Long time computer hobbyists- what do i do with my tub of cables?

[wirednuts]

you know what i mean-

at the top end i put the heatsinks and larger components. the lower 2/3 is solid cables most of them the 6' flavor. headphone, vga, dvi, hdmi, serial, usb, ide, power adapters... you get the point

i have this huge itch to sell the whole thing. it has 15 years worth of cables, adapters, heatsinks and power supplies... most of it never used. its the stuff you get with motherboards and such... the accessories you dont use. plus a lot of various cables from monoprice. plus power adapters to devices that either didnt need them or broke and the power supplies were fine so i kept them.

there is probably a couple hundred cables/adapters. about a dozen heatsinks and maybe three wallwarts/power supplies. it weighs around 70lbs easy.

its just getting to be too much. i mean its nice anytime i need something i can say 'go to the bin' but it always ends up being a 20min adventure... and i dont have space to properly sort it all out and shelve it.

i think i want to get rid of all my computer stuff. everything im buying now is portable and basically use and dispose. i dont need a pc workshop anymore

 

[Rastus]

I have one just like that. I use it for exercise because it's always in the way and I have to move it a lot.

 

[lxskllr]

Everything's neat, and in a bin. I'd keep it. You won't get much money, and it doesn't take much room. The first time you need something that's in that bin, it'll pay for it's storage.

 

[ImpulsE69]

hahaha mine are in various plastic bags in drawers around the house. At least yours are all in one spot

 

[RelaxTheMind]

Buy a can a gold metallic paint and spray the ends. Write "Monster Cable" on them with white out and sell it to people outside of best buy for $100 a pop.

 

[wirednuts]

Buy a can a gold metallic paint and spray the ends. Write "Monster Cable" on them with white out and sell it to people outside of best buy for $100 a pop.

!!!! gold dye!!!

it wasnt always like this. when i was a teen and this mass started building it was just loose cables. after awhile it turns into one GIANT ball of knotted string. its a nightmare. you see what you want too... its right there, but the end is somewhere else and you cant pull it through. it can be a hour before you get it out... oh the memories.

i have learned to buy a twist tie dispenser and wrap everything up as small as i can to avoid tangles and make digging easier.

 

[SandEagle]

donate to goodwill. get tax write off

 

[KaOTiK]

I'm pretty sure most of us that have been building our own PC's have bins/collections like that

I keep mine in a plastic bin thing under the bed lol

 

[wirednuts]

its only the good stuff of the things i have went through too! if i see anything broke or so old it will never be useful i throw it out.

i also have another bin full of electronic parts... leds, resistors, pots, chips, wire,... ugh that is so much more of a mess its not funny

 

[lxskllr]

Put an ad in your sig here. If someone needs something electrical, you can dig through your Tub O'Parts, and maybe sell them something cheap.

 

[wirednuts]

Put an ad in your sig here. If someone needs something electrical, you can dig through your Tub O'Parts, and maybe sell them something cheap.

i wouldnt mind doing that locally... i dont really want to ship hundreds of parts for a few bucks each.

i live in a city where there are hundreds of computer parts postings everyday though. i feel like im either dumping this whole tub on someone or im keeping it and continuing my madness.

 

[SSSnail]

Make an interesting sculpture out of it.

 

[Crono]

1 tub?

Try making it a couple boxes worth then get back to us

I have mine organized. More than one box of laptop adapters, a box for video cables (VGA, component, HDMI, RCA, etc.), a box for earbuds, a box for power cables, a box for IDE cables, another for SATA...

 

[lxskllr]

i wouldnt mind doing that locally... i dont really want to ship hundreds of parts for a few bucks each.

i live in a city where there are hundreds of computer parts postings everyday though. i feel like im either dumping this whole tub on someone or im keeping it and continuing my madness.

I'd keep it then. It would suck having to buy a $10 part when you once had it. That usually happens within 1 month of getting rid of your stuff :^D

 

[wirednuts]

I'd keep it then. It would suck having to buy a $10 part when you once had it. That usually happens within 1 month of getting rid of your stuff :^D

i know this bin has saved me countless times too. i bet my success rate is over 75% when i need something odd... at very least i can hack a few things together to get what i need.

 

[Matthiasa]

They could become weapons?
Besides eventually some year you might actually need one of those.

 

[Ichinisan]

I have a couple bins for that purpose, but I still have them all over the place. Most of my product packages still have the original power cord and accessories in them.

- a couple different right-angle adapters, an extender / pass-thru type (with older PC PSUs, you could power the monitor directly from the back of the PC's PSU using this type of cord)
- some short liberators
- some conventional cords (and one "mickey mouse" cord I put there by mistake) -1 of them looks NASTY!
- the one I mixed up is really thick for this type of cord
- a short PC AC cord, a "mickey mouse" type, a fancy 2-prong I found @ Goodwill (I think it's from an Apple TV), a normal 2-prong
- a box of AC adapters

 

[dr150]

I have bins just like that.

Not worth selling....ain't worth the time vs return.

You'll appreciate you have it when you need to something.

 

[wirednuts]

Besides eventually some year you might actually need one of those.

its half computer specific parts though. they have a time limit just like video cards and such. all the ide cables, floppy cables, firewire stuff, and pci cards. its all stuff thats barely usefull now and in 10 years it will be a waste of space.

maybe i just need to go through it all and throw away all the stuff that i dont see a future for. i mean, that is what i did to acquire this mass, but like i said 10 years ago most of this was very useful.

 

[Kelvrick]

Sell it and when you need one of those old cables, its going to cost you 2 bucks and a week of waiting or 50 bucks to get one that day.

 

[Ronstang]

I just bought a house and in the process of packing up all my stuff I realized just how much computer stuff I have collected over the last 12 years. It is staggering. I have tons of space in the new place, especially since I have it all to myself. I think I am pretty much going to throw just about all this stuff out in the trash. If it isn't relevant to current technology I see no reason to keep it anymore. I have had most of this stuff for years and haven't used most of it so what would make me think I will in the future. I don't have time to mess with old equipment anymore. I would rather just go to Fry's, Microcenter, or online and just buy new stuff when I need it.

 

[wirednuts]

its surprising what is useless when you really think about it. i have 2 wired mice in that bin, they are very nice. thing is, in my laptop bag i have 3 wireless mice that work just as well and cost less. i really dont ever see myself using a wired mouse again

 

[SparkyJJO]

Every time I throw out stuff I end up needing it a week later, even though I haven't needed it for the past 10 years.

 

[lxskllr]

its surprising what is useless when you really think about it. i have 2 wired mice in that bin, they are very nice. thing is, in my laptop bag i have 3 wireless mice that work just as well and cost less. i really dont ever see myself using a wired mouse again

I thought that too until my MX1000 decided to act up, and I couldn't find batteries for my MX700. I'm now using a wired ladybug mouse, and the cat incessantly plays with the cord while I use it :^D

 

[KaOTiK]

its surprising what is useless when you really think about it. i have 2 wired mice in that bin, they are very nice. thing is, in my laptop bag i have 3 wireless mice that work just as well and cost less. i really dont ever see myself using a wired mouse again

I thought the same thing about using a wireless mouse with my laptop, until my mouse started getting lots of interference from somewhere and became nearly unusable (mouse itself works fine tested on home computer) and went back to wired.

Point is, you never know when some of that "junk" will suddenly be useful.