of SMD capacitors are silver. Worth saving.

[@georgezesner4]

I would love to see an update on your stockpile of stuff you keep.

[@scrapwomblecreatives6944]

lol why you off to get it lol have you not noticed he gets lots of amy grade gear Bens got his wits about him mate his a prepper lol do you really think he stores stuff in his garden , its a long standing joke he as with his followers

[@georgezesner4]

@@scrapwomblecreatives6944 why would i go halfway around the world to take stuff from him?

[@kartoffelplayz661]

That’s alot of boards!

[@platinumskies7968]

I would have depopulated the whole 1st board tons of chips

[@solidrock6524]

The fingers in the female wifi ports???? Is it not worth getting into them . How do I find out if it's bronze

[@solidrock6524]

So should I keep them separate from other pins ive taken out of plugs that I know are gold plated

[@solidrock6524]

I wish I could just show them to one of yall. The actual wire is longer than the usual ones that you pull out of those kind of telephone ports. The wire is gold all the way down once you pull them out there probably about an inch and a quarter long and the entire thing it's covered in gold. I saw something on a forum about a guy that had a bunch of of them and I guess he processed them and didn't get anything back

[@matthewpoirier1931]

Hi Ben, try using a set of wood chisels. It works wonders to depopulate boards. Its by watching your videos that i got into ewaste recycling whenever I see scrap. Here in Ottawa, Canada they dont recycle ewaste, but we can send our high grade scraps to kitco and they will refine it.

[@scrappydoo7887]

Those pulse chips are a pain, i have been caught out by them when pulling home hubs apart

[@paleogeology9554]

Im an engineer and armature physicist so I know hardly anything about this business however in engineering my goal is always to create a repeatable easy process for making just about anything so if we look at that in reverse wouldn't it be easier to simply grind up those entire boards and then micronize everything, most of the junk could be easily removed by adding water using a displacement process, heavier elements such as lead, gold ect.. would settle to the bottom which is collected and then put into a crucible and melted down so you can then simply separate the metals without all the fiddling with spending a lot of man power taking stuff apart? Just a thought I had when I saw your process

[@davegdm954]

Wow I wish my scrap yard gave me gifts. The one I used to go to ripped me off for copper

[@tacllemtacllem7679]

her in New york USA we only have one type of board. I wish we had levels.

[@davegdm954]

Ok I need a little help here. for telecom grade stuff is it worth depopulating boards from a buisness standpoint EG selling the boards whole or sellling the components as gold recovery. Time isnt an issue

[@eWasteBen]

Probably doing what I do and step the boards down from telecom to server grade or even just a high grade and taking more, really depends on your board buyer

[@davegdm954]

OK thanks for the help. Ive been trying to decide sience I am anticipating getting my first real telecom stuff soon

[@mrgreenswelding2853]

Try using a wood chisel on the bag chips

[@mareecathie2476]

One thing I have wondered that I have not seen, or forgive me if I've missed you talking about, is those small resin dipped MLCCs. Did you ever say how to identify them?

[@tyleranderson-]

I am still looking for a board buyer in ontario canada. would love to have one instead of having to fully depopulate every board I get.

[@Reasonist]

I’m waiting for that day here in BC, the local govt has the recycle program running so tight here people don’t get any money for turning in e-waste. I have a local yard that will take everything you can recycle from a computer except the board itself. I do believe it is coming though, the amount of ewaste being recycled right now is obscene. If your going to stockpile boards for copper, laptop are the high grade along with server then desktop and peripheral boards. Don’t stockpile low grade power boards found in tv remotes or brown back. Clean off everything after your cherry-pick pass, as the board will be worth more clean of all large components. All your small surface mount components will have silver in the solder so keeping them is actually upgrading the board a bit. But cleaning off all large components will making stacking way more space friendly. This is all advice i I got when I deep dived the subject with a friend who works at the local scrapyard. They see it coming too, regulation is just favoring the recycling companies that have cornered the market ahead of the rest of the curve. Happy hunting!

[@DumpsterDivingMoe]

New to your channel 🤗

[@Wortnik]

Tin would never be used in high grade electronics or in anythng of higher purity than solder. When pure it can form crystal strands taht can short out other components and as you mentioned it is not as conductive, this jsut isn't suitable in tech taht has to have low failure rates. Most likely silver/gold alloy or platinum especially considering the grade of board. Love the vids and really appreciate teh klnowledge!

[@americasfavoritehoarder]

FYI. I've given up on depopulating. Sorry Ben, I've got loads to dispose of and to be honest I'm strongly Alaska. So everything's gotta go.

[@Reasonist]

Strongly Alaska?

[@troybourne8254]

Considering i know very little on the subject, gold is averaging around $80 a gram and up. Would it be better value extracting than selling the boards?

[@michaelkeith8992]

Have you ever considered using a small wood chisel instead of a screwdriver for removing small stuff?

[@philipmoore5554]

How do you find the right person to refine the gold fingers, if I were to get enough at some point?

[@michaelreneblouin2360]

Hey Ben I have been following you for s while . I am wondering what else on boards I can get of for gold I know pins and mlcc's. I been taking off all the chips and not really sorting them. What's the difference between vegas and hips that aren't worth anything. I been even taking off the aluminium and the chips that are screwed to them ? What are they? Anyways I hope u send me a message .thx you

[@jonglewongle3438]

I thought that the boards were processed immediately after the tear downs of the devices, even if the teardowns were on camera and the board processing was off-camera. It doesn't matter. I just thought. Maybe it is a bit of both. Come to think of it I have seen the occasional stack of un-processed boards being shown in the past.

[@EeekItsSnek]

So when you say you're selling them as "mid grade, telecom grade, etc" is that based on what a recycling plant will give you for it? Or what you would have paid for it based on when you purchased it? I used to scrap large metals for a living but have recently delved into electronics as I hate how much e-waste takes dead space in landfills especially considering the usable precious metal content. Your videos help a lot for me as a noob in the valuing of components, but this video you emphasize taking only some of the components instead of just air chiseling them all off. Is the recycling plant/company paying more for whole boards than you can get for some of the parts if you do them together? Or is that due to the weight difference giving you extra on some of the boards? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Love your videos BTW. Sorry for the essay, just seeking clarification lol don't wanna do extra work if I don't need to.

[@eWasteBen]

my buyers grading

[@MrSwosh89]

hmmm...have you ever considered a chisel instead of a screwdriver? It could speed up the depopulating as the front cutting edge could make short work of removing chips, the frontal edge is much finer that the one of a screwdriver and it should be able to slide under the chip far easily. You would be required to periodically sharpen it but it is like a 5 minute thing and in your case it can be done without worrying about the same details one would have to when sharpening it for precise wood carving.

[@southaussiegarbo2054]

Where do you take boards for recycling and do they pay you

[@davidlee1719]

The DALLAS chip is a clock chip with internal battery. Must be removed because they are battery packs.

[@Firejoker54]

What's the purpose of the gold flashing when it's over the actual board?

[@10171981]

Brings back MANY memories from your videos YEARS ago !!!

[@Rob337_aka_CancelProof]

That video card you called too good if it's still functional could get you a hundred times more money on eBay as a functional working video card if it's not obsolete because older computers are hard to find parts for and I've seen seven or eight-year-old Ram selling for as much as brand new Ram simply because there's still demand and precious little Supply to meet it (just saying) and I just watched the video yesterday where 2 RAM sticks that would have had pennies worth is gold managed to bring in $102 after listing it on eBay

[@enestaskn7472]

Hi from Turkey

[@user-xj9xs9nx6k]

Mempertahankan

[@SolidNate99]

I wonder why they thought of the word "depopulate" instead of just like "breaking down" or something.

[@kevinroberts781]

What is the value of telecom boards? I work for a place that gives me lots of bad telecom boards but I'm not sure if I should depopulate it or sell them on eBay as is.

[@eWasteBen]

it depends on the board itself, not all boards that come out of telecom equipment are telecom grade

[@sjagain]

Time is money. How much time does this actually take to make it worth your time?

[@ericwazner6521]

👍

[@DiggNitty]

Where do you find all these boards?

[@mervi1312]

Man when depopulate ball solder chips use Heat Blow fan or torch it will fall away by self without cracking and parts who fly around

[@MarkStoneLimited]

1:32 good board

[@mrrobertwolfiii1079]

Great work help us out as well please thanks.

[@franklinneely3006]

Good lord brother lol you got your work cut out for you lmao

[@chethanchethan4110]

which device board this is

[@pyredynasty]

Yeah I'm not a fan of the on board microphone. There's a sharpness to it that my ears don't like.

[@danielh5496]

Have you done any gold recovery, or just stack the raw materials?

[@eWasteBen]

I stack it all for later

[@kalfaxplays7899]

you should invest into a 4k camera so we can see the small details better. :D

[@KNFIX-CUCHI]

👍👍👍👍😘😘😘

[@user-re1wl7qg9o]

How much do you pay for a board's?

[@solidrock6524]

Aren't the contacts inside those ports gold? I read somewhere that some of them are some kind of bronze. Ive got a bunch of the ports that would be on the computer end of the wifi. I can get those fingers out in hurry. They are relatively long once you open them up the " gold" goes all the way down to the tiny board thats in there.... I want to stop wasting my time if that is infact what I'm doing. The first board... the female wifi port!!!!!are those fingers in there gold??????