View Full Version : I hate scavengers!!!! :(


pac.attack76
01-05-2015, 11:18 PM
I attempted another curbside rescue tonight only to find a scrapper had already knocked the back off to get to the yoke on a 25" Zenith console tv. Didn't get the year but it looked to be 85 or 86 maybe. Digital channel display with push button keypad. No big deal perhaps but why destroy a classic over $1 copper??

radiotvnut
01-05-2015, 11:52 PM
Around here, they've been pulling that crap for 25+ years. Back when I was fixing used TV's to resell, it used to burn me up when I'd see a once nice TV smashed to pieces - all for the sake of getting a dollar's worth of copper. Had they brought me the complete set, I would have given them more for the TV than what they would have gotten at the scrapyard. A friend, who had weekly yard sales, always made the dump rounds looking for stuff that he could sell. He used to get irate over people cutting the power cords off of stuff. I told him that I'd be all too happy if cutting off the power cord was all they did because power cords are usually not hard to replace.

MIPS
01-05-2015, 11:53 PM
They don't care. That's an extra $1 towards a few rocks of crack.

Dude111
01-06-2015, 04:18 AM
Yes sadly they dont....... Its truly quite sad....

pac.attack76
01-06-2015, 11:57 AM
Yes, power cord cutting has been really common over the past few year. I can't recall how many i've had to replace.

radiotvnut
01-06-2015, 12:19 PM
The one that got next to me the most was a '50's Zenith console TV that got destroyed. An old man that I know called to say that there was a nice Zenith console TV at the dump; but, he was by himself and it was too heavy for him to pick up by himself. I scrambled to get a ride out there and when I arrived, there was nothing left but busted glass and a cabinet that had been busted apart. From what I've heard, these copper scrappers do nothing but make the rounds from one dump to another, in search of something to bust up. I've learned that if you see something intact at the dump, you'd better get it right then and lock it up in your vehicle. I've also heard of people getting into fights over stuff at the dumpster. A few years ago, our county did away with the green box dumpster system for rural residents and went to door to door pickup, just like in the city. The reason is because county residents were complaining about city residents using the dumpster that they were not paying to use and people "dumpster diving" for stuff. So, there are no more dumpsters to check out.

I'll admit that I was one of the ones "dumpster diving" and throwing away electronic junk in them. I made many dollars off of TV's that I obtained out of the dump and the city garbage collector got so they wouldn't pick up my electronic waste.

centralradio
01-08-2015, 03:34 PM
I just picked up two sets yesterday .The cords were snipped on both sets.About two months ago there were two sets at the curb and they were all smashed and gutted by some idiot.

Marco-nix
01-09-2015, 08:20 AM
I realize that this is the same everywhere .. people put on their old TVs street, people break the tube and take copper or simply put the television in their truck and will sell it all in a scrap metal merchant

Electronic M
01-09-2015, 11:28 AM
BPC and post deltagun consoles show up in the trash here so often I don't think twice about taking all but the CRT and cabinet when I need cheap parts. Some of the lytics are good for tube work, the HV lead is useful as replacement for bad vintage stuff, and there are often nice power resistors to boot.

Username1
01-09-2015, 12:13 PM
Around here although they put big plastic cabinet sets out in front of their houses
they know they are only going to get broken up and for the most part left there....

The big floor model sets they put out at power sub-stations. Over the last few years
the power companies have had to start putting up wires across the entrance to them
to keep the morons out..... I've stopped and plucked the chassis out of a few cabinet
sets and strapped them to my bike last summer.... Zenith system 3's - ahhh Just like
when I was a kid..... Only chassis weigh nothing now.....

Some of our hill-billies ain't smart enough to swipe the yoke, they're more than content
shooting it...... And most often if the yoke is gone, the degaussing coil is still there...what!?!?!

.

Electronic M
01-09-2015, 12:31 PM
You reminded me that one can use degauss coils from junkers for making your own servicing use degauss coil too.

Username1
01-09-2015, 03:15 PM
If you ever made one yourself you should put up a how-to for those who may need one...
The coils in sets look much thinner that the store bought ones... I imagine home made
ones from old tv's need a current limiter of some sort.... And you have to open them up
a little to be sure you have the windings going the same way....

But then that encourages scavenging then doesn't it...... ahhssskipit....

I just swipe those things and use the wire for other stuff....

.

dieseljeep
01-09-2015, 04:28 PM
You reminded me that one can use degauss coils from junkers for making your own servicing use degauss coil too.

There's not enough turns to use across the line, for any length to time. Only made for a short time, energized.
A few, I removed were wound with aluminum wire, so not really usable for other projects. :sigh:

Electronic M
01-09-2015, 05:37 PM
They do heat up after 3-10 minutes, but if your quick about your degauss, or do it a bit at a time turning it off in between it should be fine. I made one out of one from a 36" set there was enough diameter to wind it into a three loop 15" coil (like my purpose built unit which it is a backup for). As long as you don't plug it in and walk away for half an hour nothing bad is likely to happen.

All I did was add a cord and loop up the tape wrapped coil into a smaller diameter coil consisting of three loops of the bigger one, then give the thing another layer of tape to make it keep that shape...It was easy.