Total noob, couple questions

Hi pretty much totally new to scrap metal, cleared out a ton of old bicycles that were in my garage once and got light iron price for that, Then noticed it was bulk garbage day in my town the other night so decided to drive for a few hours and see what i can grab and made about 49 bucks in light iron between what i found and a few things that were sitting at my house.. Anyway..

I set aside two tv's and a monitor i had found that night to break down and am wondering when scraping the wires in theese do i have to remove all of the connectors, zipties, tape etc? Just how clean does it have to be really? so far i have been cutting them all off but i guess im shorting myself a lot of weight if they can be left on... How about with power cords do the plugs have to be cut off?

Ive read on here there some of the wire is actually aluminum and not copper? does this matter if im not going to strip it? and how do you tell the diffrence if you dont? Is there any other sorting of the wire that needs to be done or does it all just go together? Ie is a power cord the same as a tiny wire on a circuit board as far as there concerned?

Also i noticed that there seems to be kind of braided chains that connect to the degausing cable and 4 bolts on the corners of the tvs, i read in a post on here that this is actually copper? i had assumed it was aluminum until i just read that cause its not yellow/orangeish etc just wanted to make sure this is correct before i start throwing it in with my copper?

Also kinda wondering how does getting payed seperatly for all the diffrent things work at most yards? When i went i pulled up on a scale someone said go i tossed all the crap and got weighed again, How does getting payed for a bunch of smaller amounts normally work? is there normally a smaller scale somewhere?

I will be taking this stuff to scrap yards in and around Newark, NJ btw if anyone else is from the area and can tell me specific procedures or recomend the yards with the best prices.

Oh and one more question, Will yards take aluminum cans? I allways just put them out on recyclables day for the town but i figured hey if im gonna start going to the scrap yard anyway maybe theres a couple extra bucks to be made taking the soda and beer cans etc myself? Anybody do this and is there any money to be had in it?


Thanks a ton for any help everyone it is appreciated!

Hope I can help you out here. Welcome to the world of scrapping. It's addicting, complicated, and filled with all castes of people. Nonetheless, I enjoy it.

First off, when scrapping bicycles drop a magnet on those bad boys. I've found that about every 1 in 5 bicycles will have an Aluminum frame which is always nice. I mean you'll have to strip the bike down to the frame but it'll take less than an hour and it's an easy 30 plus dollars. Also, when you have bicycles to scrap and they are intact, check them out on Ebay or just Google them. I was given a vintage Raleigh Grand Prix last week that sells in it's current state for 150 dollars.

Second, when cleaning insulated wire, don't forget to use your magnet on that as well. It will help you differentiate between copper, aluminum, and copper coated wires. Those three wires are the ones I stumble upon the most frequently. A good scrapper always removes the connectors and ties on the wire. A lot of yards won't accept it unless it's cleaned and most often if they do, some poor guy who works at the yard for minimum wage is stuck removing the stuff before it ships out to the smelters. As far as power cords as concerned, they're not all the same. You'll come to learn in time what your yard classifies them as. Some take it in a different categories. I always try to sell mine as Insulated copper. You can strip it as well, but the pay out isn't that much of an increase for the time spent breaking your fingers and patience.

Now as far as yards are concerned... Different yards pay different amounts. Most usually have a specific chart they can give you which shows what they're paying out for the week or for the month. Those that don't have this usually aren't worth messing with because they're shifty and shady. Most large scale yards will usually have a vehicle drive on scale that you'll drive onto and have an initial weigh in when you first arrive and then someone who works for the yard will come out and send you to where you can unload your metals and then you'll weigh in again to find your overall weight. Those yards aren't the greatest either. Usually their scales aren't calibrated to their fullest and are made for weighing by the ton for scrapping automobiles and large industrial equipment. These places annoy me. Here's what you can do for yourself, hit the yellow pages or an online directory or search here and find all the scrap yards you can that are located within a 50 mile radius of you... Now find the yards with price lists, web sites, and public info.
Pick your best one based on profitability. Make sure to factor in fuel costs. This will help you achieve the best profit from the best yards.

Now as far as sorting your metals, most yards will attempt to do this when you arrive but they'll most always mess it up, and some will do it out of laziness or just because they want to profit off you as much as possible. Most yards usually have a little off shoot building where you take it and weigh your different metals separately. When it comes to sorting metal, you are your own worst enemy. Buy some bathroom scales. Get some 5 gallon buckets and sort your own metals into the buckets and weigh them out... I.E. one bucket for wire, one bucket for copper, one bucket for brass.... Leave the light iron and short steel and the like in separate piles until you have a truck bed full of each type (these are also crazy hard to weigh, but you learn what it should weigh with experience, I can eyeball a half ton easy).... Do this and each time you hit the yard, it'll be a paycheck.

As far as household items are concerned, soda cans are awesome. I took in (8) 50 gallon trash bags full the other day from a local college function. I got almost 100 bucks for 4 hours of walking around picking up cans. I made bank. You can save your cans and even your soup and tuna cans and make good money over the course of a month. General rule of thumb I use is 25-30 cans is about a pound depending on the beverage. Energy drink cans and those generic soda cans differ significantly.

Any other questions feel free to ask. Hope I helped ya some.

Hi FM Thanks for the reply! Yeah when i scraped the bikes i knew a lot of the frames are aluminum on them unfortunately i was ignorant at the time about sorting them and actually getting paid for it.. When i took them to the yard no one ever said anything or asked someone walked up gave me a ticket with "210" on it (There light iron code, Universal?) and walked off... Ahh well ya live ya learn..

Yeah the wire so far i have been cutting everything off and getting it as clean as possible definatly not looking to make more work for anyone, just concerned that im shorting myself alot of weight if the yards expect to get it with that stuff on there, i figure those little connectors are as much weight as the wire itself alot of times..

Thanks for the tip on the magnet i had no idea how i was supposed to sort the diffrent wire types without stripping them until you said that!

Still not sure with power cords tho, are you cutting the plug off? thanks

Anyway yeah hoping to make a go of this as i left my job landscaping this year to start my own landscape business but starting out with that has defiantly been slower than i would like so figure this is a good way to pick up some extra cash in my down time since i have the pickup and a trailer all ready. Thanks for taking the time to reply and the support much appreciated!

njhardcore1, Hello At my local yard, it seems that the more clean and organized and sorted my stuff is, the less hassle I get. Kinda treated with respect I guess you could say,, We drive the big steel loads across a large scale with overhead camera's and dump them "out back" but all the copper/brass/alum/motors all go inside to a smaller scale to be weighed by the bucket,by the skid or by the hopper. The tv circuit boards have some small copper windings, and small aluminum heat sinks, and transformers with wire in them.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

njhardcore1, Hello At my local yard, it seems that the more clean and organized and sorted my stuff is, the less hassle I get. Kinda treated with respect I guess you could say,, We drive the big steel loads across a large scale with overhead camera's and dump them "out back" but all the copper/brass/alum/motors all go inside to a smaller scale to be weighed by the bucket,by the skid or by the hopper. The tv circuit boards have some small copper windings, and small aluminum heat sinks, and transformers with wire in them.

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Thanks for the post mechanic, I had been getting the copper windings and heat sinks off the boards but missed the transformers, wasn't sure what that piece was actually till i looked up TV transformer on Google images actually. good to know, Can these actually be opened and broken down or do they just get scraped as electrical motors? Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by Kris Kringle

{Second, when cleaning insulated wire, don't forget to use your magnet on that as well. It will help you differentiate between copper, aluminum} Is there something I am missing here ? How does a Magnet Defferentiate between copper and Aluminum I am anxious to know about that.

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Whatever. It was only 2am when I typed that out. You could always point out that that was confusing and a fallacy. That would help, rather than your current repugnance. But hey, if that's how you make friends don't let me stand in your way. Thanks, Mr. dewgood.

Use a magnet on wires to differentiate between ferrous and non ferrous. Magnets won't stick to copper, aluminum, and the like. However sometimes some wires will look like copper or aluminum and a magnet will stick to them. Old telegraph wire does this every time. Some of these wires just have a copper or aluminum coating and are composed of tin. It's also best to cut the ends off your power cords. Clean wire is happy wire. Hope that helps.

lol TheFatMan, calm down.

My bad. I thought you were just breaking my jewels. Sorry. I went and reread the question. Even I would've been asking questions lol.

K so magnets out for sorting aluminum wire from copper then.., So is there any way to really sort the wire without stripping it then? or does it not have to be sorted and its just wire is wire to the yards? thanks again

Unstripped wire is considered insulated and pays less.

If you're just wanting to separate into piles of aluminum and copper, and can't tell which is which, strip a piece, then scrape it with a file.

I come across a lot of CCAW (copper clad aluminum wire). You see it and think it's copper, but it's not.

I also come across tinned copper from time to time. A person can mistake it for aluminum, so always scrape it to see.

njhardcore1, After awhile you'll be able to feel the difference between copper and alum. Also look at the end at the color. The power plugs have brass tabs embedded into the rubber that plug into the electric outlets. Usually can use a pair of pliers to pull the brass bits out. If you have a lot of power cords they will add up eventually. The transformers can be broken down and taken apart, or like someone suggested to cut the copper on one end and punch the copper on out the free end with a hammer/chisel or screwdriver. I personally save the standup transistors on the circuit boards and pop the black plastic front off with a sturdy knife and save the back; they are made of brass and plated. But that's just me, cause I have hundreds of old ones from when I did electronic repair.

Thanks for all the reply's everyone it really is appreciated, So just to make sure Ive got this correct and don't screw myself when i go to the yard.. As long as I am not stripping the wire the yard just classifies it all as "Insulated wire" and it doesn't matter if its copper/aluminum/clad etc?

Thanks for the tip on the transistors mechanic i had actually broke the plastic off one when i was breaking the TV's up before i posted this and noticed that, Do you think there is enough money in doing it to make it worth the time tho really? The one I did seemed like it was fast enough to get the plastic off i guess but with so little metal there i wasn't sure if it would be worth it, i actually thought it was copper too at first i as i didn't realize there is brass in TV's/monitors, Is there an easy way to tell the difference between brass and copper?

No, Insulated usually refers to copper wire.

You'll really need to make up your own mind about what's worth doing. Myself, I even decide it is or isn't depending on circumstances - and sometimes I throw stuff to the side to wait for a slack period.

Copper is red-ish; Brass is yellowish (for the most part). If unsure, file a piece until you get to clean, shiny part (I use a grinder). Pretty easy to tell then.