I've been throwing insulated wire into a pile for about six months. A couple guys bring stuff over to give me and I knew one had thrown some wire onto the pile. Today, I decided to get it picked up for the scrap yard as Insulated Copper ($1.40/lb). Looked like most little stuff like appliance cords, which I'd cut off, computer/radio wire and similar. Too much trouble to strip for what it is. About half way through it, I ran into a bunch of old jumper cables. Nah, still too much trouble to strip. Next was an industrial jumper cable (probably 2 gauge). Decided to strip it. Rubber insulation with a string mesh. String was kind of a pain to strip, but worth it for the six pounds of copper ($3.15/lb). Next was an industrial jumper like I've NEVER seen. I'm hoping somebody can help me figure it out. Clamp (not steel and only opens a couple inches) on one end; flat copper piece with a hole for a bolt on the other end. The cable is made up of seven strands of copper. Each strand is about the size of a regular car jumper cable and made up of smaller strands (like wire rope for you recovery guys). I made a "walking measurement" and came up with 60' (yes, FEET). I'm guessing at one pound per foot or a little more. Rubber insulation only and very brittle.
I haven't looked much further, but looks like there's more to be stripped. Had one good payday yesterday (mostly copper and brass - $750; plus $122 in Light Iron the day before). Best part is that it was all dropped off here "just to get it out of the way".
