Airbag sensors - what is the gold ball worth?

[Ash_Williams]

Airbag sensors have this gold-plated steel ball in them. I was told it was worth some money, but the guy who told me that had never sold one. Google wasn't helpful either. Does anyone have any information on these? I assume they're all the same since I have two of them from different makes of vehicle a decade apart and they're identical. I plan on taking a file to one of them to see how heavy the gold plating is.

[Mao s Dog]

Well, in theory, you should only have to cut a slice into the steel ball, and drop the ball in acid, which will destroy the steel leaving only the gold, and then you can just weigh what's left.

I will see if I can do some looking around and find the best acid to use for this. I think sulfuric at like 10% would do it.

[Libertarian_Guard]

My guess of the amount of gold and its value is very, very little.

Less than a fiat dollar. Perhaps about .25 cents.

I have worked with gold soder tape, app. 1/4 in. wide and thinner than paper. It would be difficult to weigh a piece that is six or eight feet long. Gold is so malleable, that scrap amounts sometimes don't add-up to any weight.

But good luck. You've already struck gold, now you've just got to keep adding it up.

[keehah]

Car ball gold. I expect one could be exchanged for a nice meal at the peak.

[ShortJohnSilver]

Airbag sensors have this gold-plated steel ball in them. I was told it was worth some money, but the guy who told me that had never sold one. Google wasn't helpful either. Does anyone have any information on these? I assume they're all the same since I have two of them from different makes of vehicle a decade apart and they're identical. I plan on taking a file to one of them to see how heavy the gold plating is.

If they are plated, even heavily, you will need a large number of them to have any appreciable gold.

The thickness that can be plated is no more than 100 microns (1/254th of an inch or so) and may be as little as 10 or 20 microns.

Best way to compute is to determine the total surface area of the plated gold. When you reach about 200 square feet of plated gold you have about an ounce. Steel is worth about 10 cents a pound as well, once you figure out how to get the gold off.

[Ash_Williams]

Damn... this is one more project I put on hold and forgot.
I'll have to remember to file one those later and see if there's any thickness to it.
If not they still make pretty marbles.

[Ash_Williams]

Ok, well I found the vice and hacksaw and the plating is too thin to be visible to the naked eye. Given that these things are about 1cm in diameter, I think I will just keep them as marbles.