Electric Pressure washer curb shopping

So i went cruising on trash night and wasn't finding much, just some aluminum floor reducers, then a t.v. with the cord cut. Wasn't gonna go through the hassle to find out someone already grabbed the guts. On the way out of the neighborhood, i picked up an electric Karcher pressure washer, with the cord cut! Why would you cut the cord on something like that? Anyway, i did an ebay search on the model number, and saw parts going for 13-50 bucks! Since my neighbor is an ebay seller, I plan on tearing it down and selling the parts. I'll keep you posted on my winnings, but my question is:
Why, if you are out curb shopping, would you cut the cord on something like that? Am i missing something? I keep the cords to other stuff i tear down, but always determine if I can do something with it or sell before just chopping off the cord!!!:-/

It should be fairly easy to open it up and wire in a new cord, then sell it as a working unit.

Some people are out for the easy money, they don't want to take the time to break things down. Sometimes its the home owner who will cut the cord so no one else can make use of what they are throwing away.

My old man used to make extention cords with scrap wire all the time.

I always joke that it's a miracle if I ever get anything with a cord on it. The tweakers go out cord cutting because it's the absolutely least amount of work possible. I've actually seen microwaves with cords cut. Who the heck wouldn't just take the whole microwave?

I find cordless items all the time. It's either laziness or ignorance on the part of the "scrappers".

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Originally Posted by brandon

Some people are out for the easy money, they don't want to take the time to break things down. Sometimes its the home owner who will cut the cord so no one else can make use of what they are throwing away.

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I've seen homeowners cut the plugs off before. I've ofter wondered myself how it can even be worth it just driving around hoping to find cords. you aren't going to make your gas back if you only happen upon a few of them?

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Originally Posted by ScrapYaHerd

It should be fairly easy to open it up and wire in a new cord, then sell it as a working unit.

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Thought about it. Or at least find out why it was in the trash in the first place. Although I do know these little guys will barely get your dishes clean...

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Originally Posted by VoodooDaddy

Although I do know these little guys will barely get your dishes clean...

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If you want those dishes really sprayed good ya gotta take em to a car wash ; )

Hears one for ya; I pick up all the unsellable things from a thrift store and they cut the cords off all the dead electronics before they put them out back for me and thats ok because they sell the cords and the money goes to the nonprofit. But hears the thing they cut the plugs off and throw them in the dumpster. The good part is I got them to save all the gold conectors for me and I don't want to tell them they could leave the plugs on the cords and add more wieght to the cords, then I would lose the gold conectors. Sorry for going off topic of this thread. I've noticed that most of the vacuums that are put out to the curb have the cords cut.

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The good part is I got them to save all the gold conectors for me and I don't want to tell them they could leave the plugs on the cords and add more wieght to the cords, then I would lose the gold conectors.

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Your talking about gold ends off of cords, what gold ends, plug-ins are brass.??

yes
im sitting here wondering if appliances in the US are different from the ones here
its brass, as far as i know.

Yep If you don't get there early the Cord Cutters will! Good thing they leave the rest... I hate the Smash and grab guy more than the cutters though... Busted CRT's and TV tubes make us all look bad!

Every Tuesday I drive by this house the owners are remodeling. Two microwaves,, two window units, and some box fans, so far. Only one fan had the cord not cut. I don't know why they just took the cords, unless they are unaware the rest was worth money. Oh well, they can cut the cords if they leave the rest of the ac units for me. Doesn't bother me in the least.

I see cut cords a lot, lol. Usually the owners do it to prevent you from fixing and reselling or they just don't want anyone else to use it. Really lame, if your like me you can usually fix something and resell it at a lower cost, so those less fortunate could have one.

Case in point I picked up a lawn mower one day at outside this guys house and he was outside, so I ask what is wrong with it and he said "the crankshaft is broken" I thought to myself, lol this guy probably doesn't know what he is talking about. Took it home cleaned the plug up added gas, and sprayed some carb/intake cleaner and it started just fine. One thing I did notice is that it rattled a lot so I'm only guessing that it might just be the cutting blade is unbalanced... Maybe?

Orrrrrrrr the homeowner really did know what he was talking about lol.

I think that people cut the cords for the same reason electronics repairers do, they don't want the hassles of someone picking it up, plugging it in, & doing some damage, like burn themselves or something else...

Then it all comming back onto them.


Repairers here have to cut the cords off stuff they are chucking out, before they even leave the shop.

The weight of the copper in the cords is almost nothing, the plugs weigh 8 grams of brass & the best use I have found for a old cable was as a replacement cord for a angle grinder.

Actually I found a light stand with the switch on the cord. So I took the cord off a grinder I had, that had a broken switch in it & put the lightstand cord on it.
Now I have a grinder with a switch again, just on the cord this time.

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Actually I found a light stand with the switch on the cord. So I took the cord off a grinder I had, that had a broken switch in it & put the lightstand cord on it.
Now I have a grinder with a switch again, just on the cord this time.

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I use a power bar in the same manner. It's easier than replacing a bad switch.

my dad is the worlds worst about cutting cords, but they do come in handy for fixing other stuff.

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Originally Posted by eesakiwi

I think that people cut the cords for the same reason electronics repairers do, they don't want the hassles of someone picking it up, plugging it in, & doing some damage, like burn themselves or something else...

Then it all comming back onto them.


Repairers here have to cut the cords off stuff they are chucking out, before they even leave the shop.

The weight of the copper in the cords is almost nothing, the plugs weigh 8 grams of brass & the best use I have found for a old cable was as a replacement cord for a angle grinder.

Actually I found a light stand with the switch on the cord. So I took the cord off a grinder I had, that had a broken switch in it & put the lightstand cord on it.
Now I have a grinder with a switch again, just on the cord this time.

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cutting cords in my opinion is ok if you dont have the means to dispose of say a sweeper the most i take on sweepers/shop vacs is the cords cause the motor is hard to get to and its easier to just sit and strip the cord at a table and it all adds up if you get lots of cords.

i would however never cut a cord on a a/c and leave that i would carry it back before i left something like that behind lol. my rule is if you can cart it or carry it and it has lots of copper and its easy to get rid of the stuff you dont want then haul it away instead of just cord cutting and leaving it for someone else=) except tv's now those i would cut cause the picture tube is a pain to get rid of=(

Agreed on cutting the chord - very easy process and always worth the minimal amount of time that it takes to get the job done. If you cannot get to the motor within a few minutes, forget it - move on and find something BETTER!

When this was originally posted (2013) electric motors were $.25 - $.30 a pound. Now $.05, #2 ins wire $1.00 - $1.10 a pound. Now $.45 - $.55. And shred $.07. Now $.05 Grab the vac or pressure washer cut the cord and put the rest with your shred at it is not worth it to breakdown at current prices...