BX Wire

After completing a large wire removal job, I've decided to take the BX wire from the last day and do an analysis on it to see what it really is worth. I'm going to use prices from the yard I have been using that are given to normal people walking thru the door. These are the lowest tier prices.

Today I looked at Steel BX wire. I will note that there are many different types. Todays BX wire contains THHN wire. Older BX wire would probably have TIN coated wire in it. So far, I have only looked at newer Steel BX Wire. The first one that I did had 3 wires in it (Black, White and Green). The THHN wire accounted for about 49% of the weight. The second wire I did had 4 wires in it (same as before, plus a red wire). The THHN wire accounted for about 60% of the weight.

Current prices are:
Steel BX $0.12 per pound
THHN $1.38 per pound
Bare Bright $2.49 per pound

One pound of the 1st wire, as is, would be $0.12. If the THHN is removed and sold as THHN, it would be $0.68, plus I could get about $0.04 for the steel (total $0.72). If the THHN is removed and stripped and sold as Bare Bright (assumes 82% recovery on THHN), I would get $1.00 for the wire and $0.04 for the steel (total $1.04)

One pound of the 2nd wire, as is, would be $0.12. If the THHN is removed and sold as THHN, it would be $0.83, plus I could get about $0.03 for the steel (total $0.86). If the THHN is removed and stripped and sold as Bare Bright (assumes 82% recovery on THHN), I would get $1.22 for the wire and $0.03 for the steel (total $1.25)

Next week, I will look into the Aluminum BX Wire and possibly the older Steel BX Wire.

Removing the metal armor on the newer wire is fairly easy if there is no damage to the armor. I have recently seen a nice stripper from Coppermine Tools that does BX cable, but the price is up there.

Edit: After doing research, this cable is referred to as Type MC or Metal Clad cable. I believe that at least the 2nd wire was either 10 or 12 gauge.

As I mentioned, the armor on yesterday's cable was easy to pull off. The 2nd wire had blue armor, with red and black strips. I started looking it up, but haven't quit figured out what kind it is.

Today, I found some more steel BX wire. The armor on this stuff seems heavier. There are only 2 thhn wire inside and they are wrapped in paper. In addition, there is a small bare aluminum wire. Not sure if this is for grounding or bonding. I'll look it up later. May also be able to figure it out when I take the receptacne off.
I tried to remove the armor the same way I did yesterdays, with no luck. I may have to take a smaller section and unwind it. I'll post results as soon as I have them.

OK, after a little research, there is Armored Cable, referred to as Type AC and Metal Clad Cable, referred to as Type MC. Type AC cable has the thin 22 gauge bare aluminum wire. This aluminum wire is considered a bonding wire and ensures that the entire length of the flexible armor acts as a grounding wire. Type MC does not have this aluminum bonding wire and instead has a separate insulated ground wire.

Just did a 14/3 Aluminum MC cable. This has 4 - 14 gauge thhn wire in it. The scale I am using goes to 1/4 of an ounce. When weighing the entire thing and just the thhn, the scale was bouncing back and forth. For the whole thing, between 6.75 and 7.0 ounces. For the wire between 4.75 and 5.0 ounces. Let's assume the worst case and use 4.75 and 7.0 ounces. THHN accounts for 67.8% of the weight.

Using todays walk-in pricing where I recently sold wire and aluminum pricing from a yard in Albany, NY:

THHN - $1.38 per pound
AL BX - $0.74 per pound
Aluminum - $0.46 per pound
Bare Bright $2.49 per pound

As is, 1 pound is $0.74
THHN removed and sold, aluminum sold - Roughly $0.94 for thhn and $0.14 for aluminum. Total $1.08
THHN removed, stripped and sold as bare bright (assumes 82% recovery), aluminum sold - Roughly $1.38 for bare bright and $0.14 for aluminum. Total $1.52

last one for the day. Did a 14/2 steel AC cable. This has 2 - 14 gauge THHN wires. Set the scale to grams this time. It goes in 10 gram increments. Whole thing bouncing between 300 and 310. THHN bouncing between 50 and 60. Worst case is wire accounts for 16.1% of the weight. Best case wire accounts for 20% of the weight.


Using todays walk-in pricing where I recently sold wire and steel pricing from a yard in Albany, NY:

THHN - $1.38 per pound
ST BX - $0.12 per pound
Bare Bright $2.49 per pound
light iron $0.08 per pound

worse case
1 pound as is $0.12
Thhn removed and sold as is, light iron sold - Roughly $0.22 for wire and $0.07 for light iron. Total $0.29
Thhn removed, stripped (assumes 82% recovery) and sold as bare bright, steel sold - Roughly $0.33 for wire and $0.07 for light iron. Total $0.40

best case
1 pound as is $0.12
Thhn removed and sold as is, light iron sold - Roughly $0.28 for wire and $0.06 for light iron. Total $0.34
Thhn removed, stripped (assumes 82% recovery) and sold as bare bright, steel sold - Roughly $0.41 for wire and $0.06 for light iron. Total $0.47