Should I throw my TV away?

[frugi]

I just took possession of a really nice Sony 36" flat screen HD TV which I will make my new (to me) TV.

My question is should I put my old TV on the curb?

It is a Daewoo 32", I bought new about 10 years ago, it is the kind with the big back.

It is currently on my floor blocking my closet.

It is severely in the way. I need to get rid of it. Is it worth putting in my backyard until I have the time to dismantle it? OR Should I just put it on the curb, and let someone else mess with it. I like saving copper and brass, but am not really wanting to go through the trouble of dismantling stuff (if it presents a challenge) for only a tiny amount of return. What do you all think?

[messymessy]

I really don't think TV's are worth the hassle. Too much time, not enough reward.

Throw it in an auction maybe?

[68Cougar]

I really don't think TV's are worth the hassle. Too much time, not enough reward.

Agreed. My scrap yard buys them whole so that is the route I take. Last ones I took got 9 cents a pound.

[TXBullion]

does it work?

[AGgressive Metal]

You could take the copper off the vacuum tube at the very least, if interested in scrapping it. TVs have some decent scrap in them; electric motors, copper, wires, etc. A few dollars worth - depends on the value of your time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBTKJHa-W3I

[JerrySpringer]

I don't get it. If the TV works, there is probably someone on CL who would buy it. Why scrap it? We have an older TV ca. 1997 that we watch DVDs with. Not everybody wants the flat-screen. Gutting a perfectly fine TV, well is it worth the time if someone would take it off your hands for a few dollars?

[Computer Jones]

My question is should I put my old TV on the curb?

Sounds like a couple of better options than casting it to the curb.
Personally, I'd scrap it, save the Copper, and sell (or cast) any Aluminum if it didn't work.

[frugi]

It works, the remote control doesnt work though. When I bought it in 2003 it was $300.00+;
Problem is it is not a digital TV, so either you need to have cable/satellite or have a converter box hooked up to it.

If I saved it (in my backyard) it wouldnt be until next summer until I had the time to dismantle it.

I dont do any business with craigslist, in fact I boycott craigslist. (the majority of my auction ads & estate sale ads have been flagged on craigslist over the years, by my competitors) So, I dont bother listing them on there any more.

It makes sense to put it in one of my upcoming auctions, but they dont sell for more that a few dollars at best.

Thank you for all the advice. Considering all of my current liabilities/responsibilities I will probably just put it out to the curb. If I thought I could get $10.00 for it at an auction or estate sale I would take the time to lift it into my truck and take it to the next sale, but the reward isnt that great versus the time it will take to move it, auction it, and all around deal with it.

Thanks again all.

[cesariojpn]

I've found out that certain CRT's are desired by Video Game collectors, since vintage game consoles are rubbish on the more modern flat screen TV's. One of the Sony Triniton is the model you should look out for.

http://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/ ... for_while/

[Engineer]

Last I knew, Best Buy was giving $10 gift certificates for old TVs.

[frugi]

i put the TV on the curb. went to the bar. came home a few hours ago it was gone when I came home. Later I noticed it was back, I went out to look at it, and it looked like someone kicked it down the street, and then returned it when they kicked it back around the block. Now it is all scratched up, cracked, and has a broken screen. Cord is still attached. WTF?

[messymessy]

Last I knew, Best Buy was giving $10 gift certificates for old TVs.

Best Buy used to charge you $10 to dispose of a TV or monitor and in return they would give you a $10 gift certificate. Essentially, enviromentally getting rid of your TV for nothing. They quit this nonsense and just take it for free now.

[messymessy]

i put the TV on the curb. went to the bar. came home a few hours ago it was gone when I came home. Later I noticed it was back, I went out to look at it, and it looked like someone kicked it down the street, and then returned it when they kicked it back around the block. Now it is all scratched up, cracked, and has a broken screen. Cord is still attached. WTF?

Just a guess, but some kid probably took it home to put it in his bedroom and his mom made him take it back where he found it.

[fansubs_ca]

Usually what happens here is if you leave a TV out, one of our sloppier scrappers will
smack it open, bust out the copper at the back of the tube and cut the cord, then leave
the rest there. So around here I'd really really avoid that just to avoid the mess, though
you already put it out so it's too late. (The lanes in my neighborhood have busted TVs
like that all over, wish I had a garage so I could grab them before that happens and
actually have somewhere to put them until I can test and/or dismantle them. I just
don't have the space to do that though.)

Though the damage it took from being picked up then dragged back cuts out any
salability now. The theory about it being a kid who's mom made him take it back
is probably correct. (When I was a kid a used TV was a valuable 2nd hand good,
nobody would just give one away.)

Some people like old TVs specifically because nobody wants to steal it, though it's hard
to find them in good condition and working in their perfered size. (Someone breaks in,
everything here is too old and heavy, thief leaves empty handed. ^_-)

[Engineer]

Some people like old TVs specifically because nobody wants to steal it, though it's hard
to find them in good condition and working in their perfered size. (Someone breaks in,
everything here is too old and heavy, thief leaves empty handed. ^_-)

I leave an old TV visible through the front windows for just that reason. If somebody is walking down the street casing houses to steal from, I'd rather have them see something they don't want to steal here, and something they do want to steal a few doors down.

[hobo finds]

around here it would go like this...

1. TV placed out at curb.
2. Cord cutters strike first. (cord cut, tv no longer good but still intact).
3. Smash and grabbers bust it open take copper coil leave the rest.
4. Someone else may come buy and pick up the rest (not the broken glass and plastic) and get the wires and steel.
5. Homeowner has to pick up the broken glass and plastic and blames it on the scrappers! Will not put out any other items .

I hate people who leave a mess and everyone gets blamed for it! If you want to scrap a TV take the whole thing with you! Don't [shucks] where you eat!

[fansubs_ca]

5. Homeowner has to pick up the broken glass and plastic and blames it on the scrappers! Will not put out any other items .

I saw one case like that except the homeowner didn't pick it up so the remains of that
TV has been sitting in the same spot for at least a year now.

Thus when I saw my immediate neighbor put out a TV, I shuffled it into my shed
immediately as if the same thing happened we'ld never be able to clean it up. We
both have loose rock driveways so a million pieces of glass mixed into the rock
would be pretty much impossible to separate, if it was concrete it could be swept
up but not on loose rock.

I really have to get around to testing that thing so I can start deciding if I should
use it, give it to a friend, or scrap it. If it is good I don't really want to destroy it.
On the other hand I could use that shed space back again. I never got around to
asking the neighbor why he was getting rid of it.

[johnbrickner]

Dump your old one and keep the new one for educational videos only. Rip off the dish from your roof and the cable to your house. Use the money you save to stack more metal and the time you no longer waste in front of the boob-tube with your family, girl friend, dog, who ever. Or pick a book and read. In short, something more constructive than allowing corporate America access to brain wash market you into buying bigger, better, faster, newer technology/stuff. Not something I just suggest to you but everyone on the planet so please do not take my words personal. They are not.

[Rosco]

Dump your old one and keep the new one for educational videos only. Rip off the dish from your roof and the cable to your house. Use the money your save to stack more metal and the time you no longer waste in front of the boob-tube with your family, girl friend, dog, who ever. Or pick a book and read. In short, something more constructive than allowing corporate America access to brain wash market you into buying bigger, better, faster, newer technology/stuff. Not something I just suggest to you but everyone on the planet so please do not take my words personal. They are not.

+2

[Z00]

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[AGgressive Metal]

I scrap TVs but I don't own one, haha

[messymessy]

I scrap TVs but I don't own one, haha

Any guesses on time spent versus money made?

[AGgressive Metal]

I scrap TVs but I don't own one, haha

Any guesses on time spent versus money made?

I have scrapped probably 15-20 TVs over the last few months in addition to anything else I come across (in the beginning I would go out on trash night hunting in my truck, but there are too many people doing that already where I live - your results may vary greatly, especially if most people in your community are well off and wouldn't think to scrap). Now I just nab "targets of opportunity" and am trying to network to make sure all my local acquaintances know I'm willing to take metal and electronic items off their hands.

I look at it as I could spend 20 minutes taking a TV apart or 20 minutes watching a TV. I would roughly guess $3-$4 per television: $1-$1.50 copper, $1 wires, $1 other (electric motors, steel pieces, aluminum heat sinks). Plus of course the time to go to the scrapyard but I usually try to only go twice a month and its only 4 miles round-trip.

I also see it as a strategic thing, keeping metal in the US industrial stream instead of sending it to a landfill. It saves on my pocketbook, the national trade balance, and the environment (I'm not a greenie but mining and smelting are pretty nasty business).

Plus if I need to release some stress I can bust the screen with a sledgehammer!!

[fansubs_ca]

Plus if I need to release some stress I can bust the screen with a sledgehammer!!

Apparently some places sell that as a recreational service:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-25/odd-jobs-anger-room-proprietor

It's funny how I stumbled on that today! :0