BolognaBeach

I have always kept old wire to bring to the scrap yard. I only use 3 categories - Aluminum - dirty copper - bright copper. I don't go into any further sorting. I've always thrown light fixtures and fans away. I was thinking today that I should probably craigslist this stuff. This got me thinking about the 400+ circuit breakers in my shop that have an inch of dust on them and all of the panels and misc pipe etc. that I throw away. Does anyone get more involved in scrapping or reselling? I'm just curious how much "easy" money I might be throwing away.

Ontariojer

ALL metal gets saved and scrapped. If you have the room, it is totally worth saving every little piece of metal. I figure I have to clean up anyway, so I have two buckets, 1 for metal, and 1 for grbage.

I save it up and If I have a slow day(and feel like it) I do some sorting/breaking down. This only really works if you have room to keep it, otherwise I would just save non-ferrous.

Also, around here anyway, you get paid in cash. Tax free baby.

BolognaBeach

That's what I've been thinking. I guess it just takes a little practice to learn how to break everything down. I have plenty of room for this. What about breakers?

brian john

We cleaned out and got a fair amount for scrap steel and stainless. I had 100"s of pounds os 1/4", 5/16" and 1/2" stainless hardware.

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Brian John
Leesburg, VA

btharmy

I just finished a high bay retrofit a couple weeks ago. Instead of scrapping the 80, 400w metal halides I listed them on C.L. All I did was take them down and line them up by a dock door. I had 4 calls the first day. I made over $500 off of them. They pulled up and loaded them themselves. No tearing down and separating the components, transporting to scrap yard before they close. I'll never scrap high bays again.

jordan_paul

And I tried selling thirty 400w MH highbays with lamps on Kijiji and all I got was crickets. I started at $40 a highbay, then went all the way down to $5 a high bay also stating I would take trades and I didn't get one call or email about them. I got so tired of seeing them on my shop floor everyday I scrapped them and I think I made 60 bucks off them.

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A wooden fire escape!?

btharmy

Yeah, I was surprised at the response. Got everybody from electricians to homeowners to an old farmer. I also had a deadline set for them to be removed from the jobsite or they would be scrapped. Most $ I got was $20 for the first few. Then $10, then $5 for the rest. Still better than scrapping them.

sbrn33

Would you pay $40 bucks for a twenty five year old fixture that you can buy new now for $85? Just saying

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Stop trying to think logically, it won't help you here. Just do as we say and everything will be alright.

Duaneallenmoss

I live in seattle, do anyone on here know who pays the most for scrap? Wire/ or what i should be getting for my bright and shiny?

brian john

Call the three scrap yards closest to you and sell to the lowest bidder like our customers DO. ...........OH WAIT THAT DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT...

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Brian John
Leesburg, VA

millelec

I work in a boiler/chiller plant that serves several residential highrises. We scrap everything that doesn't move fast enough...copper pipes/tubing/coils, plain steel, stainless, motors, pumps, and wire. it adds up quickly, plus we're upgrading/renovating, so there's been a huge amount recently. makes the wife happy, if nothing else.

Bbsound

I won't mess with plain steel unless I have to put it in the truck anyway. I will take the time for amounts of stainless, etc.

I had a guy buy 4-14' steel light poles from me that we were demoing in a parking lot. I dropped them on the ground and he used the wire inside of them to tie them on top of his girlfriends explorer. I wonder how far he made it.

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The NEC is the MINIMUM standard.

347sparky

I drive my service van home everynight so any type of metal scrap left in the van goes into a barrel and a buddy of mine that junks out cars usually gets it and puts it in a crusher car. Short pieces of conduit, hid ballasts, damaged junction boxes, old attic fans, and sometimes motors. I called him up one day when we were tearing out some old 8' strip lights from an old school and he loaded them all up on a trailer. Those were some thick guage heavy fixtures put in around 1960 and made in the USA. Yes, the ballasts were stripped out and put into barrels for proper disposal.

brian john

If it is recyclable I take it. I have garbage cans in both warehouses for recycling plastic and cans from trucks, boxes for copper and aluminum, stainless and steel, brass,

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Brian John
Leesburg, VA

mikeh32

I own a cash register re-selling company.

you have no idea how much money is made from re-cycling

erics37

I scrap copper and aluminum, mainly, as well as junk coils/transformers, etc. Aluminum just goes in a bin as-is. I strip all my copper #12 and bigger with my wire stripping gizmo.

YouTube Video

JoeKP

Exactly how I do it. I even scrap old switches and outlets. My scrap yard knows me well and pretty much doesent care what or how I bring it. I also scrap all copper aside from phone/Ethernet wire. I just toss that in my bin of stranded. Which is 1.23$/pound. There is always a mixed bin in the van that I sort when it gets full. Always worth the time in the end when I cash out at the scrap yard. Any good parts and whatnot go on Craigslist. If no sell or reuse I scrap it.
Got some ac window units from a town job and have someone coming to buy one tomorrow for 65$ other one is up for 200 and the last one is dead and for scrap.

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Don't believe me? too bad....

Absolutetruthz

I scrap my copper and metal at the end of the year for Christmas money. #6 and larger I will strip, anything else goes in the stranded pile

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