It means that these little buggers have 5 microns-not .5%.
There's an old saying "A little knowledge is dangerous"
Ask a simple question:
How much gold would there be on 10 pieces combined
Combined, 10 pieces of these fuses contain a
microscopic amount of gold, likely weighing between
0.0002 and 0.001 grams (0.2 to 1.0 milligrams) in total.
This amount is primarily decorative and functional, meant to prevent corrosion and ensure good solderability, rather than for intrinsic value.
🔍 Breakdown of the Gold Content
The gold on these fuses is found in the
gold-plated caps at each end.
- Plating Thickness: Standard gold plating for static electronic components like these is typically "gold flash," which ranges from 0.1 to 0.5 microns thick.
- Total Surface Area: Each fuse is roughly 6.1mm x 2.69mm x 2.69mm. The two end caps cover a small portion of this total area.
- Estimated Weight per Piece: Based on typical plating volumes for components of this size, a single fuse likely contains roughly 0.00002 to 0.0001 grams of gold.
- Total for 10 Pieces: Multiplying by 10 gives a total range of 0.0002g to 0.001g.
Is it worth recovering?
To put this into perspective:
- Value: At a gold price of roughly $100 CAD per gram, the total gold value for 10 fuses would be between $0.02 and $0.10 CAD (2 to 10 cents).
- Feasibility: Recovering this gold requires specialized chemical processes that would cost far more than the value of the gold itself.
The best gold plating we ever recovered was from military electronic scrap from the early 60-70's.
I'm going to Toronto this next week to my buddy's place, and will bring some of this high end stuff back for recovery.
Any quantity of irrelevant knowledge is what?
I do not see a link for your proffer that I could check. It does talk in generalities using the non specific terminology : 'typically'. So not definitive.
Which AI did you use? What was your exact question?
Over at Duck AI They came back specific. But who knows how good a job they do.
DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.
duckduckgo.com
It says This: 'Gold Content in LF7A Fuse
The LF7A fuse contains approximately 0.5% gold by weight.
Purpose of Gold in LF7A Fuse
Conductivity: Gold is known for its excellent electrical conductivity.
Reliability: The inclusion of gold enhances the reliability of the fuse in electrical applications.
This small percentage of gold contributes significantly to the performance of the LF7A fuse, making it suitable for various electrical uses.'
and this :
'The LF7A fuse contains approximately 0.5% gold by weight. This gold content is typically used for its excellent conductivity and reliability in electrical applications.'
Duck was queried Specific to these fuses. And came back specific. But how good is duck's 'fact' ? I dunno. I make no claim, just report findings.
But I fully admit I have not researched further. Still .... A little knowledge can be an interesting thing.
Reason I stumbled on this is because the big screen for my security system went zap and then dark. I did some disassembly to see if could replace a capacitor or some such and in that process noticed these nice looking fuses, so I asked duck. I couldn't find anything wrong to fix. Yesterday I ordered a new screen completing the online transaction about 1:53pm. Delivery scheduled for April 22-24. It arrived this morning at 11 am . Free delivery. Nioce! Now I have stuff to do about install.
There is not much else in there that looks gold plated.
I notice that the various boards and parts from this unit get real money on ebay. Problem is I don't know which one failed and certainly do not want to send out a bad part and tarnish my perfect rep from over ~25 years. ( need to check my start dates on various accounts )
So I might desolder one of these and weigh it. Some day. If you scrap electronics grabbing these particular fuses might be a good idea.
Maybe someone here has reliable data for this particular unit.
I wasn't suggesting purchasing them, just showed the ebay listing to clearly identify the unit.
are we all good now?
