Salvage parts question

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dax

Active member
Joined
Mar 1, 2006
Messages
33
Location
Austin
I have access to hundreds of "dead" SMPS for computers.  Other than wire and IEC power jacks etc can anyone think of anything worth salvaging.  I am not really going to pull of passive components like resistors and caps but maybe the transformers are valuable to someone.  there are also some big inductors too?
 
Some time a go I also got a good bunch of dead/use/old ATX PSU's. The heatsinks have been a real money and time saver for me. In fact some of them have very convenient shapes and have no real alternatives you could even buy anywhere. I have also used the cases for extra shielding in certain places.

The fat (more than 1mm) enameled copper wire on those big inductors is also somewhat valuable. It tends to be quite expensive on it's own. There's no better ground bus for p2p tube projects.

But taking all of them apart was a big messy undertaking. May not be worth it to everyone.
 
As you guessed they are for shunting hf crap that comes throught the mains. But they are not like ordinary capacitors. Their physical structure features extra safety, hence X and Y on them.
 
sahib said:
As you guessed they are for shunting hf crap that comes throught the mains. But they are not like ordinary capacitors. Their physical structure features extra safety, hence X and Y on them.

And also have to be Flame and Explosion proof for EU / CE compliance
From memory  ;D
.....the X is the compliance value and Y is the L-E-N delta configuration
 
s2udio said:
And also have to be Flame and Explosion proof for EU / CE compliance
From memory  ;D
.....the X is the compliance value and Y is the L-E-N delta configuration

Both X and Y are safety ratings. Class X can be put between live and neutral, and class Y (stricter safety requirement than X) can go between live and earth/ground.

In an SMPS they are there to prevent RF leaking out into the mains. In practice, they can leak RF into the earth conductor which can be a problem. In medical grade SMPS there are no capacitors from live or neutral to earth (to prevent earth leakage which could harm vulnerable patients or affect sensitive equipment), which makes them useful for audio gear.
 
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