Is there anything useful in a photocopier?

[ecollen]

I have two faulty photocopiers, which I am busy stripping. I prefer to do that rather than just dump them. Am I likely to salvage any useful parts, or anything at all, or is it not possible to say from my, I admit, rather vague description?

 

[Martaine2005]

 

[Martaine2005]

Sorry Errol, I couldn't seem to type without linking!!
These are good fun vids if you enjoy stripping and scavenging as I do!!

Martin

 

[shrtrnd]

If they're for your work and you have others of the same model, I'd try to salvage the easily worn/breakable parts in case you need them to replace on other units.
Besides electronics, some of those gears and rollers get hard to find after a few years because of the constant upgrading of newer models.
The old parts get difficult to find.
Hopefully somebody here can help direct you to anything else useful inside of them if you're just doing scrap-work on units to be discarded.

 

[ecollen]

If they're for your work and you have others of the same model, I'd try to salvage the easily worn/breakable parts in case you need them to replace on other units.
Besides electronics, some of those gears and rollers get hard to find after a few years because of the constant upgrading of newer models.
The old parts get difficult to find.
Hopefully somebody here can help direct you to anything else useful inside of them if you're just doing scrap-work on units to be discarded.

Hi shrtrnd
Thanks for your reply. No, they're not for my work. They are just two we had at home here for years, which finally gave up the ghost after long use and many services. The toner became very expensive, and so did the servicing, if you could find anybody to do it. And now with scanners and printers attached to the PC, it's easy enough just to do any copies that way.
So I thought I'd see what's inside the things, and there's a lot of stuff, including the gears and things as you say, plus the electronics, but now I'm just putting most of the pieces into a box, but I suppose sooner or later I'll just have to grit my teeth and start throwing some of it out.

 

[davenn]

copiers and printers are a great source of stepper motors -- ALWAYS worth saving

 

[Arouse1973]

copiers and printers are a great source of stepper motors -- ALWAYS worth saving

To store in your garage Dave, only to be replaced by the crap the misses throws out in YOUR! outside man cave.

 

[Alec_t]

At the very least, harvest the nuts and bolts.
Wiring looms and connectors can be handy.
Relays, power semiconductors, through-hole components with enough leg length to be re-usable.
I wouldn't bother with electrolytic capacitors, which may have died from old age anyway.

 

[ecollen]

Sorry Errol, I couldn't seem to type without linking!!
These are good fun vids if you enjoy stripping and scavenging as I do!!

Martin

Hi Martin
Many thanks. These really are most enjoyable. My photocopiers are perhaps not as new and sophisticated as his, but the idea is the same. It's really amazing how much engineering goes into a gadget like this, and then after a few years we sling it all out and start anew. Doesn't seem quite right, does it? Anyway, if the manufacturers are happy to do that, we're lucky to have the benefit of being able to strip them and salvage some parts. The nice thing is that this organiser of Eevblog (he's quite a character, isn't he? - expect anything with an Australian!) is obviously very skilled and can identify many parts and say this is good, keep it, and this is junk, ditch it. My problem is that I don't know what's good and what's bad, and being scared to throw anything valuable away, I tend to keep just about everything! My wife usually considers it great cause to celebrate when I occasionally decide to throw some part away!
Thanks again. Most interesting.
Cheers,
Errol

 

[davenn]

My wife usually considers it great cause to celebrate when I occasionally decide to throw some part away!

that's a common occurrence

 

[ecollen]

copiers and printers are a great source of stepper motors -- ALWAYS worth saving

Hi Davenn
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I've found a few motors that look quite nice. Just today I found quite a sizable 24V one, looks like a fan of some sort. That will obviously be a very useful motor. Mostly I can't identify the components and can't be sure if they're useful or not. I am also collecting lots and lots of hook-up wire, which many people will probably regard as being in the rubbish category, but that's something that I can classify as usable.
It's a very interesting exercise.
Cheers,
Errol

 

[ecollen]

At the very least, harvest the nuts and bolts.
Wiring looms and connectors can be handy.
Relays, power semiconductors, through-hole components with enough leg length to be re-usable.
I wouldn't bother with electrolytic capacitors, which may have died from old age anyway.

Hi Alec
Thank you for your reply. Yes, definitely, I've only just started and already have nearly half a jar of screws. How many hundreds (thousands?) of screws must they use on a gadget like this? It's incredible. "Wiring looms" I guess must be those coil-like items - yes, anything with copper wire certainly looks worth saving. I haven't found many separate connectors. Most of the cables seem to plug directly into sockets on the PCBs. I usually keep the whole board, and all the cables, but I'm not sure how much connecting use I'll get out of them. Actually very few of the components on boards seem to be usable because they've got just about no leg length left, but I keep them anyway. My desoldering and soldering need some practice!
Best wishes,
Errol

 

[ecollen]

that's a common occurrence

Hi Dave
Ha, ha. Then, if nothing else, at least I'm learning the habits of the electronics experts!

 

[Martaine2005]

y wife usually considers it great cause to celebrate when I occasionally decide to throw some part away!

Hmm, my wife threw me away too!! Nearly two years, kind of divorced, but not quite!!
I wasn't as good as a photocopier, but I was damn good at telling her to stop saying the same thing!!!
Does that count''
I personally keep most small pcb's assembled!. Then scavenge later when needing a component.
All wires and connectors, heat sinks, fans, screws as suggested above, header pins, motors, gears, and most importantly, gears with motor assemblies and guide rails!!...
Too many items to list but it's all gold for scavengers!!

Martin

 

[davenn]

I personally keep most small pcb's assembled!. Then scavenge later when needing a component.

That's particularly good for SMD ( surface mount components) ! I do the same

 

[ecollen]

Hmm, my wife threw me away too!! Nearly two years, kind of divorced, but not quite!!
I wasn't as good as a photocopier, but I was damn good at telling her to stop saying the same thing!!!
Does that count''
I personally keep most small pcb's assembled!. Then scavenge later when needing a component.
All wires and connectors, heat sinks, fans, screws as suggested above, header pins, motors, gears, and most importantly, gears with motor assemblies and guide rails!!...
Too many items to list but it's all gold for scavengers!!

Martin

Hi Martin
I'm glad to hear you seem to keep nearly everything too. All the big plastic panels are a bit bulky, but I keep thinking I can use some of them for bases for my simple circuits, in place of blocks of wood. And the metal bits look like they could be used with building my Meccano set models. Too much to mention, you're right.
Oops, careful, looks as if you were treading a dangerous path there with the missus.

 

[Martaine2005]

It must be something about us guys, I keep metal plates and plastic pieces too. Mainly flat pieces for bases of projects. But the plastics can be really useful too. Ideal for laying out a project where separation is required.
Too late for the missus, I'm on the prowl for a replacement!

Martin