I am currently student observing/teaching at a college laboratory preschool. One of the classrooms is collecting old VCRs and letting the clients take them apart with screwdrivers and other metal tools. A quick Google shows that there are capacitors in VCRs (I didn’t know that). Is there any danger in letting the little tykes poke around in there? The teacher didn’t seem too concerned. When I asked her about it, she said “oh—the person who donated them is an engineer, so I guess it’s OK,” or something to that general effect. I’m not convinced. Is there anything in a VCR that can fry a four-year-old?
There are capacitors in almost everything, but most of them aren’t dangerous. The ones in (old) TVs are, because they have to be very high-energy to power a vacuum tube, but I can’t imagine any reason why a VCR would need something comparable.
Obviously, you’d want to UNPLUG the VCR before handing it to a kid for destruction.
Kids and disassembly come naturally. I had a couple of very talented, mechanically-inclined nephews who (1) took apart a tricycle with basic tools, and (2) removed the sink from a doctor’s office wall with NO tools. And I’m talking pre-schoolers.
Someone with more electrical know-how than I possess would have to answer your question about capacitors. I’d really doubt electrocution-style harm could occur, but I might be wrong.
One of the above-mentioned nephews had a baby brother who stuck a screw driver in an electric outlet. He got a shock nasty enough to make him cry. When his mom called the doctor to see if this warranted an ER visit, she was told it was a good thing his diaper was dry.
~VOW
The capacitors will have lost their charge long ago so you don’t need to worry about any electrical hazards. Will each child be fairly well supervised? If the electrical cord is still attached to the VCR the child could plug it in and then there definitely would be some exposed dangerous parts inside the VCR.
Any other dangers would be purely physical. If the VCR is old enough it will have through-hole components on the circuit boards, which means that the solder side of the circuit boards will have all of the component leads sticking through. You could scrape your hand up a bit if you handle that roughly. There are also some metal bits that a child could poke or hurt themselves with. There isn’t anything in there that is knife sharp or anything like that though.
Preschool age seems a bit young to let them poke around with something like this. I would be more comfortable if the child was more around the age of 9 or 10.
Geez—we may be preschool teachers, but credit us with some intelligence. 
The tails are snipped off as soon as they come through the door.
ETA: re second and third paragraphs. We let 'em saw 2 X 4s with real 12-point wood saws, so there’s no helicoptering going on at this facility.
I’d be very mildly concerned about lead and other toxic metals in the components. There’s not much lead in solder, but there is likely some in the solder used in a VCR.
I mean, it’s probably fine, but without having a parts list, who knows.
Ok but what about the VCRs?
these things are full of dozens of parts that are not easily recognized or appreciated for what they are. lots of unscrewing, lots of work and i don’t think the kids will gain much. agree that the component leads are sharp and metal parts that are sharp (even experienced technicians get poked and scrapped sooner or later). plenty of small screws and parts that some kid might put in the wrong place.
they would get more out of taking apart something less complex like a toaster or a blender. the only downside to that is the occasional kid who now feels qualified to do repair on the home appliances.
Just make sure you have plenty of marshmallows around.
There may be sharp edges inside the device - in particular, if there are any electronic components shielded by thin metal boxes, the edges of those boxes may well be finger-slicing sharp. There also might be fargile glass components in there (Vacuum Fluorescent displays, for example).
There may be potential for little fingers to get pinched in some of the mechanical components.
There will probably be some unpleasantly dirty things in there - lubricant greases, accumulated house dust and fine particles that have worn off the videotapes and internal mechanisms.
I wouldn’t be worried about any electrical hazards, as long as the devices aren’t, and can’t be plugged in.
I wouldn’t be worried about lead solder, as metallic lead isn’t particularly dangerous., but there could be other things in there that are toxic. If there are damaged capacitors or batteries inside, the exposed contents could be toxic or corrosive.
It could be a lot of fun, and quite safe if properly supervised, but there are risks. Exactly what age kids are we talking about here? (‘preschool’ means 5 or under to me)
The metal frames will probably be stamped and folded, meaning sharp edges as mentioned.
Depends how preschool we’r talking - hopefully they don’t put lead soldered components in their mouths…
Capacitors discharge over time, the greater the resistance in the circuit, the longer the time. The biggest issue might be the giant capacitors used to smooth AC to DC, in the power supply; but those probably fully discharged if the thing has sat unplugged for a day. (or even for an hour. But the warning above is correct -for old tube type TVs, the flyback can generate 15,000 to 30,000 volts. Not good.)
The other danger, there wa an episode with the circuit board capacitors for computers about 10 years ago, where a Taiwan company manufactured electrolytic capaciptors that swelled, burst, and leaked acid. If anything looks suspicious on the circuit board, burned or broken, take it away from the tykes ASAP. However, it likely was working when abandoned so no problem.
DO you really want to teach kids this sort of stuff? I know my friend got very upset when I showed his 2 year old in the restaurant that the tops of the salt and pepper shakers could be unscrewed…
This
Beyond all the odd swallowing hazards, grease, and sharp objects I wouldn’t want a pre-schooler disassembling stuff because… they will. Unless the school is prepared to watch over them it’s inviting a problem.
Yes, I know when I got a tool set in Grade 2, I went out into the parking lot a few days later and drilled a hole in somebody’s tire. (Never told anyone that…) Plus, I melted a bit of one of the radio knobs on my dad’s car playing with the cigarette lighter, which seemed to work even if there was no key in the ignition.
my nephews got real tools for Christmas at age 2. caught them taking the TV apart.
No it’s not safe. It’s full of pieces that can be swallowed or stuck in eyes, ears, and noses. And not necessarily their own. That’s on top of the sharp stuff, and possibly something toxic.
Maybe I missed it reading through the thread but there are little springs all over the place in a VCR that are eye hazards if they launch when released.
Metal frames? That’d be one really old VCR. “Newer” ones had plastic chassis, hardly any metal of note outside the tape path and that’s usually not lined with sharp stuff. The main one to to look for is a metal shield over the head, these pieces tend to be really thin and thus auto sharp.
One small chance of danger is if it has a battery backup (and the battery isn’t completely dead). Shorting out the battery leads to rapid heating and a potential burst of it’s contents. Not good. Very few VCRs had battery backups though. Look for the usual coin style battery and pull it.
I’ve never seen a spring that was big enough and taut enough to be a concern in a VCR.
I was wondering if there was mercury or some such in vacuum fluorescent displays but they appear to be not especially hazardous, ingredients-wise. Perhaps the glass, if broken, would be the biggest problem. Later VCRs rarely had such a fancy display.
…but can they put it back together?
Swallowing or chewing on something (tiny screws) might be an issue for preschool. Sharp metal edges etc.
I’m not sure what benefits a kid that young would get from gutting a vcr. But, there’s nothing in there to hurt them.
Maybe do an art project? Glue some of the resistors and other parts onto a craft board?
Based on experience taking modern stuff apart, I’d find it hard to say no to any 4 yr old with the strength in his or her forearm and wrist to get out the screws. They seem welded into the plastic.