[rescue] Old PSUs & boards: useful to teach self?

[William Enestvedt]

So I have this old Sequent chassis that's getting tossed, and I decided
to take a look inside: how often does a liberal arts guy like myself get
to pick through such a pile of circuits?

   Anyway, I have a few questions for any bitheads/gearheads on this
list that are willing to help me broaden myself:

   1. Will opening the PSUs kill me? Is there anything in there to see?

   2. What is that one component on a SCSI board that looks like an
inch-wide doughnut wrapped a few times in heavy copper wire? I STFW and
I can't find an Idiot's Guide To What That Electronic Thing Is (though
there are links to damn near everything else at:
http://amasci.com/amateur/elehob.html).

   3. Is there anything worth scrounging from this beast in the way I
get good magnets out of old HDs, or spare RAM? No, the CPUs are long
long, though the terminal is up in the Data Center acting as a head for
my V890s & T2000s. :7)

   Thanks in advance.

- Will
--
Will Enestvedt
UIS Database Team Lead & Unix System Administrator
Johnson & Wales University -- Providence, RI