Computer part storage

[letsgetsilly]

I'm a regular computer nerd and I'm also an IT consultant, and over the past few years I've developed quite a collection of excess hardware.

I've got old motherboards, ram, video cards, all kinds of audio/visual chords, and miscellaneous Ethernet chords.

I'm wondering what the people on AT forums that are in a similar situation do to manage all of this extra stuff, so that you can find it, and store it so it won't get beat-up?

I'm interested in keeping almost all of the stuff I have right now, I've already craigslisted the things I'm willing to part with.

Hoping to hear some creative ideas! TIA.

 

[Modelworks]

hardly organized, but cardboard boxes work fine. Toss the motherboards in one, ram in another, etc.
Hardware is amazingly tough. I have boxes of network cards and never pulled a bad one out. Even though they are just tossed in together.

 

[nageov3t]

when I buy a new part, I put the old one in the new part's now-empty box and keep them inside a plastic box in a closet... for small, misc parts, I dump them inside an empty brief case (cables get tied up and put into zip-lock bags so that they don't get tangled up).

 

[Bignate603]

Ammo cases for cords and stuff works well for me.

 

[xavier es]

How do parts stored in a hot enviroment do? I put a few motherboards and hd's in my storage locker this summer and it gets hot in there. many days here in central az it is above 100 degrees outside and the storage is just a big metal truck trailer. it is dry inside.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: xavier es
How do parts stored in a hot enviroment do? I put a few motherboards and hd's in my storage locker this summer and it gets hot in there. many days here in central az it is above 100 degrees outside and the storage is just a big metal truck trailer. it is dry inside.

Your fine. Modern electronics have the parts attached by heating the entire board in a reflow oven, the minimum temp for a reflow oven is 235C or 455F. I doubt the locker gets anywhere near that.

 

[letsgetsilly]

Thx for all of the tips so far. I've got the chords going in the ziplock bags which is working nicely, but I don't really want to fill up the floor of my closet with boxes. Hmmm.....

 

[CRXican]

cardboard boxes

I'm also a "car person" so I have stock parts removed and replaced by after market that I need to keep around. I pay $123/month for a 5x15 storage unit. Car parts and computer parts side by side.

 

[Pacfanweb]

There's upstairs in the attic....unfortunately, I forget what all I have, so by the time I go up there and rummage through them once in awhile, they aren't worth anything.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Your fine. Modern electronics have the parts attached by heating the entire board in a reflow oven, the minimum temp for a reflow oven is 235C or 455F. I doubt the locker gets anywhere near that.

Yes, but the board is in that reflow oven only briefly. If you left it in the oven long enough, all sorts of bad things would happen.

If you're worrying about heat damage to a PCB, your major concern should not be that the solder will melt (heck, that could repair any cold solder joints ) but that the components on the board will be damaged. Electrolytic caps, especially, don't like to get hot. Most components are pretty tolerant of heat when they are disconnected from power, but only to a point.

@OP: I am in more or less the same boat as loki8481, although my cables are generally just zip-tied rather than going into plastic bags. I have a small plastic chest of drawers (mine is from Big Lots, Home Depot and such sell similar products) for small things that I actually need access to.

 

[gar3555]

I have a large basement with storage shelves on 3 of the 4 walls...lets just say, they are almost all full, along with some of the floor. I have way to many old computer parts/books/manuals.

 

[ArJuN]

Deleted

 

[SoulAssassin]

I don't keep my chords anywhere because I don't have any.

 

[idiotekniQues]

i got a sleek looking set of two thin metal boxes from ikea. i keep all those extra mobo cables and doohickeys in there. looks modern and goes with our decor, and everything is in one place.

 

[seemingly random]

I keep my chords in the piano.

 

[geoffry]

If they have any decent value ($75 +) I'll try to sell it, otherwise I'll give it to a friend or family member who I reckon could use it.

Otherwise into the trash it goes.

 

[us3rnotfound]

a dumpster, fuck old hardware, next time i see a compaq mouse/keyboard im getting out my shotgun and going to fucking town

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: loki8481
(cables get tied up and put into zip-lock bags so that they don't get tangled up).

That's brilliant.

 

[Loop2kil]

I use the plastic stoage bins with drawers for most of my crap...closet is full as well...pool table is covered...work bench has a few items...heck, even my desk has hardware stored on it

 

[erub]

well the advantage of moving often is taht every time I move I go to sell/throw more stuff away its hardly worth keeping most old stuff anyway..

 

[potato28]

Bookshelves, with EST bags on the crap that still works. Most of anything else is stripped of any copper, silver, etc and then put onto the garbage shelf.

 

[skillyho]

Two large containers from WalMart...the tubberware kind with drawers. Works swell. I have 2 of them and they each have three compartments each that can easily hold PSU's, mobo's, etc..etc..I have a smaller container for RAM/CPU's.