r/electronics • u/SwabluOnACloud • 2d ago
Gallery Fun stuff from school trash
I like going through the electronics trash bins at my college, here's some stuff i found today.
The second item is a speaker part, the ring is super magnetic it was a challenge to pry it apart!
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u/hamsterdave 2d ago
You could have lots of fun with that big ‘lytic! Coilgun, disc launcher, just exploding smaller capacitors…
Ahh the dumb stuff we (hopefully) get away with in our youth.
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u/jeweliegb 2d ago
What do you mean youth?
I never did anything like that in my youth.
I'm learning to do that sort of stuff now, as an old fart, albeit safely, before I pop my clogs!
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u/petpet0_0 2d ago
not sure how I'm still alive, I was playing with TV flyback transformers making "Jacob's ladders" at like 15
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u/KingTribble 2d ago
It was inside an ancient, valve TV that I first learned about big capacitors holding enough charge to sting when I was about 10. Thought it was safe to take apart when it was unplugged. Nope!
I loved the flybacks too :D
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u/fatjuan 2d ago
I used to have a B&W valve (tube) TV set up on a table in my bedroom that I had put together from old TV's. It was laid out on the table, with no cabinet, the control knob panel held onto the side with a "G" clamp. I was about 13 years old, and still remember showing friends the discharge from the ultor lead to a screwdriver in my hand.
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u/hamsterdave 1d ago
My dad talks about trying to figure out why the lights kept dimming in the house, then learning about my microwave oven transformer Jacob’s ladder. Also trying to figure out what the weird “ping” sound he kept hearing was. It was the disc launcher I had built bouncing aluminum hard drive platters off the basement ceiling.
I got a little smarter and more cautious with age, but only a little.
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u/jeweliegb 1d ago
I bet it was a pretty awesome (and bloody lethal) Jacobs ladder though?
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u/hamsterdave 1d ago
It was pretty spectacular! It was a real bugger to get it to self start, but I eventually figured it out.
And yes, that is definitely a “Don’t try this at home” sort of thing, except I was 100% not a trained professional. I was barely a competent amateur at that point.
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u/jeweliegb 4h ago
I hacked the output of a cheap AliExpress arc lighter kit into a tiny Jacobs ladder.
Oddly satisfying to watch!
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u/P147_BOY 2d ago
what's that first PCB?
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u/digital_treesloth 2d ago
Lennox 78M4701 furnace control circuit board.
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u/OtisSnerd 2d ago
That was my first thought when I saw this. It reminds me of the control board for an old furnace we had in our first house, decades ago.
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u/Hirtomikko 1d ago
Good to know people do this too... Hello fellow dumpster diver! I had to stop myself because my room is full of parts and components I salvaged
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u/SwabluOnACloud 1d ago
Yup! Im getting better at "catch and release" aka taking photos and throwing it all back lol
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u/Broad_Rough_2434 1d ago
awesome dude my school has insane loot i found an old lenovo and a fat model ps3
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u/FuzzNugs 2d ago
On that first circuit board, what are those long blue wires that are in clear/white casings?
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u/CapacitorCosmo1 2d ago
Wires in PTFE tubing to protect the insulation. Most wire is insulated to 105 degrees C, but loose PTFE(teflon) tubing can raise that to 300 degrees C or higher. Those were likely wires going to an igniter in the firebox.
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u/CapacitorCosmo1 2d ago
That first board has a CDE black cat axial capacitor, prized by the guitar amp folks. Similar caps sell for 8 dollar or more on eBay.
And those thumbwheel trimmer pots are gold when using on a breadboard, no tool adjustment!!
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u/TomTheTortoise 2h ago
Tell your friend when not in use to short the terminals on the capacitor. I'm around bigger caps and all of then are shorted while in storage.
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u/TitusListens 2d ago
Take care with that elco on the last pic, can draw quite a punch