Scrap Laser Printers for Gold Recovery, High Grade Circuit Boards

Laser Printers are much better scrap value then inkjet's.
Usually have a high grade board and the bigger one's can be a bit like a PC with RAM & a Hard Drive.
It's important to send the toner cartridges to a proper recycler but before you do, look for gold plated tabs.

[@timvancourt7213]

@eWaste Ben........Stumbled across this one and saw the little gold boards on the actual ink cartridges... There have been a bunch sitting in a box on one of our tables in the lunch room at work (the free stuff table), so that light bulb popped in my head to go back and check them out. Sure enough, like 30 ink carts with little gold boards!! THANK YOU!

[@cheesynuts4291]

A good quality dental hook is nice and ridged, really helps peal out small bits like that gold chip. Works great cheery picking circuit boards also.

[@andrewcannon587]

i still have my very first printer, a canon laser printer, it weighs like a block of iron. I would keep using it if parallel port is still use today. It printed my very first resume that led me to my first job after graduation.

[@nottoblame8830]

Those shinny green rollers in the toner cartridges are the drums. They are made from aluminum ( aluminium for our British friends ) and there are some stainless steel rods covered in rubber. There is a magnetic roller that is unique also. It has I believe a stainless steel sleeve around it. I don't give away toner cartridges, I sell them. You can find a buyer on Google. There are some cartridges that are worth $15-20 dollars. They buy inkjets ( bubble jets ) Too. Some cartridges are old models that nobody buys, those I break down. The toner is resin based polymer, some has fine particles of steel in them. The magnetic roller makes them stand on end so that they act like a brush.( or whiskers ) for the toner to 'paint' the drum.It has to do with static charges that there is no need for explanation here. ( technical stuff not needed to break them down) I usually leave the waste toner with the plastic. If you are careful you don't need to scatter toner all over. If it gets in your clothes use COLD water to wash them out. Heat sets the resin. I would suggest rinsing in a sink first, as the toner is as fine as talcum powder.

[@vanbemme]

Great vid Ben

[@mindofmetal]

Nice to see a range of printers being torn down there Ben. You keep on coming up with scrapping tips I didnt know. And boy are you tapped into to some good electronic scrap! I envy you ..lol Nice going mate:-)

[@whiggy6976]

on the oki there are 4 toner carts and the one at the back is the fuser, it heats the toner and bonds it to the paper. very expensive to buy as a spare, never stripped one out yet

[@ArthursHD]

3:54 some of those can be reset for cheap. but brand new could cost a pretty penny - even 1.5 Eur. Brother usually has a plastic gear for the same purpose. Rather go digital and save 🌳🏞️🌎

[@nickhouck4309]

There is web sites that buy toner and ink cartridges , the original never recycled ones can have some value on certain types. Here in the us you can get credit at wallgreens and other office stores like staples and office max for toner and ink cartridges . Its usually like 2 dollar credit for up to 5 or 10 cartridges per month. It's usually part of like the membership benefits.

[@franckaleksander6435]

great video

[@libertadparasiempre809]

the OKI machine is very interesting !!!

[@piperdoug428]

Nice vid bud, i like to keep all the shafts and rollers from printers and scanners because they're tempered steel which is good for making tools or just drifts (punch bars). keep em coming.

[@eWasteBen]

+PIPER DOUG Me too, haven't got to inkjets or scanners but that's where the shafts come from, lasers don't have them, got a giant inkjet to do soon

[@nottoblame8830]

+PIPER DOUG On the old Canon copiers they had scan rails that were solid stainless steel. I was told they were "Japan Stainless Steel " which were harder than regular stainless steel. I tried to flatten one end of one for a pry bar and it wouldn't flatten with a sledge hammer. So I tried to grind it flat, ruined the grind stone. I don't think the steel rails in inkjets are as hard.

[@pacoblancosmith]

Well,now i feel rather stupid seeing the same question being asked (and answered) directly under mine in the comments here.....sorry about that! I do appreciate you answering my questions though as I take the next step in eWaste recycling. Hope to put up a few vids of my own soon showing combinations of other folks' methods for this and that as well as a few of my own tricks for teardowns and such.

[@pacoblancosmith]

Hey Ben, how does one know which IC chips and Flatpacks to process for gold? Other than the obvious Flatpacks with gold leaders, I mean. I'm still going reviewing your vids on MLCC's and such....trying to memorize how to distinguish them from each other! Great job again!

[@eWasteBen]

all of them, your not going to know gold content unless you process them

[@nickhouck4309]

Ben , can you please look at the wires that are stuck together like ribbon wire but regular wire . Like in tvs and DVDs. I am convinced they are silver wires . I keep comparing them to aluminum and they are shiny not dull like aluminum. I don't think they would be silver plated I think they could be solid silver. Like the grey flat wires that look like ribbon wire. Everyone I watch says they are garbage but I stripped some and its beautiful, I suppose it could be high grade aluminum or something that is not oxidized , dont know but if any body knows what they are exactly please tell.

[@karlgilvarry2400]

Hey Ben, love your videos mate when you scrap e-waste whereabouts do you take your plastic to? so they can recycle it please

[@eWasteBen]

My board buyer helps me out and takes it free

[@TheTorkerman]

Could you do a video of dismantling a tactile switch to show us what you get out of them?

[@eWasteBen]

This one here that might be helpful.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKardYiVp8ySp8k

[@TheTorkerman]

+eWaste Ben cheers mate 😃

[@shaneyork300]

👍

[@robertwood3009]

Ben you did not mention the actual laser writer. I used to leave them in the steel until one day I wondered what was in them. Don't send them as scrap steel anymore

[@eWasteBen]

+Robert Wood oh yeah the little board, I do take them out but there's not much to 'em, tiny bit of gold plating on the legs is all I see

[@bantalee2002]

good one.

[@user-of3nd6vp2s]

多谢分享

[@djsong722]

I M Motherboard Joe

[@djsong722]

Join Phone Number Send

[@matthewmickles1997]

are the gold corner chip removable or worth removing

[@eWasteBen]

They're BGA chips, by weight have the highest gold content of all ic chips so yeah, they are what define a high grade board in most cases so if you don't sell boards whole, these are the #1 item to remove for gold recovery

[@matthewmickles1997]

+eWaste Ben thank you for answering so quick. I have a few printers & scanners, & I'm going to take them apart tomorrow now I know what to do if I encounter one or two or more.

[@eWasteBen]

keep all the ic chips from boards, no matter whether they are bga's or regular ic's that have legs, they should all be considered to have gold content.

[@matthewmickles1997]

+eWaste Ben will do thanks for the information.

[@PinkPoo]

Why does your camera lens keep on belly dancing

[@CRSolarice]

...I wouldn't risk my reputation by throwing junk, plastic and rubbish into my scrap steel. It causes contamintation for the scrap yards, end user and its just not an honorable scrapper habit.