Mrz125 asked:



The boards Boardsort refuse is a very short list

Banned items
Anything containing radioactive material (smoke detectors etc)
Anything containing Mercury (wetted relays, oxide tubes left on)
Anything treated with acids (gold or silver recovery)
Anything treated with a base (rare earth recovery)

(because I’m going to sticky this).
Bare plastic
Wood
Glass
Paper
(The sticky list more of practicality than reality. If you email Chris and let him know you intend to show up with 7 trailers worth of scrap and you happen to have 75000 lbs of pre-sorted bleached class B paper at 20lb weight and N texturing finish... he may be interested!

Aside from this list anything else will be purchased for something.
Even a bare brown board that was never finished will get /something/

Keep in mind if you ship 50lbs of steel cans they go as steel rate despite tin levels.
I’m positive Chris would be happy to pay for verifiable HCL, HML, TID, if you give him notice you’re bringing in more than 1/1000th of an ounce. But boardsort is an escrap company.

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?? HCL, HML, TID ??

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Representin otown, central FL

Types of extremely expensive stainless

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This site has a short list
blog.mchoneind dot com /blog/stainless-steel-grades-chart

It’s far from complete but gives you an idea of just what a range steel has.
In reality anything mixed with iron and carbon is steel so there’s many hundreds of common types.

You can find a more complete list at Wikipedia which is still only partial.

Metals are fun. ;)

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What are oxide tubes and anyone have a picture of them.

Short answer. A glass tube, with two tiny holes, containing mercury and a semi-reactive mineral that either deoxidises or oxidises when in direct contact with mercury.

oxide tube:
Mercury silver oxide. And other.
They look like a cross between a Godzilla sized mutant glass fuse and a large glass transistor.
I don’t know enough of pure analogue methodology to explain exactly what and why; they’re basically heat sensitive fuses or switches, depending on what the reactive metal is. In fuse use the mercury expands enough to trip (reach) a filament that corrodes quickly and when it bursts the circuit is broken. Shutting down the equipment. Like is used in old Victor Stage Lighting.

The switch sense is used in equipment with automated “flyup” transformers. For example Hammond B-series organs. When the “boost” transformer reaches a certain output temperature (heat loss) the mercury will rise into a secondary part of the tube cutting off a secondary closed State by raising the heavier but less dense mineral off the closed switch base. This allowing the circuit to connect. The premise being properly maintained capacitors will be charged enough for indirect power use. With Hammonds you can actually hear the switch when it engages by the tell-tail pop, then click. The pop being the mercury entering the secondary chamber and the click—the mechanical switch flipping. Most of this stuff has long since been retrofitted to use non-mercury components… but they are still out there.

I haven’t seen these on anything made in my lifetime. Mostly on old high end high voltage equipment. Theatre organs. Giant tube TVs. Really really old phonograph players. I’ve come across most in video production equipment.

And I have a Hammond B2 with 2 oxide tubes in it.
Some day I’ll get around to pulling it from its spot and fixing it. Dead for over a decade and the thing is the most Awkward low hundred pound devices I’ve had to move. Lol. It’s on a carpeted floor where it’s sat since 83.
I give you my word when I /do/ move it (probably this summer) I’ll snap photos to post.

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Fyi: I found out about mercury metal-oxide tubes by chance dealing with a large cleanup salvage at a small independent film production centre.
An FD hazmat officer told yelled at me to “not move that” because of the mercury oxide tubes. It stuck
I’m not entirely Sure that’s the correct name but I’ve heard it used since then by retro-technicians enough to know it’s common usage. Somewhere it stuck.

The up side is I’ve never seen one small enough to miss. They’re screw socketed just like glass transformers and lightbulbs. Usually at least 3 inches long. And have the undeniable liquid mercury in them. Often a LOT of it. Think of it as a hot dog shaped snow globe with a lightbulb adaptor at one end.

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This?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_relay

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Here to learn more so I can recycle more
My grades are my own opinion and not an official grade from Boardsort

And a dozen+ other related items. Yes
If you accept anything following this statement and drop dead you’re decedents are not allowed to sue me. If you read any further your accept the SCOTUS level of meeting of the minds.

Anyway
I happen to have a Hammond Organ with Mercury tubes.
Multiple 8 bit and sub-8-bit computers, and other electronics with Mercury relays. And I don’t want to know how much solder….!!!!

Let me play the I don’t care devils’ advocate here for a brief moment.
Is Mercury dangerous. Yes.
Deadly? Not to humans in normal oops moment amounts. Though it has its issues. And could definitely kill your pets or kids. if I was responsible for my baby (doggie-poo’s) death I’d probably jump off a bridge!


The biggest issue is the regulations for companies like Boardsort (and myself) to properly deal with Mercury legally.
If you acquired it after 1996 you are require by federal law to report ownership transfers of any Mercury containing device over a certain amount (I don’t know the exact quantity but it’s over one fluid ounce). Some states have lower thresholds.

Dealing with, and tracking, Mercury is a major concern for the EPA. As such nobody wants it.
Personally I go to the extreme in care to use a micro drill to remove any components with Mercury.
And I use an RFIR dual scanner to test solder on anything prior to the mid 80s. Better safe than sorry. For me AND BoardSort.

It’s just bad juju all around to mess with it.
I have a county collection on weekends that takes Mercury containing devices. They looked at me kind of strange the first few weeks I went but have come to just take my word on it after a decade of weekends.

Most Mercury devices fall into three types no matter what they actually do; tech wise.
The toaster boxes Chris warns of
Glass tubes (usually with a screw base but wire and pegs exist)
Solder.

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You said you weren't sure of the name so I went searching... Mercury Relays?

I happened to know a guy who bought property that was a big EPA mess before he got it. (Previous owner got a multi-million dollar fine) There "were" still old mercury thermostats on the property. So I've read up on mercury to an extent to avoid killing myself. :D

Anyways, been missing you in the "what is it" part of the forum, thought you had disappeared. Been trying to help people, not sure I'm getting it all right. D:

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Here to learn more so I can recycle more
My grades are my own opinion and not an official grade from Boardsort