Lead from computer monitors

[corvette8n]

"Televisions, video and computer monitor use cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which have major amounts of lead."

Got this quote from an electronics recycling site.
another site said 3-5-lb lead in a monitor or computer terminal

When my son had his paper route he was always draggin home dead tv's.:(


How do we get this lead out.

[MT Gianni]

Remove the circuit boards and melt off the solder. My new monitor can't even weigh 5lb so I call BS on that one. Most recyclers are dealing with the 12 parts per million as being a lot mentality. Gianni

[400cor-bon]

there is a thin lead shielding around the CRT itself adehered to the glass.
very difficult to recover unless you can smelt glass

[wiljen]

Old TVs and computer monitors are dangerous to work on. That cathode ray tube acts like a giant capacitor and may hold a charge long after the monitor has ceased working. One needs to discharge the tube before thinking about doing anything else with these. Failing to do so can and has resulted in deaths. Personally, I'd rather pay for lead as fool with tubes, too much chance of getting hurt.

[AZ-Stew]

Some of the lead is combined with the glass (think "lead crystal" but on an industrial scale) to absorb x-rays generated by the CRT. Some of it is in the PCB solder. Heed the warning about the stored electrical charge.

All in all, I'd say it's not worth the effort to try to reclaim the small amount of lead in a monitor. I doubt there's more than an ounce or so you can access, anyway.

Regards,

Stew

[monadnock#5]

My pop had a buddy that repaired TVs as a sideline back when they were more tubes than circuit boards. He claimed that there was a hard enough vacuum in a picture tube to put a serious hurt on someone who broke one. He said the "safest" way to break the vacuum was to put the tube face down in a reinforced cardboard box, cover everything except the part with the electrical connector with multiple layers of rug remnants, and then use a long steel bar like a pool cue to knock the little glass tit ( located near the connector) off the tube. He said that he had done it several times, and that he had a cast iron jock strap for just such occasions.

[400cor-bon]

the "safest" way to break the vacuum

is put it on a stump and shoot it for at least 25 yards!

[corvette8n]

I put a tube in the garbage can, laid the can down and shot at the face with a pellet from about 20 feet, pellet just bounced off face. I then turned the tube around and shot at the thin back, did put several holes in it, after I was sure the vacuum was out, I stood up the can and smashed the tube up with a steel bar.
I noticed the front of the tube was an inch to inch and a half thick, no wonder the pellet bounced. I think a full metal jacket a 100 yards would be fun but a mess to clean up.

[JSnover]

Shooting them is most fun but the safest method I ever saw was to lay the tube face down, grab the wire terminal with a pair of pliers and give it a slow, firm twist. As it's pulled out it will create a leak. When you hear it stop hissing (air is being sucked in) you're done.

[Dark Helmet]

The way we were taught in electronics class was to put the picture tube face down on a pillow or other soft surface, put a shop towel over the 'teat', put on your safety glasses and snap the teat off with a pair of pliers.

[grumpy one]

There is a little projection at the back just near the rear plug connection. This is the pipe that was initially used to evacuate the tube in the factory. It is fairly small diameter and reasonably thin. I'm told the professional way to deal with the tubes is to put a 6" piece of metal strip with a hole just slightly larger than this pipe over the pipe, and just lift the far end of the strip. It neatly snaps the pipe off. Then there is a whoosh for a few seconds as air flows in through the pipe. Remember, be careful and be gentle. You just want the tip of the glass pipe to snap off. Then you've got a complete tube you can put in the garbage or whatever is the approved way to dispose of it, not a lot of loose graphite-coated glass all over the yard. BTW, when I was a little kid long, long ago I cut my finger on a very early (barely post-war) broken TV tube and got blood poisoning, necessitating penicillin injections. They may have changed what they put in those tubes by now, but I recommend you avoid leaving any pieces of them spread over the countryside where someone may cut themselves.

[trk]

I've broken up about 100 picture tubes. Other than a LOT of broken glass and powdered phosphors I've never seen any recoverable lead.

By the bye, the front of the picture tube will deflect a .22 several times before cracking enough to implode. If you use that approach don't hit the face, go for the side or neck.

Probably the safest is dropping into a metal garbage can from a second floor window. (Easiest to clean up too.) Kicking down a long staircase works too but is really messy to clean up.

Of note is the fact that a small (sometimes unnoticed) crack can make the pix tube let go at ANY time. My boss pulled one from a TV to replace it - the phone rang - he stepped into the next room to answer it and the tube let go!