University Surplus, Does It Exist in Australia?

SilentDissident on 29/06/2017 - 15:38
Last edited 30/06/2017 - 09:41 by 1 other user

For a little while now I have been looking into a technical project, specifically building a liquid nitrogen generator. I have a few American resources on doing such a project. They have a budget from around $500USD to a little over $1000USD. When I started to look for parts, mainly on eBay shipped from China, each individual part costs many thousands of Australian dollars. It could easily cost ten times the budget in the resources that I am using.

It seems the secret trick they were using to keep the costs somewhat reasonable was getting parts from university surplus. Which appear university selling their old, out dated, no longer needed equipment to the general public. Basically an OP shop.

My question is does anything like university surplus, where they sell the old equipment to the general public, exist in Australia?

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  activ8newbs on 29/06/2017 - 16:12

  I'm not sure..but i'd be curious too. My uni has really comfy chairs in teh library lol. Wouldn't mind one for my home office!

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  tio on 29/06/2017 - 16:41

  +2

  I'd assume you are doing work as part of a university assignment. If that is the case, try to get in touch with a lab supervisor to find out the disposal procedures are for end of life equipments. Most commonly, they will be rentals so just going back to the rental agency. Specialist lab equipments could have different treatments.

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  SilentDissident on 29/06/2017 - 18:12

  No, I am just an enthusiastic private citizen. I am wanting liquid nitrogen for three purposes freeze drying, molecular gastronomy and just general funsies.

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    tio on 30/06/2017 - 10:46

    Did you go to uni? Cold calling someone at your old school may works, never know.

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  mskeggs on 29/06/2017 - 18:23

  +1

  Judging from the gear when I was at uni (admittedly, last century), local universities hang onto stuff until decades after it is superseded.

  I think the funding model for research in the USA often results in a lab being equipped for a particular study, then being shut down. I think here model is the opposite, where the institution is ongoing with grants funding specifics.
  So there just may not be as big a market here.

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  aoeueoa on 30/06/2017 - 11:00

  Grays auctions are always selling university/scientific industry surplus equipment. It would take some scouring for a good few months to come across something like what you're after though, it's chance. As you can imagine there probably isn't a lot of that stuff in the country even, but when it goes for sale I can see it coming up on Grays.