Young Dumb and Coated in Aluminum

So I am new to scrapping. Well I guess I mean to say I have no idea what I am doing. This summer I got an awesome job and that the company I worked for was spending a lot of money buying special boxes that they boxed up recycleables and then called another company to come pick it up. After seeing copper wiring be put into these boxes and knowing that copper was actually worth something I offered to take what I could each day to mitigate their costs and potentially make a buck of my own. They were okay with this and I have been taking what pops up here and there off their hands.
I have to pay for college and thought this might be a nice way to put a few zeroes on the end of my paycheck. (well maybe not a few zeroes but a couple hundred bucks at the end of summer sounded nice)
As i started taking things I started researching prices a little bit. I went on craigslist and was looking into buying a new motorcycle for myself and came across a garage sale. I went and bought a motorcycle but while I was there I noticed a big box of unused copper and used copper. I offered 10 dollars and the guy looked at me like I was crazy for wanting to buy his garbage. But he sold it to me and that was that.

I am now at the end of my summer job and moving out of my place to go back to school. What I have is a bigger mess than I thought I would. It seems like summer has caught up to me and I feel like I should be on the show hoarders. I have backpacks full of copper wiring, some circuit boards I don't know what to do with, and before I knew anything about grades of copper I stripped the wire in my freetime and put it all in the same box.

What I am looking for is any tips you guys have for me before I take this stuff down to the recycle center. (Or if I should sell some of it on ebay to get more money)

I have read through some posts but still don't fully understand different grades and how to get the most money for what I have. So please give me any advice that you can and know that after I post this I am going through old posts to try to see if I may understand things a little bit better.

first thing is first
I have No idea the difference in what makes a circuit board valuable. I don't know if I should touch the resistors or capacitors on this guy and I don't even know what it came off of. I am pretty sure it came off of a big furnace used in a lab but not 100%. I am afraid to remove pieces as it might decrease the value of what I have. There are two others sitting at my work with my name on them if I want to take them.




Secondly I have two types of wire both obtained from used ballasts. I know one is just copper and am pretty positive from what I have read that the silver wire is aluminum coated. Is it worth it to strip both types or just the straight copper?


I'm definitely not stripping all these tiny wires but is it worth it to seperate my straight copper from my aluminum coated?


Thank you any tips are appreciated. I am trying to figure this out on my own but your advice is helpful.



I live in northern california. I have a lot more questions but did not want to put them all out there at once.

BroJer-
Living in Cincy.. I'm shocked to see you are such a big "Bears Fan?"

Originally Posted by scraptainblackbeard

Interesting. So into the #2 bin they go. Is the aluminum coated #2 as well? And what is the easiest way to tell if you have a coated copper or just really dirty copper?

If you take some sandpaper and rough it up for a second or two- if it is dirty copper- it will shine up like a penny, if it is coated, you won't make a dent in the coating in 2 seconds :-)