Salvaging PCBs?

TheDrewster

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I have several junk boards that are taking up valuable space, I would just like to rip the parts off and categorize them in a bin rather than have them sit in a big pile on my shelf. Whats the easiest and/or fastest way to salvage the parts off these boards?
 
Melt the solder with a heat gun and bang the board on the edge of the workbench. The parts just kinda fall out... though of course the board usually gets pretty badly burned (which I assume you don't care about).

DogP
 
Only if you WAY overheat them. You gotta keep the heat gun moving, but if you heat it somewhat evenly and bang the board on the workbench every few seconds, any chips that have hot enough solder joints will fall out... so they won't be exposed to heat too long.

DogP
 
I've done it with a propane torch. Heats up faster and there's less heat transferred to the chip. Do it in small sections (don't try to do the whole board at once). I suggest you do it outside. Burning PCB fumes can be nasty, and you'll get lead solder all over the place. I tap the board against a scrap piece of plywood, and then scrape the solder mess into the garbage afterward.
 
Take any PCB you're about to do this with and then:

a) write down the numbers from each chip on the board. count/sort

b) login to Digikey.com

c) search for each chip, make a list, get a price quote

d) decide if you want to play with a torch and hot solder for a bunch of used chips that will need their legs cleaned before reuse.

e) proceed as you see fit
 
I should point out that this is not something I typically do to an arcade board. No classic game boards have met the torch! :D
I sometimes buy scrap PCBs for cheap from a surplus electronics place I frequent if I spy some rare chips on them.
 
seems to me that the best way to salvage the pcbs would be to send the boards to people that know how to fix that type of pcb, instead of destroying them for spare parts that you probably wont use more than a few of.
 
You guys are missing the point... the OP said "junk boards", which I read as damaged beyond repair or not worth repairing. You don't waste your time with a desoldering station if you're just going to toss the PCB.
 
even when I am just recovering parts I find a de-soldering station much quicker for removing IC's and the like. Of course I am not just recovering Arcade boards most of the stuff I deal with is AVR micro controllers for building automation.

Arcades are just a fun way to decompress
 
Some boards I think are parts worthy though...like Taito Big Event golf, or others that you see for practically nothing that were crap games. The roms sometimes are worth the purchase price. I just keep my scraps in a box...makes it easy to find something. I am however planning to do a little ceramic cap mining since some of the 8080 boards I got have broken ceramics on them.
 
I've done it with a propane torch.

Yep, propane torch works well too... that's how I did it before I got a heat gun.

And yeah, I wouldn't destroy a Galaga board that's just missing a couple chips... this is for something like a pile of old crappy poker boards, or boards damaged beyond repair from corrosion, which were not desirable to begin with.

DogP
 
I quote the fact that it's easier (and faster) keeping the PCB's and desolder via heat gun (faster but can damage the components) or soldering station (much slower but better option if the chip is very valuable/rare) instead of removing and cathegorize all the chips/transistor/components
 
I had a few scrap PCBs laying around, so I thought I'd try my hand at removing the ICs via heat gun or torch.

Either I'm doing it wrong, or it's a huge pain in the ass. I tried both the heat gun method for a while, then pulled out a propane torch. I was trying to do it w/o actually catching the PCB on fire... It seemed to take forever for the heat gun to heat up an area enough to melt the solder. And even then, capacitors and resistors and shit fell out, but I only managed to knock one IC out. The torch just wanted to flame the PCB, so I stopped trying pretty quickly (was in the garage, not outdoors).

F all that. I'll buy new ICs any day.
 
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The torch just wanted to flame the PCB, so I stopped trying pretty quickly (was in the garage, not outdoors).

Don't do the torch method inside! You will scorch the PCB, and the fumes are nasty! You have to give the board a good whack once it's heated up, and you should be able to get several chips to fall out at once.
 
I kinda gotta go with Kerry on this one. Unless there's some really rare chip on there, just throw the thing in the trash and stop being a hoarder. I used to save stuff like that for years but hell even if you throw away 10 bucks worth of parts you'll end up buying later, it's less clutter and less shit you have to worry about and trip over.
 
i have a large collection of "bad" / not worth fixing boards, however, i keep them all in tack, i do remove a custom or bad eeprom when needed if my stock is out.

if i get a board that needs to be repaired, and is in worse shape then the one i have, i will swap out if the customer so wishes too.

in the end, my goal is to have a board is absolute disrepair/salvaged to the max.

logic chips don't get salvaged. mostly custom chips, or chips no longer made/have replacement.
 
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