Dumpster Diving!

I did this 1 time behind a local computer store and was shocked to find:

WD Raptor 36gig Drive still in the box, But box had big hole in it, Tested it and it worked fine for 3-4 months until it died.
5 USB Belkin Cables (Green LED), But the boxes were busted up, 3 of them worked
A Logitech wireless mouse, But didnt work.

Friend of mine does this all the time and he found a near perfect Thermaltake Shark case, Lucky ass.
 
Well since I can post now...

I hit up BB, CC, Stples, cell phone shop, and a sports place.

Got a case for my cell phone :rolleyes:
 
I've made over $200 selling software on eBay I found dumpster diving. :D Staples is a gold mine! Of course, it's very important to be honest if you are doing this for profit. NEVER sell anything without complete packaging and UPC's.
 
My advice for dumpster diving:

When a garbage can is full of bags, take the bags out of the dumpster (without getting trash all over the place) to get as deep as possible. Start with the bags that remain in the dumpster. It's best to move all the bags to the front of the dumpster and work them to the back (eg. tear bags, dump stuff in back and sort through it). Once you get finished looking through the bags left in the dumpster, get out and put the bags you took out and get back in. Repeat the same process.

For dumpsters that are moderately full, sometimes it's easiest to just take several bags off the top, find a pallet/something to stand on (I'm about 5'10" and it's difficult to reach into the dumpster without jumping halfway in. Which hurts a lot after a while), tear and dump the bags into the dumpster and sort it while standing outside of the dumpster. This way you don't have to work while in the trash.

It's best if possible to go everyday for a week. If you can figure out when the trash day is, the day before trash day is when all the big crap gets thrown out, so it's a good bet to swing by and do a quick check to see if there's any larger items (eg. computers, printers, chairs, etc). Start the daily checks once the garbage can has been emptied. If you sort all the bags the first day, and go daily, you will only have to sort 1/2 days of trash (which is much quicker than sorting a whole dumpster) and you will recognize patterns of what gets thrown on which days.

I haven't ever encountered any problems from employees (mainly because I go very late at night. Usually between 2-4 am). There's a mall cop that circles around Bestbuy/Officemax in my area (they're adjacent to a mall) and I usually cut my light when I see him driving towards me. He's probably seen me a few times. If I know he's seen me for sure, I keep my light on and continue diving (so he doesn't think I'm trying to break in or anything).

As for people who don't own cars, I own both a car and a bike. If you want to take your bike (I'm not sure how easy track bikes would be to use, but I know a mountain bike works fine) just bring a large backpack along. If you are diving and find electrostatic bags/bubblewrap save some for future trips in case you find any computer parts. Computer parts also fare well inside of small cardboard boxes.

If you happen to find a full sized computer while biking you will have to disassemble the parts and leave the case/PSU. Bring a screwdriver/wirecutter if you intend on keeping a computer you find while biking.

So far my best find (in terms of usefulness) was two sets of Uniden phones: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7773475&type=product&id=1142290010272
I didn't take the expansion phones, just the main bases. Work perfectly.

Last week I found a digital postage scale at Officemax. There was a return sticker on the box saying something about "had recreational use" implying someone bought it to weigh weed. When I opened it, all the packaging was there and it works perfect.

In the past 3-4 months I have found and kept: 3 complete computers (one P3, two celeron), several geforce fx5200 cards, about 10 sticks of PC133 RAM (haven't tested yet), one Powermac G4 laptop (screen busted, haven't tested any components), 2 Epson all in one printers, like 10 of every computer cable/power adapter there is (USB, power supply, etc), 1000 feet of Cat5 cable, 50 (2 unopened boxes) 3 foot Cat5 cables, some more cat5 cables, two laser mice (brand new), like 20 boxes of software, laptop carrying case, some other stuff like blank media, rechargeable Duracell lithium batteries, etc. That's just the stuff I kept too.

I also found a dumpster (one of those giant construction ones) at an office building with like 30 used (not worn out though) office chairs. That would've been a huge find if I owned a business or something.

CompUSA a couple months ago had a giant dumpster (bigger than construction sized ones. It was a dumpster the size of the compactor dumpsters without the compactor) and that had like 20 old school monitors in it. Not worth taking but it was still pretty cool to find it (and likewise destroy a few).

I live near Raven Software (http://www.ravensoft.com/games.aspx) and went there one night. There were 8 empty 8800 GTX boxes. I was so disappointed (at the fact they didn't throw any of the old ones away). I found a Dell P4 mobo there, though, so I was content. I went back another time and found a racoon. That wasn't quite as pleasant.

I will try to take pictures of all the stuff. There's so much crap I know I left stuff out. But keep in mind most of what you find is crap. I like to do it because: It's something to do, I find it fun, it doesn't cost anything to do, gets me exercise, and finding stuff that isn't junk is awesome.
 
GTA3mobster,

Not a bad collection of stuff. Which g4 apple did you find?

I haven't been dumpster diving in a while now. Did it all the time when I was in like middle school. We use to look for porn.
 
A few years ago, there was a hurricane on the East Coast that knocked out all the power in Maryland. I was working at the Colesville Giant grocery store. We were ordered to through away any refrigerated food. We threw out about 35 thousand dollars worth of food. When I say we, it was me and 2 other guys. Kind of like a Salvation Army assembly line in the commercials, but we were throwing the stuff away, lol.

Just thought you'd like to hear the other side of the coin, in regards to the dumpster experiences. :)
 
aardvark sandwich said:
A few years ago, there was a hurricane on the East Coast that knocked out all the power in Maryland. I was working at the Colesville Giant grocery store. We were ordered to through away any refrigerated food. We threw out about 35 thousand dollars worth of food. When I say we, it was me and 2 other guys. Kind of like a Salvation Army assembly line in the commercials, but we were throwing the stuff away, lol.

Just thought you'd like to hear the other side of the coin, in regards to the dumpster experiences. :)
Click to expand...

That's a safety issue, not corporate greed.

GTA3mobster said:
My advice for dumpster diving:

When a garbage can is full of bags, take the bags out of the dumpster (without getting trash all over the place) to get as deep as possible. Start with the bags that remain in the dumpster. It's best to move all the bags to the front of the dumpster and work them to the back (eg. tear bags, dump stuff in back and sort through it). Once you get finished looking through the bags left in the dumpster, get out and put the bags you took out and get back in. Repeat the same process.

For dumpsters that are moderately full, sometimes it's easiest to just take several bags off the top, find a pallet/something to stand on (I'm about 5'10" and it's difficult to reach into the dumpster without jumping halfway in. Which hurts a lot after a while), tear and dump the bags into the dumpster and sort it while standing outside of the dumpster. This way you don't have to work while in the trash.
Click to expand...

Don't do the dumping thing unless you're pretty sure it has something. One, it tips them off, two, its pretty dickish. Think about your cans and if someone did that to your trashbags.

And yes, do tell, what kinda Powerbook?

plinko said:
I've made over $200 selling software on eBay I found dumpster diving. :D Staples is a gold mine! Of course, it's very important to be honest if you are doing this for profit. NEVER sell anything without complete packaging and UPC's.
Click to expand...

Yes, staples is :D
 
anyone in the bay area up for this send me a pm, dont wanna go alone on my first time.
 
Here is what I got so far from 2 cities close to where I live:
Sir,

Article XV, Section 13 of the Milford By-Laws prohibits other than trash
haulers or town officilas, without the consent of a landowner or the owner
of the items, from opening, rummage through or disturb any garbage, rubbish,
or toher trash items or other items placed on or near a public or private
way for removal or recycling. A fine of not exceeding $200 is the penalty.

XxxXXxxXXXxxXX
Chief of Police
Click to expand...

And this from another city:
The only thing that is required is that the dumpsters have a permit and
a lid or an enclosure 3 feet higher than the top! There is no regulation
for people going through the dumpsters! I would recommend calling the
police and have them move him if it is a problem for the neighborhood!
Lt XxXXxXXxXXxXxXX
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1st City has: RadioShack,Best Buy, Staples, and Target :( So sad I can't DD there.
2nd City: Staples, Walmart, and small computer stores :)
 
A friend of mine and I were caught while hitting a Staples dumpster by a "friendly" policeman. Made up a bullshit excuse about needing boxes, he bought it.

Took down our driver's license numbers, let us go.
 
Anybody in the Raleigh, NC area / Wake Forest, NC area interested in going? I've got a Gamestop, Walmart, Radio Shack/Sprint, Staples, Target within a 1 mile radius from my place.
 
Seemund said:
Here is what I got so far from 2 cities close to where I live:


And this from another city:


1st City has: RadioShack,Best Buy, Staples, and Target :( So sad I can't DD there.
2nd City: Staples, Walmart, and small computer stores :)
Click to expand...

If you feel litigious, ask a lawyer if the first one can be considered to apply only to garbage picked up by the city and not private waste contractors.
 
I just found an older analog Direct TV box, this summer. I put it on a shelf, I just looked at it again and it turned out to be a DVR with a 160GB Seagate HDD in it.

Another good place to check is apartment buildings around May/June right around the time that college gets out. Students throw out pretty much everything, especially in rich areas.

If you're into DD hard core, check out the Carolina Linesman boots, they have both steel toe and a steel shank sole. I'm going to get a pair mainly for my motorcycle, but they'll be really good for protection from rusty nails and such.
 
ok, i know this is dying, but i had a great find tonight.

I live in South Korea, and they have LAN places EVERYWHERE, and this one dude had some old PC's sitting out, all water logged and everything. So i took my screwdriver, and got 5 fans out of them... and then as i was leaving, on this concrete ledge, there was this lone processor, im looking at it right now, and all i can raed it the "Pentium4" part :eek::eek:

it was a nice find... and BTW, it does work!
 
I went to the local rival computer shop in town....and found some stuffs :) :

1. Complete computer with the following:

ECS 775 mobo (dead..burn hole)
775 P4 3.0 (dead)
stock HSF (fan works :) )
250gb sata seagate (dreaded clicking noise)
9800XT 256mb vid card (not tested yet) was laying in the case :eek:
cheap powersupply (dead) fan works

2. kinda parted computer:

Fried 939 mobo (asrock dual sata2)
X2 3800 (works and is in a buddys computer)
stock HSF works
9800PRO (works)

and they both had cases but were front panelless :(

not bad for a first time at that shop :) now i know where to go
 
im located in GA, and we have a frys electronics store....i think I can find some goodies over there, but a store of that size will likely have a compactor....i'll have to check next time i go over there......but im a little nervous because i never went DD....
 
ps3guru03 said:
im located in GA, and we have a frys electronics store....i think I can find some goodies over there, but a store of that size will likely have a compactor....i'll have to check next time i go over there......but im a little nervous because i never went DD....
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Where in GA? If its the Fry's in Duluth, then no need to bother, I've tried and they have a compactor. And there is really no need to be nervous, having a few collapsed boxes in the trunk has worked every time I have had a visit from the security/police.
 
my girlfriend was cleaning up after xmas and threw away a $100 american express gift card. Fortunately, the compactor in our apartment complex broke and all the trash goes into an open top dumpster at the edge of the development. I dove in, did some excavation, and found the gift bag that had the card / gift certificate. hooray for me, thankfully I got it before you guys found it.
 
The second Wednesday of each month is Big Trash day here. Last month I was on my way home from a friend's house (doing computer repair, interestingly enough), and noticed that someone had a computer out on the curb. I stopped and took a look. Nothing big--a Dell uATX system with a Celeron 500MHz, but it was in perfect working condition. A little extra RAM from my sister's old-and-busted system, a bit of dusting out, and it runs like a champ. It'll become my file/print server in the very near future. Heck, if I spent $10 to put a 1GHz celeron in there, I could use it for Ubuntu pretty well.
 
Scar1.8T said:
Where in GA? If its the Fry's in Duluth, then no need to bother, I've tried and they have a compactor. And there is really no need to be nervous, having a few collapsed boxes in the trunk has worked every time I have had a visit from the security/police.
Click to expand...

yup...duluth...ohh....darn it...hmm, thanks for the tip.....also, did you try visiting the alpharetta location...im thinking they also have a compactor...??
 
never did this. what time of day do you go and what day of the week? is it completely legal? :eek:
 
SonOfMore said:
When I was a little kid I found a wallet in the street complete with $60 in cash and photo I.D.'s. Me being the good Boy Scout that I am, called the guy up and delivered it to his apartment. He was so impressed that the Boy Scout returned his wallet that he gave me all three twenties that were inside. Sweet!
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wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


too risky!
 
SippieCup said:
i live in fairfield county, the only place around there to go to is norwalk near the costco/home depot/walmart/CC/bestbuy area on the post road.
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:wave: Ansonia here. But I work at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. Haven't tried dumpster diving yet..
 
Ok so it's probably not DD, but I was fixing a friend's computer today and they gave me a Compaq PC, P4 2.4Ghz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, keyboard, and mouse :)
 
I got a socket a athlon and mobo and a 9200 Se out of compusa dumptser. Only the video card worked.
 
mnewxcv said:
wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
too risky!
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Nah, when I was younger and looked kinda scary, I returned a couple wallets and some kid's backpack. There's nothing better than knocking hard on a door and sternly asking, "Is Billy home?" to a stunned parent, then smiling and saying, "I found his backpack!"
 
ps3guru03 said:
im located in GA, and we have a frys electronics store....i think I can find some goodies over there, but a store of that size will likely have a compactor....i'll have to check next time i go over there......but im a little nervous because i never went DD....
Click to expand...

Yeah I know the procedure at Fry's...in CA anyway, if the service department has any old components that still works in some form but a majority of the system is dead, it gets chucked onto a pallet, wrapped and then sent out through the receiving section to the local HQ where it most likely becomes a brand new Fry's system from all the working components or it finds a new home with the guys that work at the HQ. Same thing with the new systems that are faulty, they get sent to the manufacturer via receiving. Your best bet is the HQ where everything gets repaired or scrapped/recycled.
 
dscn2009ay3.jpg

dscn2010ad3.jpg

dscn2011mk5.jpg


Check out this beauty. No power cord. If anyone has any info on this machine, please contact me.
 
I cannot find anything on this system besides it being a Japanese market only system, and from the looks of it a very old one...possibly a p90 CPU, nothing usable for current software, windows 3.11 is your best bet.
 
Outamyhead said:
I cannot find anything on this system besides it being a Japanese market only system, and from the looks of it a very old one...possibly a p90 CPU, nothing usable for current software, windows 3.11 is your best bet.
Click to expand...

What about NetBSD? I'm a Linux user, so if I can load something Unix-y onto it, I'd be happy. Still need to figure out what to do for power. The battery is marked as 12V 1800mAh - if I can find a DC power supply that puts out 12V (I actually already have one, puts out 12V and 1000mA) and enough amperage, could I just hack off the end and construct a plug that fits? Could I even use an unused PC power supply configged as a bench supply and run the thing off the 12V line?

Alternatively, are there any "old computer" forums that I can register on?

Thanks!
 
Boomslang said:
What about NetBSD? I'm a Linux user, so if I can load something Unix-y onto it, I'd be happy. Still need to figure out what to do for power. The battery is marked as 12V 1800mAh - if I can find a DC power supply that puts out 12V (I actually already have one, puts out 12V and 1000mA) and enough amperage, could I just hack off the end and construct a plug that fits? Could I even use an unused PC power supply configged as a bench supply and run the thing off the 12V line?

Alternatively, are there any "old computer" forums that I can register on?
Click to expand...
I'd be willing to bet that your 12V 1000mA power supply would work just fine, although you should check the input power jack (if there is one) to confirm the requirements. And you definitely can set up a 12V PSU to run it.
 
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