Drives & media · Tier D

Zip & Jaz Drives

A drive that clicks rhythmically on insert has the Click of Death — scrap it; a quiet one is a $20–50 retro sale.

Cu 12–20 g/lbAu 0.005–0.015 g/lbBase plastic-heavy shells

eBay typical$10–45per lb

Refiner pays$0.1per lb

Metal in it$1.48per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencelowof the yield figures

How to spot it

Iomega Zip 100/250/750 in internal ATAPI, SCSI and parallel/USB external forms — blue-teal plastic, 3.5″ form factor. Jaz 1 GB/2 GB are SCSI only, dark grey. Found beside 1990s PCs, Macs, samplers and print-shop gear.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Copper	12–20 g/lb	Spindle and head coils, small PSU in external units
Gold	0.005–0.015 g/lb	Denser controller board than a floppy — estimated
Base metal	plastic-heavy shells	External bricks add a wall transformer worth its copper

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $1.48 per lb of contained metal — Gold 0.01 g = $1.31, Copper 16 g = $0.17. A refiner paying $0.1 per lb returns about 7% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: No heat needed — mechanical teardown only

Torx T10 shells; board and small motors out in minutes. External models: keep the SCSI/parallel cable and power brick with the unit — they carry half the resale.

Hazards

☠ Lead — dust more than fume

NEVER dry sweep or use compressed air on a scrapping bench. HEPA-vac or wet-wipe only.

Before you scrap it

Yes — working USB/parallel Zip $15–40, SCSI $30–80, Jaz drives $40–100 with a cartridge. Click-of-Death units are the only true scrap.

The common trap

Treating them as scrap plastic. SCSI Zip and Jaz drives feed music samplers (Akai, E-mu, Roland) and retro Macs — working SCSI units with a cable bring $30–80. The media is worth listing too: sealed Zip disks sell in lots.

Questions

How much gold is in zip & jaz drives?

Copper: 12–20 g/lb. Gold: 0.005–0.015 g/lb. At current spot that is about $1.48 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify zip & jaz drives?

A drive that clicks rhythmically on insert has the Click of Death — scrap it; a quiet one is a $20–50 retro sale.

How do you remove zip & jaz drives safely?

Torx T10 shells; board and small motors out in minutes. External models: keep the SCSI/parallel cable and power brick with the unit — they carry half the resale.

Is zip & jaz drives worth more working than as scrap?

Yes — working USB/parallel Zip $15–40, SCSI $30–80, Jaz drives $40–100 with a cartridge. Click-of-Death units are the only true scrap.

Related in Drives & media

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