Scraping Copper Wire?

I have alot of scrap electrical wire ranging from 8-12 gauge. Getting ready to take it to the scrap yard and get some cash for it. I know they will take the wire with the coating on it. How much of a price difference is there between grade 1 copper wire with the coating still on compared to if I stripped all the coating off? I easily have a couple thousand ft in scrap so im trying to figure out if stripping it will be worth it. Thanks in advance for all the info Dave

 

call the yard you want to take it to.... every one has a slightly different price scale in use. i regularly have copper pipe to recycle (construction plumber) and i know three different yards here in SD that i call and go with whoever is giving me the most that day. and it can change daily.

 

Burn it off.

 

What he said! We used to do this with old burnt out motors. Within 6 months we had 800lbs of #1 copper

 

Besides burning are there any other clever tricks or shortcuts. Burning is kinda out of the question for where I live. So I guess Im going to have to get a box of razor blades and start cutting and stripping lol :down:

 

I would strip the bigger stuff.

12 gauge? Hell no.

Call the scrap yard and ask the price difference. Also, shop around. The bigger the yard the better the price. With enough wire it might be worth a drive to a bigger location.

 

About all the electricians I see strip the wire, it must be more profitable to them.

 

I have some wire that I am going to be scrapping too but I really just don't have the time to be stripping wire for a couple more bucks. I wouldn't think the difference is that much.

 

If they're on the clock, I would imagine so..

 

I only strip the bigger stuff. The smaller stuff is too time consuming, if you cant burn.

 

It usually doesn't, not enough for me to spend hours stripping. If it's bigger wire, like #500 copper etc, yeah it's quick to strip and the return is better for your investment of time.

p.s. You wanna go to Blaze Recycling in Gainesville, Jeff. They pay the best in the area.

 

Keep your wire secure or someone will strip it for you....

 

Gainesville or Norcross?

 

#8 AWG and bigger is the only stuff worth stripping. Here in ATL copper is up around $4/lb (for #1) these days. Its been a long time since i fooled with taking any to the scrap yard, but when i did, copper was about $1.10/lb for #1 stripped, and only .40/lb with the insulation still on it, so yes, it was WELL worth it to strip it out.

Oh, and here in GA, i wouldnt get caught burning the stuff. Its about a $25k fine, first offense. Burning off insulation is the equivalent to burning rubber tires, which will get ya in trouble really quick.

 

Many of the auto junkyards nowadays have machines that will strip for you. They'll get you close to scrap pricing as well.

Do NOT get caught burning. You'll lose your ass.

 

Gainesville, don't know how well the Norcross location pays. I'd imagine it would be the same/close.

That's what I though too, didn't wanna talk out my ass.

 

A friend of mine just bought a machine he feeds wire through and it strips it for him for the most part.......he strips a LOT of scrap wire regularly so I guess it was a good investment for him.

 

Is he the guy who keeps taking the wires from the freeway streetlights in Charlotte?

 

Are we scraping the wire or scrapping it, or both?

 

Groving it.