question on larger electric motors

Sorry if this has been asked previously. I figured it would have been, but didn't have luck using the search feature. Anyone stripped the copper out of larger electric motors, say in the 75-150 hp range? We just got in a bunch, and some of those suckers are huge, 1200 lbs per motor. We were just wondering what % of that was copper. I -might- just have to strip one down, but dang, I'm already so far behind I think I'm ahead. I should have posted a pic, and will take some with my phone tomorrow. Thanks!

zito, type in transformers and in that thread you'll find what you need by wdaddy....further down Idaho put in a utube link for a good video also. And on some of the motor/trans cases you will find an A for Aluminum windings or a C for copper. Best of luck.

Thanks Dee. I think I didn't phrase my question very well. What I'm wondering is what percentage of the larger motors total weight is actually copper. For example, one yard said it was around 10%, which is lower than on the smaller motors. So out of a 1200 lb. motor, there would be roughly 120 lbs. of copper. I'm just wondering if someone has actually broken down any of these larger beasts themselves to give me an accurate answer. As I said, I -might- actually break one down myself just to satisfy my own curiosity about how much copper would be inside, but spare time for something like that is pretty scarce lately. Thanks again.

Best way to find out is to do one and weigh out the stuff and while your at it share your finding with the forum.

Motors are almost never economical to strip on your own, which has made them a good export product. How much weight is there total?

Ewasted, doesn't that depend on the size of the motor/transformer you have...and how many you have? This debate is an ongoing one and I always say break down small ones with copper windings as far as they'll go.

Dee,
You are right, but MOST of the time it isn't economical... assuming you have 10,000 smaller transformers, by the time you finish it can be a whole new market! We don't like to gamble here... :)

I agree, but since zito is relatively new to scrapping, he's probably not talking about large quantities.....more power to him if he is, but most people starting out have more time to break down than those of you who buy in huge quantities. For me, it would be wasteful to take my motors with copper winding in whole. The more I do, the faster I break them down. And the faster my copper bucket fills up.

this is a classic example of the difference between different size scrappers. each has to decide based on info what is best for him/her.
an SIS scraper who has to constantly be on the hunt for new scrap, maximises their income by breaking down every thing to the inth degree. while a scrapper with a steady supply, only needs to sort his /her inventory.
the yards who move box cars full need only to rough sort and really need to break nothing down.

so the answers we give need to be in corilation with the operation of the person asking the question.

on the question of motors, it also needs to be considered the cost of tearing down a 1200 lb motor as apposed to a 1/4 horse motor. just my .02

very well put olddude........also, his question about the % of copper in a motor can't be answered except as KZ said....break one down...weight it then decide whether it's worth it or not, right. He said a "bunch"....if that means 10 I'd break one down. If it's a truck load....straight to the yard...don't pass GO !!

If I had a truck load, and it was worth it, I'd still break them all down. Just like my bucket of wire. Not gonna turn it in as insulated just because there's alot and I don't really wanna mess with it. I'll get it all eventually and then I'll smile at my cash.

I wonder (cause I don't know), whether larger motors are easier to break down than smaller ones? I'm just thinking maybe there's more room to get in and cut and pull on the copper, so it can be done more efficiently, per pound of copper, than you could do with little bitty ones.

I would be more likely to put things like motors aside if prices were low. The last thing I want to do is to get caught with 1000 lbs of electric motors and have the price crash. If you remember 2008 you know what I mean.

A 1200 lb motor is worth 500 bucks and your thinking about tearing them down?..you must have paid too much!

here in my yard they don't take motors separately, they put them in with the shred. So I break them down for the copper. At 1200 lbs I would get about $120 just taking them in, but tearing them down I could probably get at least double. But that is just a guess, I have never stripped a motor that large before.

i recently started breaking down an electric motor of a very large generator that ran was removed from a conference center... I would guess 10-15% copper to steel is about right the copper has a little bit of yellow glue stuck to it in places? not sure if that will be #1 or #2