Few scrap questions.

We are getting ready to rewire the house. We did the bathroom a year ago and I have the light switches and plug-ins in the shed. I noticed yellowish gold plates in the plug-in. Is this brass or copper. If it is brass, I know it is different from plumbing brass. Are there different grades to brass?

The plugs from cords, are they worth trying to strip down. I cut the wire off as close to them as possible, didn't know if they were worth the trouble or if there was an easy way to do it. Can you just take them in as is and still get something for them?

Also, while stripping wire, some of the wiring I am getting out of small appliances, TVs, and computers are silver in color. I assume this is solder. Should I keep this separate from the rest of the #2 copper that is actually copper colored when I cash it in?

Short answer is "yes". Check with your scrap yard. The guideline I have says for #2 Copper - ... "Should be free of the following" excessively leaded, tinned, soldered copper wire; brass and bronze wire; excessive oil content, iron and other nonmetallic; copper tubing, with other than copper connections or with sediment; copper wire from burning, containing insulation, brittle wire hair; and should be free of ash.

So, to be #2 copper, it would need to be free of any foreign substance.

The plugs from electrical cords do have brass prongs. They are a small amount but I do save them. I cut them off and throw them in a pile and when I have time I put them in a vise and pull them out with a pair of channel locks and throw them in the brass bucket. They usually come out with about an inch or two of wire that was inside the plug and I snip that off and put it in the copper bucket. If you are doing this for a living and doing large volumes of stuff it may not be worth it to you. I do this on the side and I tell myself all the time that all my buckets are change jars. Little bit here, little bit there and it all adds up to real money. Here is a tip. If you know anyone in a band. Ask the drummer to save their broken cymbals for you. They are all brass. My brother in law just gave me 7 broken ones 25lbs.

Thanks for the tip on how to take care of plugs. I do this on the side so I am willing to go the extra step for a couple cents more. What I get scrapping is mad money so the more I am willing to do, the madder I can get while spending it! :)