reusing old VCR componets??

[mojotele65]

I have a old Sony stereo VCR that the tape mechanism is shot ...and I was wondering if there are some good parts I should be looking for to recycle.  

ps..this is a great forum, I am currently working on making the beginner project. todate I have modded a couple of Boss pedals and built a volume box.

[petemoore]

Tv and expecially computer monitors are a bettere deal [in terms of time digging per part].
 I use the caps and pots not much else.
 Pots I can test caps I cant, gotta figure there's always a chance that something might be wrong with one of the componenets...after all somebody set it on the curb before trash day, but I've never notieced a ckt malfunction related to using used parts and I do much of it, probly been though like 5 monitors 2 TVs, 3 VCRs, and 5 stereos [them old onkyo's had lotsa nice pots and 100k duals !!].
 I guess you could safely say I'm into recycling.
 Only thing I can do [test] is visually inspect a cap. And compare it to others in ckts.

[casey]

i just did that myself.  i had an old jvc vcr.
you can rip some caps out of there....that's what i did.
i also found some useable wire and such.  some of it
was too small though.  sometimes they will have rubber feet
on them and a whole lot of screws.
good luck.

casey

[Arn C.]

Use just about any electronic device you can find for semiconductors      (resistors, transistors, capacitors, ic's)    You can use a lot of electronics from vcrs, tvs,etc...can even use some of the wire...
I stripped down an older floor model tv recently, got a ton of trimmers besides a lot of capacitors, etc... etc.....
Peace!
Arn C.

[Gringo]

Just did the same thing this weekend, arn

I got a ton of trimmers too (they are asking me to build a sili-face), and resistors, caps and even some good pots, not to mention the speakers, they look quite sturdy...make want to try building a small practice amp just to use them.

Also found some transistors, but i can't identify them by their markings...

i'm still at the hunt of old radios to get some germanium stuff, though  :twisted:

[Zero the hero]

I've always used recycled componenents, I found htem on VCRs, Monitors, old RAdios, computer and any other electronic device.
From them you can take resistors, semiconductors (diodes, trans and ICs), caps, trimpots, and much other stuff.
I only avoid useing recycled electrolytic caps, since the get old quickly.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

The most useful thing from OLD vcrs, is the plugs & sockets that go from one board to another. These are expensive items if you only want a few.

[Peter Snowberg]

Old VCRs can be a great source of assorted film caps. They use parts that are generally much higher quality than audio stuff.

[mojotele65]

Thanks for all the responses... Looks like I will spend Saturday afternoon practicing my desoldering.

[drew]

For years I worked with a lot of scavenged parts- pots get scratchy but don't fail, chips are usable but they're cheap from other places! After a short while I realized the best thing to do was to use the mechanical parts (pots, jacks, plugs, buttons, knobs) and occasionally LEDs, and wire up the rest of the circuit with new components... that way, when you have to troubleshoot, you know there's not actually a faulty component!

(Although I heard once that typically, 99.9% of circuits that don't fire up when you build 'em are due to human error.... bad solder joint, solder bridge, broken trace, flux mischief, etc. and that components rarely rarely go bad, unless you fry them with soldering for too long...)


drew
toothpastefordinner.com

[Paul Marossy]

I scored big on an old commercial type fax machine that the office I worked in was going to throw out because it was old and broken. I got  A LOT of caps and various other things out of it. A lot of useable wire, too. Most stuff isn't worth the trouble, like IC chips and resistors and stuff. Occasionally you can get pots, switches and stuff like that to recycle.

[Doug H]

I bought these surplus "cable security transceiver" chassi for $5/ea. They have an aluminum chassis perfect for a small tube amp. (I used one for my Firefly and am going to use the other one for my next amp.) They still had the PCB's inside and I found a gold mine of mica capacitors that I have gotten a lot of use out of. In addition there are a number of garden-variety NPN's, ceramic caps, trimmers, and etc as well. I wouldn't normally scrounge that hard for the NPN's and etc, but Mica caps can be pretty expensive. So this ended up being a great deal for $5.

Doug

[petemoore]

Any super old caps I don't mess with...guessing this is equally applicable to all [except carbon caps?]:
                    Caps can dry out and cause troubles
 Still taking comments and suggestions...are electrolytics[or any other type comparisons] more succeptible to drying out than others?

[Alex C]

I just gutted a computer monitor, and I got a ton of electrolytics, lots of 16v and 25v, and a few 400v (good for supply filter in tube amps).  The monitor was probably six or seven years old, so the caps should still be good, right?  I'm hoping so, because I probably got forty-fifty usuable caps.   In tube amps, it's not really an issue until they get to be about 20+ years old, right?  

I also got some trimpots and lots different diodes.  Overall, it was a good time.  I highly recommend it!

[Zero the hero]

Any super old caps I don't mess with...guessing this is equally applicable to all [except carbon caps?]:
                    Caps can dry out and cause troubles
 Still taking comments and suggestions...are electrolytics[or any other type comparisons] more succeptible to drying out than others?

Maybe here's the answer to your question: check this incredible site, a gold mine of info about capacitors http://my.execpc.com/~endlr/index.html Check aging section.
Usually elctrolytics dry out, but also ceramic caps are subjected to aging.

Baking the capacitors for several hours at 130-150C restores the capacitance to it´s original value (should you want to), and the ageing starts all over again

This applies to class 2 ceramic capacitors.

[Nasse]

I have somewhat mostly stayed out of taking parts from used gear (someone may say that old junk is still in "use" at my place; ) but that is just because Im so lazy. But was diggin my garage last week (I was looking for one lost schematic, still did not found it, I know I have the original and a photocopy somewhere) but instead found an old Japanese transistor radio corpse that I had archived years ago (bought it from roommate who needed money for beer).

12 pcs vintage big-cased japanese germanium transistors in it...

And thanks for tips what other can be found... Keep your eyes open, let your mind free and your ass follows...

[Mark Hammer]

Fortunately, VCR technology is not all that old so the risk of the caps being old and dry is very small.  Ideally, the manufacturer of the VCR will have permitted the components to sit well above the board.  That still leaves a bit of lead extending from the electrolytics so that you have more flexibility in the sorts of PCBs you can re-use them on.  

I am constantly "recycling" components from things I built but didn't like, or that never worked or that ended being too confusing a perfboard build (so forgot what was connected to what).  It is aggravating when you dig in your parts bin, find a part and then realize that one of the leads needs to be about 1 or 2mm longer to reach where you need it to go.

As an aside, some VCRs will have dbx-type chips on board, although these will be more involved to design around than say a 570 compander.