Confessions of a Dumpster Diver

[Silvertigo]

Well today its raining and cold and no work.

That usually finds me tucked away playing around with the hardware I find at my local rubbish depot.

I have been conducting this sordid activity for around 18 months now, and man, has it been good for me and

others who have been in need of an upgrade.

Let me explain my modus operandi, its sneaky stuff, produces a little free adrenalin, and it has turned into one

of the strangest `hobbies` that I have ever had - although a little nefarious.

Here in Australia, at least the area where I live, E-waste (any electrical waste) must be disposed of under the

guidlines of the Environmental Protection Agency. Basically it can`t be used as land fill as of the heavy metals

and other nasty stuff it contains, so it is all collected, stripped, shredded / crushed and then I`m not sure what

goes on after that.

So yeah, I head down to my local rubbish depot, park my ute strategically between the office and the E-waste

pile, toss out some crap (earlier gutted PC case with probably only a PSU and old IDE HDD left in it) and quick

as a flash toss in a couple of `fresh` PC cases, always black ones, the older white generic cases never contain

much of interest usually being Windows 2000 or earlier.

Why not ask the office guy if I can have the trashed PC`s ? Hey, I`ve tried, believe me. I keep getting told

I would only electrucute myself playing with that `junk` or its illegal to have it...pffff


Apart from the Evga PSU all this stuff below came from the rubbish pile

I`ve pulled some great hardware at times including Core Quad cpu`s, a GTX-260 SC, lots of higher end

Core 2 duos, interesting Mobo`s with great OC abilities, network cards, monitors, some nice cases, fans, good

condition 7200rpm HDD`s, spare dvi and vga cables, usb modems, DDR2and DDR3 Ram.

An interesting Foxconn mobo below with a plethora of OC options in Bios from around 2007 - might have a lot of fun with this one today if I can find a better HSU for it

So what the hell do I do with all this `junk` ?

Apart from a great learning experience for me (and can OC stuff without worrying about damaging anything)

2 kids in my neighbour now have reasonably spec`d Windows 7 desktop machines that their parents would

never have been able to afford, and other family members and friends have some nice little upgrades done to

their desktops, such as cpu and ram upgrades for free.

But best of all my system specs on the left....thats about $1800 including 1080p monitor and modem was

60% funded from selling mobo and cpu / gpu combo`s on ebay. Simply mixed and matched parts, tested

them and bam....anywhere between $50-80...all happy customers...call it recycling with benefits


The cpu`s below on the two dark blue lids are super ancient - started collecting them for fun

I must admit, at least 70% of the PC`s I drag home end up back on the rubbish pile, the hardware is to old

to be of use, but its a small thrill to open a case and see a nice but old school GPU or some decent spec`d

Ram to put towards the current machine I`m playing around with.

Oddly enough 90% of the PC`s I grab still work. Just a matter of clearing the CMOS or swap out the

PSU or GPU, then a fresh install of Win7 and then I start adding better components that |I have lying around.

It`s a lot of fun, and nobody gets hurt.

 

[gaximodo]

Good stuff, good work, I may give it a try myself too.

Aussies are too 'prudent' and 'lazy' over unnecessary precautions as the population is spoiled with too much care.

 

[Frick]

A technical note: if it's illegal, should wröe discuss it here?

Anyway I want to do this so bad, but there's always employees milling around. Some stuff looks pretty fresh.

EDIT: Some companies/instances are pretty dumb. At the local uneployment office they had i5 2400 based HP machines as guest computers. The computers locked down to only work on certain homepages and nothing else. Later they were upgraded to high end AIO's. Many companies donate their old stuff to other places though, or sell it to companies refurbishing them. But many of them scrap the old machines, even if the machines are just three years old and even if they don't have any security reasons to scrap them. It's ... shameful.

 

[Ebo]

Where I live in Europe, we also recycle all our electrical stuff to stop harming the enviroment.

Ive live just about 2 miles from a collection station, and also see how many computerparts is just been thrown away which is a shame. At our station they have a small shop where people can buy working recycled stuff for a very cheap money.
They just couldnt do anything with their computer parts since the employees simply didnt have the knowledge to do so.

I asked them out there, that I would use my time for free to help finding parts and make some of the stuff work, as long as they could sell the machines for a very cheap price and also help our kindergardens, and daycare to get working machines for free.

Its quite fullfilling. I come out there once a week or if they call me, and spend a day searching tru stuff and make it work and give it away to someone that really needs it. Most of the time its midend machines, but they are perfect to use just for the internet.
I have a former employee that know his way around how to fix motherboards and laptops, so ive been trying to get him involved also and I hope he will come around and help out too.

 

[RejZoR]

Assemble systems and give them away for a good cause, to charity organizations or to children where parents can't afford them.

 

[gaximodo]

Assemble systems and give them away for a good cause, to charity organizations or to children where parents can't afford them.

I don't see why only charity is good cause. What OP is doing improves efficiency of the said local rubbish depot, reducing waste etc. and I think he should be rewarded.

 

[ISI300]

I'd like the fact that you made PCs for those kids... That justifies it in my book.
And I was expecting pictures of seriously damped up and dirty like you've lifted those out of sewers, but the look surprisingly clean.

 

[RejZoR]

It's not like he's going to make a fortune of ancient Pentium 4's... Maybe selling them at basic price like 10-20 bucks...

 

[Caring1]

Aussies are too 'prudent' and 'lazy' over unnecessary precautions as the population is spoiled with too much care.

I think you mean intelligent, at least most are.
Most tips have recycle centres where goods are sold and people are employed, by stealing goods you are depriving them of profits needed to keep these people in jobs.
It is also illegal to remove rubbish from refuse centres.

 

[Silvertigo]

No e-waste is sold / refurbished due to possible litigation if someone electrocutes themselves etc.

In fact, the last 3 companies that have trucked the e-waste to Sydney have gone out of business, the government

subsidy (EPA) is not enough to cover costs.

Other stuff is recycled on though ie chairs tables golf clubs etc

Caring1, please do some research before commenting, I take offence at be called a thief in sly way.

Technically it probably is illegal, but as I see it I`m not hurting anyone or anything and if I`ve

made a few kids happy out of trash I`ll be doing it again.

 

[Caring1]

Caring1, please do some research before commenting, I take offence at be called a thief in sly way.

It seems it is you who already knows what they are doing is wrong, slyly tossing stuff into your vehicle when no one is watching, isn't that what opportunist thieves do!
The refuse recycling centres I have been to do sell untested electrical goods, perhaps the one you frequent doesn't due to the lower IQ of patrons.

 

[Silvertigo]

recycling centres I have been to do sell untested electrical goods

As they have to be tested and tagged by an electrician ( yes I have asked) its not worth the return or time apparently.

And seriously, calling me a thief and of low intelligence is not helpful to have an interesting discussion on the wrongs and rights

of this topic.

1) No body loses profit wise - this stuff is destroyed at a cost to our government
2) I`ve recycled some hardware - though not enough to make a difference
3) some kids have now got computers they might never had
4) call it stealing, call it what you want, it hurts no-body

 

[Ebo]

Where I live, we take recycling seriously.

Every household have 5 dumpsters:

1 for paper
1for metal
1 for glass
1 for plastic
1 for organic( foodvaste, coffeefilters etc.)

All elektronic vaste you have to deliver at the recycle station including computerparts, batteries, tv's etc. This is the law, so everyone has to follow the line.

1 example is, trow in a battery for a handlight into a dumpster market for glass, and you will get quite a huge fine, of aprox. 100 US dollars pr. battery. If you dont pay your fine, in time the local mayors office will either setup your taxes or take the money from your salary until the fine is paid.

Here we have retail compagnies that sell refurbished IT machines for other industries which I think is great , because you get just about 80% of the preformance of the latest for 50% of the price. That means a lot if youre in the market for 4-500 pc's for your new factory.

Our goverment has a huge goal, that 80% of all waste will be recycled in year 2025, that means industries, households, small businesses etc.

The jobs lost in the industry/retail will be created in the recycling industry for us all to benefit from. Our farmers can use some of their waste from the animals to either fertilizing or sell it to produce biogas for heating up houses, for me thats a win-win situation for all.

 

[silentbogo]

Greetings, fellow dumpster divers!

I've been collecting and repairing some old and not-so-old laptops, office equipment and LCD monitors for the past couple of years (mostly for fun and beer money).

There are no recycling centers where I'm from, so the only way to get free parts is to do lots of leg work, ask friends and friends-of-friends if they have any broken electronics in the garage etc.

My pile of shit hardware is considerably smaller now, than it was a week ago, but on the first picture you can still see a perfectly functional LG R500 laptop I initially bought for parts($30). After some tinkering with motherboard, cooling, and a successful transplantation of G84 chip from one video card to another I got a bad-ass office lappy with GeForce 8600M GT on board, TPM module, fingerprint reader an excellent 1680x1050 display!

... and did I also mention that you can play Portal on it?...

My "hi-end" desktop is mostly made of used components, including a bad-ass Logitech G5 mouse (picked it up with weights and cartridge in exchange for a box of chocolate candy). The mouse was broken and in bad shape internally. Some cleaning with isopropyl, USB cable replacement and few tactile switch replacements made it look and feel like new (except some wear on LMB)!

It seems it is you who already knows what they are doing is wrong, slyly tossing stuff into your vehicle when no one is watching, isn't that what opportunist thieves do!
The refuse recycling centres I have been to do sell untested electrical goods, perhaps the one you frequent doesn't due to the lower IQ of patrons.

My brainzz hurtzz... Gimme some Ibuprofen, plz...

 

[micropage7]

wow nice stuff, interesting since you just guess whats inside like roll the dice

maybe you could build a windows 2000 pc era and running old school apps

 

[LightningJR]

The cpu`s below on the two dark blue lids are super ancient

Would you say it's super socket 7 ancient? lol


You're doing a great thing here OP despite what others may think or say.

 

[erocker]

It seems it is you who already knows what they are doing is wrong, slyly tossing stuff into your vehicle when no one is watching, isn't that what opportunist thieves do!
The refuse recycling centres I have been to do sell untested electrical goods, perhaps the one you frequent doesn't due to the lower IQ of patrons.

Get off your high horse please. Thanks.

 

[Static~Charge]

It's a shame to throw away hardware that's still useful. And if it's considered to be rubbish, then it isn't theft to take it, IMO. I applaud Silvertigo for reusing the equipment instead of letting it go to recycle. If more people did this, there would be a lot less e-waste to deal with.

 

[blobster21]

after seeing those pictures, i'm must say i'm jalous ! I subscribe to the thrill of opening an unknown PC case and grab the valuable parts for further use (ie. build upgrade)

 

[natr0n]

I also got a collection of pc finds.

 

[Agility]

You, sir, is a living example of people who deeply appreciates hardware components, saves the environment and share it with people who need them. Your hobby generates LOL (lots of love) from people around you.

I wish to give you a hug.

 

[Frick]

Nostalgic anecdote time!

Spoiler

When I was about fifteen, I took a year off before going to high school. I visited a friend from the old school in "the city" (which meant it had about 10k people in it), we played Starcraft most of the time as I recall. We also visited a guy who attended that high school as well. Now this guy had a two room apartment with a nice kitchen. The latter was filled with dirt dishes, and in a cupboard he had some bread in a plastic bag. The bread was moldy, as it's want to be, so this guy sprayed some water on it, stuffed it in the bag and threw it at the back on the cupboard "to see what would happen". He was that sort of guy.

The living room was stacked with computer components, it looked like my room but ... more So much more. In the corner stood a Chieftec tower (Chieftec in europe, other names in other places, iconic case any way) blasting some what I then thought was exciting metal. You know early 2K random crap metal. Pure crap. Anyway, these stacks were actually stacks. I remember one stack of motherboards was about as tall as me (a bit less than 6 feet at the time). My friend needed a fan, he was given one that had clipped of the finger tip of the guy with what I now know was HIM symbols on his trousers (yes). Then some friends to this dude arrived, it was saturday night and time for some fun. Which meant they fired up some computers and set up a cluster in Linux. Why? Because. Then the sent lots and lots of voltage across electronic components just for fun.

Then we went in a car, I don't remember what car it was (I have a vague memory of brown), and took of to the local recycling center, climbed over a fence and started digging through dumpsters. Some watchers came, we hid. At this point it might be worth knowing I was raised on a farm deep in the woods far away from anything and had never done ... anything. I was (is) shy, I was often considered weird, I just didn't (don't) know what to do around people. A follower even if my intellect is technically very high. And there I was, hiding from guardsmen (not the cops obviously, but in my head it was very serious). They went away, we climbed over the fence and went home to the guy - who was currently dragging quite a few yards of CAT5 cable - down a very steep hill in the dark.

And such is my only experience in dumpster diving. At home we just burned everything. Tires makes good fire once they burn.

@Ebo Same here in Sweden about recycling, generally speaking. Good idea about going there and asking them about doing some work there! Unfortunatly there is a sort of "recycling center" which is owned by the city, but they have nothing to do with the actual recycling centre. It's more like goodwill, and you used to get all kinds of things there, but the interesting things are getting few and far between. I seriously considered purchasing a rack-worth of DEC hubs and old, old switches at one point, but didn't. They used to have decent Core 2 based systems but they asked too much for them IMO.

 

[Toothless]

Can I move in with you and join you on these adventures? Think of all of the ancient WCG rigs we can make!

 

[tabascosauz]

-snip-

Hey, you should put those CPUs in a nice box, lined with a towel as I do. You can show 'em to people "look at my CPU collection!"

Seriously, I thought I was the only one breathing new life into LGA775 motherboards and CPUs Kudos to you man, I never recycle electronics parts either because many recycling centers are irresponsible and will send my parts off to some poverty-stricken city in my motherland to poison the kids who disassemble them (old computers), or because I have space to safely store them without their batteries (phones). The old computers are split between my friends to tinker around with, and the office as spare, perfectly usable and refurbished towers. The most powerful one armed with the Q8200 made the cut as my home server.

Goddamnit I never had the opportunity to look for old CPUs to supplement my collection; all the dumpsters here are filled with decaying meat products whose stench can be detected for miles, and that's why my CPU collection is only 14 strong

 

[Frag_Maniac]

You aren't a relative of junkbear by any chance are you? I could have sworn this was going to be one of his threads.