What do you save/salvage?

[jessenator]

With my recent projects and the trial& error, experimentation, etc. I've been wondering about what to save and what to put in the ewaste bin. I don't want to waste if I can help it, but then the solder braid bits add up, too.

Mostly I've been trying to save as much as I can, leaving caps and resistors on the board. I've thought about DIP sockets, and while I have a vacuum pump station, is it worth it to go through the trucks?

Where does one draw the line? Expense/rarity? Complexity of extraction? Simply a desire to not waste?

I'm curious what you all do.

[EBK]

I tend to save the junk boards and pull parts off them as I need them for something else.  Resistors and silicon diodes are about the only parts I won't consider salvaging.

I haven't used a DIP socket in years.  I buy these pin header strips and cut them to size. 

Cheap and easy.  No need to reuse them, but they'd probably be easier to desolder than a DIP socket anyway.

I also use a simple spring-loaded solder sucker when salvaging.

Much easier than copper braid, and less chance of damaging parts.

[jessenator]

I tend to save the junk boards and pull parts off them as I need them for something else.  Resistors and silicon diodes are about the only parts I won't consider salvaging.

Good to know about your salvage preferences. So even electrolytic caps?

I hate cleaning this thing after each use, but I really should get it back—lent it to a friend. Excuses, excuses


I lack the coordination to use a hand pump (well, at least on logic boards), but I like being able to manually manipulate the board and have the heat and suction combined.

[alanp]

Expensive parts get saved, or parts that are a right nuisance to actually get in the first place (like the Alpha rotary switches I like that match 9mm pots) get saved. Now that I have a Hakko desoldering vacuum machine, it's an absolute breeze. The parts fall out on their own once that puppy's done.

I always socket chips, so they're dead easy to salvage.

I generally don't bother salvaging passive components, unless they're unobtanium in some way. If I was on a budget of 10c per week I might.

[jessenator]

I love my fx-951. I bought one of those KSGER T-12/15 clones once ...once. Found a good deal on the Hakko and haven't looked back.

[gordo]

I have the same desolder gear and it's a love/hate thing.  When it works it's amazing, when it gets fidgety it's a PITA.  Very fickle about cleaning.

I tend to toss everything into a f**kit bucket.  I socket chips so that's a no brainer but I figure everything else will come around at some point.  Most resistors are probably not worth saving but who knows on weird values.  I haven't really tossed/recycled most stuff to date but I'm moving at some point to smaller digs so will have to rethink that strategy.  The pricey stuff gets special attention, like LDR's, pot's, some weird value caps (I just dug up some >16v electros for the newest MB projects).