Getting surplus parts from colleges.

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nicolas@navydoula.com
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Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by nicolas@navydoula.com »

Has any one had any luck with this?
David D Speck MD
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by David D Speck MD »

Kinda depends. If your enrolled at the institution, and get to know the appropriate professors, it may be possible. Unfortunately, if items are purchased with government funds, disposition of items of significant value may involve auctions and significant hassle. That was a problem at Cornell when I was there a lifetime ago. They had to go through a federal auction to dispose of a pencil stub.

OTOH, many colleges employ a "cleanout person". A project finishes, a professor retires, and at that point, administration needs the space and says "we want room 317 empty by Monday morning so we can repaint it for the next person/project. Said person removes everything to the bare walls, sells what is salable in exchange for the labor, and makes the rest "disappear".

I know a guy who did that function for Cornell for many years. Chopped up a working cyclotron for the scrap copper. Had a house, attic, basement, and garage packed with "treasure" dating back to WWII. Regrettably, he had retired before I first met him, and he didn't know what was "good", so he would break up fully functional NIM modules by the hundreds to get the $0.25 in scrap aluminum from the side panels and $0.50 for the palladium contacts in the ten turn pots. (sigh.......)

You might ask around to see if your institution employs such a person. A personal introduction can be helpful. Some of those guys are more than a bit secretive about their operation. If you offer double or triple scrap price for the items you can use, you might get some stuff, though you may have to wait a while. Patience is definitely a virtue in that business.

eBay is faster, if you can spend the money.

Dave
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Carl Willis
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by Carl Willis »

Public universities in the US have to recover market value for their surplus; by law they can't just give it away. There are two methods of doing this: auctions and stores. Auctions are more common. Unfortunately they tend to be not very accessible to the average working public, being held on weekdays every month and requiring bidders to attend for the duration and bid on bulky lots that contain a high percentage of junk. Your regional eBay sellers will be there to stock up, identifiable by their more-than-passing resemblance to Jabba the Hutt.

Private colleges and universities follow various policies. Inside knowledge of a lab being cleaned out or a building being renovated are your dumpster-diving dogwhistle. You might get quite lucky in the dumpsters. (You might not even have to go into the dumpsters, if you have good relations with a professor.)

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Tyler Christensen
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by Tyler Christensen »

It really depends where you are. Here at MIT I can basically get anything, everything is thrown away. There is no sales of old equipment, not worth the time. There are large electronics and lab dump sites that are accessible to students and we can take whatever we want day or night. On top of that, basements in many older buildings are basically filled with old junk that can relatively easily be had if some effort is put into figuring out who owns it.

Another trick is if you find an old thing that you're pretty sure nobody wants, put a "can I have this?" sign on it. I've known a number of people having luck with that here.

You probably shouldn't do any of this if you're not a student though, that opens many more legal issues.
nicolas@navydoula.com
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by nicolas@navydoula.com »

Thanks everyone. Seeing how Yale is just down the street I'm going to try there first, then if that doesn't work out I'll check out MIT.
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Richard Hull
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by Richard Hull »

How odd. I just, this past weekend, took a short trip to a local college where I was offered and took possession of an entire one ton XRF system from the 70's.

What a beast!!!

It was all in a giant 2 table, 2 meter long, setup that was no longer needed. It took 6 hours to dismantle and load onto a 5X8 foot trailer.

Needless to say, it will never run again as an XRF system, but it did have a 28" diameter by 26" tall, X-ray, oil tanked transformer with all HV cabling. (710lbs). I also contained a nice x-ray tube, and a large Welch 1397, 17.7 cfm vacuum pump (~175lbs). In addition it also contained a 28 amp, 240 volt variac and 500lb stabilization transformer system.

The system had a couple of nice stainless steel counter tops that I took. Apparently, the manufacturer opted to not use lead in the evacuated XRF chamber. Thus, they cast a 2" thick aluminum goniometer vaccum and exposure chamber. I stripped all this aluminum and now have about 250lbs of scrap aluminum to sell!

There was much more small gearing and mechanisms with selectable crystals, etc. in the system.

In the end, we were taken out as guests of the college and given a steak dinner at the local chop house in repayment for removing an old eyesore and giving them room to buy new stuff to shoehorn into the now vacant area.

One can't regularly expect this, but it does happen that stuff falls in your lap.

I am feeling this today! These old bones and muscles went through extreme motions and strains not encountered in my normal day-to-day existence.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
nicolas@navydoula.com
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by nicolas@navydoula.com »

Wow! That's an awesome find. Did you go there with the intent of getting something, or did they ask if you wanted it?
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Richard Hull
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by Richard Hull »

I was invited to remove the system by one of the professors that I knew. They would have had to pay to have it pulled out, otherwise. There was a time crunch involved in getting it removed, as well. I had a narrow window to get it out of there.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
SteveHansen
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by SteveHansen »

A friend of mine lives near an ivy league college. He made a habit of visiting a dumpster near one of the science labs. Technically, I guess, if it's in the trash it's fair game. Anyway, while he didn't find much that he could use, he made a few thousand selling some items on eBay which then allowed him to purchase things that he wanted. Microscopes, spectrophotometers, etc. almost all in good working condition. Mostly taxpayer funded, of course.
nicolas@navydoula.com
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by nicolas@navydoula.com »

I'll do that too.
AllenWallace
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Re: Getting surplus parts from colleges.

Post by AllenWallace »

All universities have policies that require items to be submitted to a surplus redistribution/sales/disposal program. However if the item is 'scrap', then it is thrown out. If it's large or heavy or mazmat, it costs them $$ to get rid of it. They will be happy to let you 'dispose' of it as long as you convince them you going to resell it.

Almost anything electronic these days are considered mazmat.

I snagged a sputtering system this way--- rough pump, diffusion pump, bell jar, ion gauge, all in a working package. All I need to add is a recycling water cooler.
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