Unpacking Electronic Goldmine's Super Surprise Box
localroger
Posts: 3,451
Admit it, you've wondered what you would get if you dropped seven bucks on Electronic Goldmine's Super Electronic Surprise Box.
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G9321
Well, let's unpack it!
Oh. My. God.
Let's start by separating out the larger stuff.
Starting at the upper left, we have a 1-minute countdown timer which EGM sells for 50 cents. Three speaker assemblies removed from equipment, one with bonus battery leakage. A complete camera flash unit, and a battery holder board from a geiger counter.
Then we have 13 heavy duty 3P3T switches. EGM sells these 3 for $1, and it's not as crazy an item as it might seem; 3T makes for center-off polarity reversal, with the third P informing a microprocessor of the switch position. Then a dozen SPDT mini sliders, and three DPDT toggles.
The big electrolytic cap is 680uF at 250V. Below it are three rubber weatherproofing grommets.
To the left the three medium base sockets are light-control converters; they turn the bulb on when the photo-eye is blocked. Next are two bags of 5 Dialight 3-LED indicators, which EGM sells for $1.25/bag. There's a cheap lamp switch and a half dozen 2200uF @ 25V caps. Two bags of fuses which have wire leads soldered on. The three IC's are 6-supply power regulators, and there's a longely PCB mount RJ45 phone jack.
In the lower left corner, I don't know WHAT those things are. They look like bearings but they're plastic and have no moving parts, and the dark ring is magnetic -- they weakly repel each other. Magnetic bearings? And wrapping it up about 50 taped red LED's.
Separating out the small stuff requires some strategy. By far the most ubiquitous components are the tiny SMD pushbuttons and 470 pF capacitors at either end of the tray at the lower right; these are packed into every nook and cranny of the original box. There's a couple hundred of each, and they both sell for 20 cents each in very large quantities over at Digi-Key. Also in that tray are a dozen 2SC2026 NPN transistors, which aren't your garden 2N2222 replacements; they're low-noise and VHF/UHF capable, and EGM charges 83 cents each for them. There's also a half dozen two-LED dialight indicators and a couple of 5-volt DPDT relays.
At the upper left we have about 50 5-ohm 1% power resistors. Assuming they're 1 watt Digi-Key wants 50 cents each for 'em in big quantities. There's enough here to build a toaster oven. Next over are about 20 2.2K 5% resistors and a handful of resistor packs of dubious provenance. The yellow caps are 2.2 uF 160V. The little square connectors are odd and not very useful; they are PCB mount with three machined IC socket pins, receiving some kind of assembly I don't have.
Below the 5 ohm resistors are five 220 uF 16V caps, then a small pile of miscellaneous resistors; it's striking how few of these there are. The single big power resistor is 2.7K, and if it's 5 watt rated it's exactly the right size to use as a heating element wired across 110 VAC. Next over are half a dozen power diodes I haven't been able to identify, limiting their usefulness.
Then we have header pins. A nice pile of 4-pin thru-hole mount just right for prop plugs, a line of dual row vertical surface mount, and a pile of clippable thru-hole 10-pin right angle headers.
Below the headers are 11 yellow plastic circular mounts or spacers; they are threaded but not all the way through.
To the left of that is a large pile of 25 amp spade fuses, followed by a generous handful of 1/4 inch crimp spade connectors. It wraps up with a small pile of 473Z (.047 uF) caps (again 20 cents each), and some ceramic dip caps and an odd little ferrite coil with a couple of resistors soldered on.
So is it worth seven dollars? I think I got seven bucks worth of entertainment out of just taking the box apart.
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G9321
Well, let's unpack it!
Oh. My. God.
Let's start by separating out the larger stuff.
Starting at the upper left, we have a 1-minute countdown timer which EGM sells for 50 cents. Three speaker assemblies removed from equipment, one with bonus battery leakage. A complete camera flash unit, and a battery holder board from a geiger counter.
Then we have 13 heavy duty 3P3T switches. EGM sells these 3 for $1, and it's not as crazy an item as it might seem; 3T makes for center-off polarity reversal, with the third P informing a microprocessor of the switch position. Then a dozen SPDT mini sliders, and three DPDT toggles.
The big electrolytic cap is 680uF at 250V. Below it are three rubber weatherproofing grommets.
To the left the three medium base sockets are light-control converters; they turn the bulb on when the photo-eye is blocked. Next are two bags of 5 Dialight 3-LED indicators, which EGM sells for $1.25/bag. There's a cheap lamp switch and a half dozen 2200uF @ 25V caps. Two bags of fuses which have wire leads soldered on. The three IC's are 6-supply power regulators, and there's a longely PCB mount RJ45 phone jack.
In the lower left corner, I don't know WHAT those things are. They look like bearings but they're plastic and have no moving parts, and the dark ring is magnetic -- they weakly repel each other. Magnetic bearings? And wrapping it up about 50 taped red LED's.
Separating out the small stuff requires some strategy. By far the most ubiquitous components are the tiny SMD pushbuttons and 470 pF capacitors at either end of the tray at the lower right; these are packed into every nook and cranny of the original box. There's a couple hundred of each, and they both sell for 20 cents each in very large quantities over at Digi-Key. Also in that tray are a dozen 2SC2026 NPN transistors, which aren't your garden 2N2222 replacements; they're low-noise and VHF/UHF capable, and EGM charges 83 cents each for them. There's also a half dozen two-LED dialight indicators and a couple of 5-volt DPDT relays.
At the upper left we have about 50 5-ohm 1% power resistors. Assuming they're 1 watt Digi-Key wants 50 cents each for 'em in big quantities. There's enough here to build a toaster oven. Next over are about 20 2.2K 5% resistors and a handful of resistor packs of dubious provenance. The yellow caps are 2.2 uF 160V. The little square connectors are odd and not very useful; they are PCB mount with three machined IC socket pins, receiving some kind of assembly I don't have.
Below the 5 ohm resistors are five 220 uF 16V caps, then a small pile of miscellaneous resistors; it's striking how few of these there are. The single big power resistor is 2.7K, and if it's 5 watt rated it's exactly the right size to use as a heating element wired across 110 VAC. Next over are half a dozen power diodes I haven't been able to identify, limiting their usefulness.
Then we have header pins. A nice pile of 4-pin thru-hole mount just right for prop plugs, a line of dual row vertical surface mount, and a pile of clippable thru-hole 10-pin right angle headers.
Below the headers are 11 yellow plastic circular mounts or spacers; they are threaded but not all the way through.
To the left of that is a large pile of 25 amp spade fuses, followed by a generous handful of 1/4 inch crimp spade connectors. It wraps up with a small pile of 473Z (.047 uF) caps (again 20 cents each), and some ceramic dip caps and an odd little ferrite coil with a couple of resistors soldered on.
So is it worth seven dollars? I think I got seven bucks worth of entertainment out of just taking the box apart.
Comments
Thanks for sharing the adventure!
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G2200
Can you estimate what was the shipping weight of the box?
Well their writeup for the $7 box says straight up that it's just like the $5 box but with some bigger stuff mixed in. What was very striking about the $7 box is how much stuff they crammed in, apparently by carefully mixing small stuff likethe SMT buttons into fill up all the nooks and crannies between the larger items. Anyway I already also did the IC box (and see you did one too), do I have to do everything around here?
It was about three pounds. I was startled when the box arrived because I didn't realize how large and heavy it would be. The main focus of the order was a bag of 100 LED's and I added the surprise box and a couple of pocket helpers to make the minimum and make it more worth the shipping.