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Plug Ends? What to do with them

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    Plug Ends? What to do with them

    Hey Fellow Scrappers, I have almost a 5 gallon bucket full plug ends from various appliances I have dismantled. The ends are non ferrous. I am wondering if anyone ever sell anything like that. Any and all feedback is appreciated.



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    most of the ends of plugs are brass and they can be removed its just a pain in the rear to do but they do add up after a while .. i think some are made of nickel im not sure . all you need is a good pair of pliers and lots of patience .. there is a couple of videos on youtube to show you how to remove them . i hope this helps .

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    I had a 55 gallon barrel of them that I finally dumped into my shred bin. Never found a buyer for them and it wasn'r cost effective to tear them apart.

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    I just saw a thread with this question asked, and I believe one of the suggestions given was to...

    "Bring a pot of water to a medium boil, turn off the heat, add plugs to just below water line, use pliers to pull out after a bit of soaking, and another set to yank the plugs out"

    I believe the feller used the term..'Comes out easier than cutting butter" or something along those lines. Forgive me poster who I cant recall posting this.

    Might be worth a shot.

    Sirscrapalot - Clips his ends, but just tosses them in a big ol'tv box till it's full.

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    I did the boil thing with some free propane and an outdoor burner. It worked well, even for the dryer/stove plug ends. I doubt it would make sense if I was paying for the propane. Mike.
    "Profit begins when you buy NOT when you sell." {quote passed down to me from a wise man}

    Now go beat the copper out of something, Miked

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    Haha...I found the link. Lets see if I can summon my inner Mech88 and make this work.

    It was from Trashmaster I've included a copy below, since it also links to the thread. Hope this helps.

    "The easyist way to process the PLUG ends is to collect a 5 gl bucket of them and Heat a 1 or2 gl metal pot with hot water to a mild boil .
    Turn off heat and add plugs , just under the water line.
    reach in with pliers or something else and get one and using another pair of pliers (just pull the brass out ) easy as cutting BUTTER.
    Trim off extra clean COPPER and SAVE>"

    Full article at Scrap Metal Forum: http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/disma...#ixzz2JPmgwDwC

    Sirscrapalot - Live, laugh, love..Its what it's all about.
    Last edited by Sirscrapalot; 01-29-2013 at 06:42 PM. Reason: No tagline from me is like a scrapper without tools!

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    Quote Originally Posted by miked View Post
    I did the boil thing with some free propane and an outdoor burner. It worked well, even for the dryer/stove plug ends. I doubt it would make sense if I was paying for the propane. Mike.
    depending on your location/bylaws you could always use wood for a heat source

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    I just use "Mother Nature" and have a black 5 gal bucket out in the sun to heat them up, does as good as boiling them.
    For the big dollar scrappers it may not be worth it to tear down but for us SIS scrappers, you get a little copper along with 3 brass plug bits.
    Our yard up here will buy them as a mixed brass with the plastic/rubber still on. Somewhere around .30 lb. mixed. Sure better than shred.
    P & M Recycling - Specializing in E-Waste Recycling.
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    Someone posted a link to a you tube vidio of a guy that used the plastic piece from a projection tv as a large magnifieing glass. You could use one of these to heat the blugs and pull the brass out. I've always just left the ends on my insulated copper wire becuase if you cut it off your losing wieght. I don't think it's worth my time to remove the brass but that's just me.

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    Hmmm, heating them makes sense. But on the plugs, I just roll them out with a pair of channel locks. It's really not that much effort. Usually pulls a short piece of copper wire out with it. Sometimes they break off down in the plastic.

    I haven't found a good way to deal with receptacle ends though. So if anybody has a good way to do it, please let me know.

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    Quote Originally Posted by telecomguy View Post
    Hmmm, heating them makes sense. But on the plugs, I just roll them out with a pair of channel locks. It's really not that much effort. Usually pulls a short piece of copper wire out with it. Sometimes they break off down in the plastic.

    I haven't found a good way to deal with receptacle ends though. So if anybody has a good way to do it, please let me know.
    Back in the old days I worked in a rubber factory and we would take the pieces and put them in a tumbler with dry ice and let them tumble the trimmings off. You freeze them and the rubber/plastic will shatter.

    Don't know of a cost effective way tho,,,

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    We always put our insulated wire out on the hood of a car for a couple hours in the summertime before stripping it. I think the same would work on those cord ends.
    I buy and sell all types of scrap and escrap. I buy specialty and hard to sell escrap. I buy resale items. PM me or contact me at jghilino@hotmail.com
    I AM ACTIVELY BUYING ESCRAP OF ALL TYPES. BOARDS, RAM, CPUS AND MUCH MORE

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  22. #13
    TheRecycler started this thread.
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    Thank you, this info really helps.

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    throw them in with the rest of your cords?
    collecting san joses scrap

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    I just might, lets see

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    Quote Originally Posted by telecomguy View Post
    Hmmm, heating them makes sense. But on the plugs, I just roll them out with a pair of channel locks. It's really not that much effort. Usually pulls a short piece of copper wire out with it. Sometimes they break off down in the plastic.

    I haven't found a good way to deal with receptacle ends though. So if anybody has a good way to do it, please let me know.
    I also use the channel locks. It works good and doesn't take much time.
    I did 20 last night then throw them in a coffee can.

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    I've actually been working on the 5 gal bucket I filled up.. Using channel locks to hold the plug and side cutters to pull the prong out. It's about as time consuming as snipping bulbs off christmas lights though.
    Garbage keyboards > spɹɐoqʎǝʞ ʎɐqǝ

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    Just a bit of maths.....
    In the UK we have 3 pin plugs there is the old (rewireable) and new (moulded on) types
    Old yield 20grams (0.7 oz) new 17 grams (0.6oz)
    Old 50 per Kg (23 per Lb) new 59 per Kg (27 per Lb)
    Brass is 2.20 GBP per Kg (1.00 per Lb)
    Thats $ 3.48 per Kg ($1.58 per Lb)
    So thats 3.75 Pence (5.9 Cents) for the new style
    and 4.4 Pence (7 Cents) for the old style
    Plus the cable inside the plug.
    So for a job you can do while watching TV it's money for nothing me thinks

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    .60 a pound as dirty brass here today...

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    Mine just get tossed into a scrap car.
    I'm so into scrapping.. When my Steel Toe Boots Wear out, I cut the Steel out of them and recycle the Toe!

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