Motors?

Let me start by saying if this topic has been covered already on here and i missed it, im sorry for the duplicate post.

When scrapping motors out of things like power tools, microwaves, Pool filters, ect..., what do you guys do? Do you take them apart and try to get the #2 Copper out of them or is it almost just as profitable scraping them as whole motors?

And if you do separate them, how in the hell do you get them apart. These are the hardest things i have fought with in my little time of scrapping.

Thanks in advance for everything!

Hi Adam...yes, you did miss posts about motors. Lot's of them...did you try a search ?? Good luck. BTW, I always go for that copper !! Wasted a lot of time and turned a lot in as motors that I wish I had back.

That was the answer i was looking for Dee! Thank you very much!!! Now i just gotta search on here and find an easy way to break them apart! Thank you again.

Welcome to the board. You will find each motor will be different as they are coming from different appliances. One tip, take and scratch the windings (wire) on a motor before getting to involved to make sure it is indeed copper. Nothing more disappointing then working to remove the windings of a motor only to find it is aluminum. Good luck you will find motors fun to work with, I do!

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As far as the motors go, I just take grinder and slice the outer casing and then the windings on 1 side. I have a screw driver that I cut back a bit so that the tip was thicker and I punch it through each channel where the wire runs and it comes out fairly quick.

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This was compliments of TJLOCK from the forum, just had to dig for it,,,

And this is compliments of injunjoe

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Motors, Worth the effort?

I just stripped a condenser motor, (fan motor for outside ac unit).
Starting weight was 12 pounds. At my yard they give $0.20 a pound.
After about ten minutes I ended up with 2.25 pounds of #2 copper, thus leaving 9.75 pounds in steel scrap.

Motor as is would be worth $2.40
Cleaned the copper comes out to $7.31 at current yard prices.
Left over steel is worth $0.98
So in about ten minutes I now have $8.29 in total scrap worth.
That comes out to 5.89 profit for cleaning the motor.
So in an hour I will have made $35.34, not bad for standing in my work shop having coffee.

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Does this sound right?
I have a couple of pretty big compressor motors. each weighed around 70 pounds. after breaking one down, I seem to have about 10 pounds of copper.

is there any copper in the armature? or is that just ferrous?

thanks for the reality check

#2!?!?!?!?!? I get #1, its clean an shiny, how come you guys don't get #1??!!?!

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Originally Posted by MilitiaMetals

#2!?!?!?!?!? I get #1, its clean an shiny, how come you guys don't get #1??!!?!

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Motor magnet wire is coated with an amilyd insulation and then the whole winding is dipped in varnish to bond the wires together. You should be gettting #2 for so it you are getting lucky. I work in a motor factory as an engineer and we sell over 3,000 lbs. of scrap magnet wire a month and get #2 for it.

I also break motors down. The only ones I havent been able to fully get apart are some motors off of lawn mowers. Cant get that big block apart to get the rods out so I turn it in as electric motors or irony aluminum whatever they want to call it that day!. anything else gets totally broken down because there is steel. aluminum and copper in them all.

speaking my language, newattitude !! go for the copper !!