Recycling Electronics Wiki

Welcome to the Recycling Electronics Wiki
A guide to the things you can find inside electronic things, and how to reuse them in other things. This will include tips on identifying parts, desoldering parts, and where to look for parts, as well as just what different parts do.

So what is this wiki about, exactly?
Taking things apart is easy, but knowing what's what on a circuit board? Not so much. That's where we come in! Just search the thing you took apart--'Alarm clock,' 'computer mouse,' etc., and there'll be a listing of the parts you'll find in it, along with approximate values and tips on desoldering them from the board. We focus mainly on through-hole mount devices, since surface-mount devices are very difficult and expensive to hand-solder and prototype with.