Scavenging Tips

[megamodman]

Hi everyone,

i was wondering what the best things are to pickup to scavenge eletronical parts from.like if you see a busted old microwave on the side of the road should you pick it up or is it not worth it.

or is it now worth picking anything up because you cant realy use it for mods?

thanks in advance
mega,

[slaveofconvention]

Sheet steel can be useful - microwaves often have pretty cool looking pressed vents in them which can look good when used well. I just "acquired" an old drilled steel desk for nothing - got me enough mesh for a dozen mods... the only real limit is your imagination - it isn't what's there, it's what you can do with it :p

[Bopher]

Sometimes I pick stuff up if I catch myself going, "I could put a computer in there and it would look good sitting in ______ some room of my house." I like to do a lot of stealthing mods. I think that's right. You know something where you look at it and say wow that's a nice whatever and there whoa wait there's a computer in there.

[Funk]

You can find lots of good stuff like that. (power supplies, leds, buttons, fans etc..)

[x88x]

It really depends on what electronic parts you're looking for. One thing to watch out for with scavenging electronic parts is that often times the parts you want are already dead (thus why it's in the trash). Also, watch out for capacitors that still have a charge. Anything with large capacitors on the board, get a very well insulated screwdriver or something, and use it to short across the posts of the capacitors before you start messing with them.

the only real limit is your imagination - it isn't what's there, it's what you can do with it :p

I propose another limiting factor: storage space. I've got, like, no storage space at all atm.

[chaksq]

Scavenging is the best part of modding.

I recommend you grab just what you want, or if you don't have time or tools grab the whole thing and strip it later when you have time. But it's a good idea to get rif of what you dont want sooner than later, stuff has a way of piling up, and there are always more things to be scavanaged. You want to be a scavenger not a hoarder.