Breaking down SMALL motors - the numbers

**redcrossnj** · 12-10-2013, 11:08 AM

was at my local yard doing my thing and this was in the parking lot almost ran it over . My school canceled today cause of snow so I figured I would post this thread .

the motor weighed in at 3.2 #
If I turned it in as is I would have got 0.96 cents

I broke it down .

heres what I got

6.3 oz of #2 copper at $2.70#=$1.05
1 pound 6.8 oz of shred at $0.09 #= $0.12
15.5 oz of FE aluminum at $0.20#=$0.19
0.04 oz of insulated wire at $0.90#=$0.0225

Total value AFTER breakdown= $1.38

A difference of 0.42 cents

toke me less then 5 mins, ive done a lot of motors .

I sometimes Buy what I think are high copper recovery DC motors from the yard I buy at for $0.40cents a #
sometimes. Might soon experiment with alternators

**Otto** · 12-10-2013, 11:16 AM

If you had bought the above motor for $0.40 per lb, you would have made 10 cents.

**redcrossnj** · 12-10-2013, 11:20 AM

yes I know I wont buy them that small unless the rotor is removed and the casing is off and its just the stator . I usually buy motors I know are 100% copper and have high recovery. I might buy an alternator and see what the return is.

**lousypirate** · 12-10-2013, 11:44 AM

.42 for <5 minutes of work...

if you were as quick as 4 minutes, you are only netting $6.30/hr extra profit...

I guess I could see larger motors with higher copper return.

I have an alternator on my shelf. I can tear it apart and weigh it out (when I buy a scale)

**jghilino** · 12-10-2013, 12:01 PM

you will do better on alternators at 40 cents than electric motors i think, alternators have heavy aluminum cases

**redcrossnj** · 12-10-2013, 12:10 PM

thanks . I can remove the rotor and sell it as an alternator at my other yard for .40 #. My plan was to remove the copper from the stator and separate the aluminum too .

**redcrossnj** · 12-10-2013, 07:33 PM

hopefully alternators will help me grow and my bottom line

**SCRAPCOWBOY** · 12-11-2013, 08:39 AM

If you fined a good core buyer you can get .50 to .60 per lbs for starters and alternators for scrap. Good cores can go as high as 25.00 each.

**redcrossnj** · 12-11-2013, 04:59 PM

not trying to sound like a rookie lol But any advice on how to find a core buyer ScrapCowboy?

**MattInTheHat** · 12-11-2013, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by redcrossnj

not trying to sound like a rookie lol But any advice on how to find a core buyer ScrapCowboy?

make friends with a mechanic, a lot of them go to garages to buy cores.

**redcrossnj** · 12-11-2013, 05:11 PM

might just do that . because starters are not worth buying to break down. alternators are though from what ive seen , if all else fails shop around to different mechanics

**ozzy214** · 01-24-2014, 09:36 PM

I had a 3 phase motor that weighed n a 37 lbs or $9.60ish in motor weight. I looked inside and maybe pushing 2 lbs copper if you lucky. So the moral of the story is, not all big motors are worth teardown.

Breaking down SMALL motors - the numbers

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