I <3 our throwaway society (curbside recycling thread)

[phucheneh]

By 'curbside recycling,' I mean someone throws it away, I say 'wtf you're dumb,' haul it off like Sanford and Son, and fix it.

I recently picked up a 56" DLP TV that someone put at the curb. I had even seen it a few days earlier, but didn't jump at it because I figured it must be totally trashed to not even try and get a couple twenties (and/or some rape) in exchange for it. Was surprised when I happened to drive by and it was still there. It even rained while it was outside.

Screen has scratches, power cord cut.

So I said, okay, let's make a cord for it, power it on, and see how long it takes the moving parts in the DLP mech to explode.

...nothing wrong with it. Dim, needs a bulb. Shuts off after a minute or so, I think just because of the lamp. If not, it's a thermal switch or something otherwise stupid. It's quieter than the Samsung DLP in my living room.

Shit, I would've given somebody a few bucks for non-working housebrand LCD of half the size. This for free? Hells yeah.

Now I'm doing what I keep saying I need to do, and looking for broken stuff on craigslist. I always knew I could make a little money if I kept an eye out for good deals on 'bad cap' LCDs and stuff.

 

[AMD64Blondie]

Nice find.

 

[madoka]

Just today I saw that someone had abandoned a good looking boat (probably about 20-25 feet long) along the side of the freeway. It was still on a trailer and looked pretty nice and well taken care of. That was the first time I was actually tempted to pick up something off the side of the road. But I'm sure the owner is coming back for it. I can't imagine anyone just ditching it like that. It kind of looked like this, but with a top and tan trim:

 

[Triumph]

All of my big scores have been from garage sales, but i do enjoy dumpster diving. Took in a grill last week, probably a waste of time because the grill isn't that great, but the propane tank alone is worth saving 20-30 bucks for a new spare one. Most dumpster stuff is nothing special: a stool, an organizing bin, people love throwing out perfectly good lumber, and other random knick knacks. I do feel embarrassed when the neighbors see me though so I try to go out the night before garbage pickup, after dark.

 

[Anubis]

i love it. makes it easier to get rid of stuff that is broken, vs taking it to the dump or whatever. just put it out front and its gone and now its someone else's issue

 

[phucheneh]

I don't do any literal dumpster diving. Or even go looking for stuff, really. But 'why would you throw that away?!' is said often, usually to the rolling eyes of whoever is around me. 'It's with the trash; obviously it's trash.' Nope, often just laziness.

Were I to start looking, I would't really know where to. As long as I don't think I'll encounter rotten food, used condoms, or dirty needles, I'm game.

I'll often go as far as to take anything metal or that seems like it could otherwise be of use. I figured if this thing was trashed, I'd pull the possibly-usable parts, knock the screen out, and put some shelves in it or something.

 

[Possessed Freak]

I could:
1) pay to have it picked up properly
2) pay to have a guy look at it (service charge + parts...)
3) leave the old one in the alley for somebody that has the skills and time to work on it.

I go with 3, best for everyone. It gets "recycled" (reused), and I don't have to pay for pickup or fixing it.

 

[Fenixgoon]

you don't happen to be in culver city, los angeles do you?

a coworker of mine just moved into a new house and inherited a DLP TV...he put it out on the curb for someone to take away, haha

 

[Anonemous]

I once picked up one of these tower fans after someone took it to the dumpster.

http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-2554-42-...rds=tower+fans

It was still working, missing the remote, and pretty clean, all it needed was a screw to secure the base plate. I called up the company and they were glad to send me the screws in the mail. So I got a working fan that I am still using to this day.

 

[zerocool84]

I could:
1) pay to have it picked up properly
2) pay to have a guy look at it (service charge + parts...)
3) leave the old one in the alley for somebody that has the skills and time to work on it.

I go with 3, best for everyone. It gets "recycled" (reused), and I don't have to pay for pickup or fixing it.

This

I do it for many things. Easy to get rid of sad someone else does something with it. Eco friendly is all the rage now.

 

[Slew Foot]

I tried to dump off my wife but no one would take her.

 

[Red Squirrel]

i love it. makes it easier to get rid of stuff that is broken, vs taking it to the dump or whatever. just put it out front and its gone and now its someone else's issue

lol yep. The best is this old UPS I got rid of, I frankenstined it pretty badly, the only thing left was the chassis. I kept the circuit board so I can desolder the resistors and stuff, and I kept the transformer, makes a great door stop.

Within an hour, it was gone. Either they wanted to recycle the metal, or they did not realize the true weight of a UPS.

they really need to legalize and encourage garbage picking though, it's a great way to recycle and cost nothing. While lot of people still garbage pick (either off the street, or the dump) it's actually illegal because it becomes property of the city. Silly if you ask me, but it's how it works.

 

[phucheneh]

Well, I didn't want to put sixty whole dollars into this TV if I didn't have to. So I started looking around inside to see if it's possible that something is up with the inverter board or some shit. I noticed what may possibly be a couple bulging caps, but I couldn't see them very well. Ten minutes later:

Where's that lens I can set people on fire with at? Does I has one of thems?

Also if nothing else, this mirror is spiffy and my cat likes it.

Will update once I find a hammer to bash the rest of the TV open. Here's to hoping that the fix merely requires disassembly of the whole TV instead of a bulb.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

You expect everyone to have some aptitude for repairing component level electronics. or have the patience for someone like you to come around to collect it? How about chiding the manufacturers for making crappy products that fail early?

 

[AMD64Blondie]

My best find was actually from work. (I work in the mail room at Portland State University.) Scored a working Sun Microsystems 21-inch CRT monitor,probably worth $350-400 new..for $20.

They were just going to throw it out. (they had it in surplus..)

 

[Anubis]

My best find was actually from work. (I work in the mail room at Portland State University.) Scored a working Sun Microsystems 21-inch CRT monitor,probably worth $350-400 new..for $20.

They were just going to throw it out. (they had it in surplus..)

thats basically how i got my Sony FW900. cept it was free and they were going to throw it away when they moved to LCDs

i would have taken 2 if i had room

 

[dabuddha]

There comes a point where you just don't want to deal with it anymore. Couple of examples.

Had a 50" samsung DLP tv. Took me over 8 months of posting on Craigslist before I got someone to buy it ($500). I'd renew the ad every 2-3 days.

Old sofa + matching recliner. Was looking for $50 for it (high quality used sofa). Would have been perfect for a student or for a basement. Posted it for about 3 months. Dropped the price to $25 for the set. Dropped it to free. Nothing (except a couple of Nigerian scammers). At that point, I was like fuck it. I need the space in my garage so I called up my trash company and they said to put it out on the curb. They came the next day and loaded it up on their truck and crushed it before taking it away. Sad that I couldn't get rid of it but at least I got that off my to do list.

 

[kami333]

My 50" DLP Toshiba and 32" CRT Sony are going to the curve soon, huge pain to move and it's time for new tvs.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

There comes a point where you just don't want to deal with it anymore. Couple of examples.

Had a 50" samsung DLP tv. Took me over 8 months of posting on Craigslist before I got someone to buy it ($500). I'd renew the ad every 2-3 days.

Old sofa + matching recliner. Was looking for $50 for it (high quality used sofa). Would have been perfect for a student or for a basement. Posted it for about 3 months. Dropped the price to $25 for the set. Dropped it to free. Nothing (except a couple of Nigerian scammers). At that point, I was like fuck it. I need the space in my garage so I called up my trash company and they said to put it out on the curb. They came the next day and loaded it up on their truck and crushed it before taking it away. Sad that I couldn't get rid of it but at least I got that off my to do list.

If it takes you that long to sell a TV you should probably consider lowering the price a lil

 

[dabuddha]

If it takes you that long to sell a TV you should probably consider lowering the price a lil

For the tv, I didn't mind the time because it was in my unused basement at the time. Granted I was probably asking too much but I do believe in the chump theory. That there is a chump out there that will pay what you're asking for. It ended up being a "surfer" like dude that came by and bought it no questions asked.

 

[CraigRT]

I hate the way society is too, but I probably would have curbed that thing as well. DLP never took off and I think a lot of the reason was due to reliability concerns.

I have seen some legitimately good stuff curbed though. The other problem is as some have said, dealing with trying to sell it can be way more trouble than its worth. I have been down that road before a few times.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Sometimes I'll have a go at repairing stuff, but I'm starting to think it's not really worth it. I busted the glass on my ipad 2 and got it into my head that I was going to replace it myself. I actually could have done it if it was that simple too. I ended up putting too much stress on the lcd somehow and caused it to have discolored places on it, so I ordered a new lcd. Sometime after I got everything taken apart and put the new adhesive on I tried to power the thing on and the backlight didn't work any longer. I discovered that there are a few components on the logic board that are notorious for burning out during screen replacement, so I ordered a kit with replacements and soldered everything that wasn't too small for my eyes to see onto it. Still didn't work. Now I'm giving up on it over $100 in the hole, not to mention the ipad itself. I could have just sent the thing in to have it done professionally for probably slightly less than I spent trying to do it myself, but at some point I just got stubborn. Definitely not trying that again though.

 

[Mixolydian]

I <3 our throwaway society

So do I. Put shit at the curb and it goes away. (whether it's other people or the trash pickup.)

 

[purbeast0]

i have a 50" dlp that works just fine that has been sitting in a room for 9 months. even has a new color wheel and lamp. i can't even find a buyer for $100 for it. i will probably end up recycling it when i just want it out of the house.

 

[rsutoratosu]

I just started a lcd repair business so I been roaming the streets looking for thrown away samsung/sony/lg lcd/led. I saw a couple at the city dump but its illegal to remove them once they're in the dump so I couldn't get them... sad