Value of power cords after stripping

I trim 3 wire 18 gauge power cords off satellite receivers that I scrap. I had been selling them as comm wire for $.80 per pound to my local yard which wants them without plugs. I was curious what the value was if I stripped them so I'm posting my results for others to compare. The following figures are for a single cord but I did a group to get an average.

Complete with jacket but no plug -------.28lbs x $.80 = $.22
Stripped of jacket leaving #2insulated---.14lbs x $1.19 = $.17
Stripped totally to #2 bare copper----- -.1lb x $2.46 = $.25

So if I strip just the jacket I lose $.05 per cord & if I strip completely I gain $.03 per cord. So then I tried the same thing with 8.5oz of 18 gauge zip cord type power cords and the result was only slightly better.

Cords with a single jacket on them ----.53lbs x $.80 = $.42
Stripped to #2 bare copper----------.28lbs x $2.46 = $.69

Probably the worst wages I have ever paid myself but I enjoyed the experiment. All will be sold as comm wire from now on.

Thanks for posting your experiment. These types of threads are very useful.

Yeah i ask a buyer this the other day and he said if you strip power cords or harness wire than you would make less money and have alot more work involved so i scratched that idea lol.He said like house wire on that stripped you double your money.Now i need to find some of that lol.

Thanks for taking the time to share your findings. Pretty much what I expected.

Thank you, I've been stripping all the wire I've gotten so far. You just saved me some money and from a lot of cuts

That's a good post but if you factor in your time stripping that kind of wire you will lose money every time. Just throw it in the #2 insulated bin and move on to bigger and better things. My .02

Thanks for that info. Was only talking to my yard today about insulated wire and had the thought that although clean copper wire pays well, by the time I stripped it all there wouldn't be much in it. You have just proven my thought. Can make better money on other things rather than spend all those hours stripping cords. Degauser wire is another thing - its easy and valuable. Thanks again

this is why I spent the money to buy a electric wire stripper it does this is mere seconds and the cord heads I put in a box for those nice drunker days to pull the brass lol that 3cents goes along way $60 extra dollars a ton pays the gas food cigs and beer to haul it lol

See the yard I go to pays crap for anything with a shield or casing on it.. So I'm kinda forced into stripping it all down. Where do you get a stripping machine

really get one anywere but I got my online at diablostrippers.com but a lot of other places sell them this was one in my price range at the time that if it turned out It was a waste of money it was not a lot but works great but not to advertise though its all about what you want to have as tools and how much wire your able to strip which I can not even keep up with enough for the machine but paid for itself and works great

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Originally Posted by faction757

See the yard I go to pays crap for anything with a shield or casing on it.. So I'm kinda forced into stripping it all down. Where do you get a stripping machine

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All depends what your budget can afford, See what I mean;

scrap wire stripping | eBay

What is a power cord without the plug graded as? ive been stripping mine down getting paid #2 insulated wire and never realized I was losing more by stripping it.

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Originally Posted by scrapperdan

What is a power cord without the plug graded as? ive been stripping mine down getting paid #2 insulated wire and never realized I was losing more by stripping it.

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It can never be #2 insulated if you are removing the insulation. By stripping if you mean removing the plugs only, then yes it's #2 ins.

I have recently just made a wire stripper. The good thing about it is that 99% of people don't even need to buy anything to make it, it can be done with stuff laying around in the garage, there is not a lot of moving parts and you don't even have to make a single measurement or be very precise. Ill try to post a video of it or put some pictures up if anyone is interested in it. I'm sure everyone here has probably tinkered around with one but maybe someone can make some improvements on this one. It also doesn't cost 79 dollars like the nice ones advertised online.

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Originally Posted by scrapperdan

What is a power cord without the plug graded as? ive been stripping mine down getting paid #2 insulated wire and never realized I was losing more by stripping it.

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Before I was stripping the black insulation off and leaving the colored insulation on. I was getting #2 insulated wire for $1/# I don't recall seeing comm wire listed on their sheets.

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Originally Posted by scrapperdan

Before I was stripping the black insulation off and leaving the colored insulation on. I was getting #2 insulated wire for $1/# I don't recall seeing comm wire listed on their sheets.

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Funny I just went through this with my yard. The easiest explanation for them was - more than one jacket = #2 wire. Single jacket = #1 wire. Difference for me is .90 cents a pound and about 10 minutes a day to increase my profits.