Separating Grades?

Hi I am new to the site, just recently started separating my metals instead of all as "light iron" so I have a few questions...

I have copper wire and it varys in shine and color from bright orange to almost a red, is any of it worth more then the rest?

I have aluminum and it vary from clean electronic heat sinks to painted gutters and siding, is the painted aluminum worth less? Dull non-painted vs shiny?

I also have a bunch of mixed magnetic steel and iron, which I have been bringing as light iron however a lot of the electric motors have solid steel housings. Is the steel in solid chunks; a single casting worth more such as electric motors shells vs metal shelving?

Thanks!

ps- what are the top best scrap price chart websites online?

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...-isri-etc.html

Pink, online scrap websites don't come close to the real world prices you get at your yard. There are so many variables including how much you bring in, how often you take loads in and even if the employees like you or not. I would like to see the admin set up a section someday where we could rate all the yards that we deal with. There are enough horror stories on here now to warn noobies but they are scattered and hard to find.

I watch the iscrapp app on my phone have have several yards in my area but only one of them have there pricing on this App but it may give you an idea for your area.
Also this site is helpfull witht the pics.
Scrap Metal Pictures - Rockaway Recycling

Guess I will have to start browsing the pics, and posting some of my own here.

Trust me I know about the horrors I have been royally ripped off and when you express your anger you get the boot. I look like a kid literally so they take advantage of me no matter where I go which is why the first question out of my mouth before they even say a thing is what are they paying per lb or ton so it looks like I am keeping tabs it's almost like warning them. When I did all light iron I was able to tell roughly my weight according to my trucks squat and the lower it got the less I made that day, the lady in the scale house was obviously putting cash in her pocket! Mowing down on a pizza all I could think was...I just bought you that pizza your stuffing your face with while I bust a$$

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I have copper wire and it varys in shine and color from bright orange to almost a red, is any of it worth more then the rest?

I have aluminum and it vary from clean electronic heat sinks to painted gutters and siding, is the painted aluminum worth less? Dull non-painted vs shiny?

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The copper might be varnished which could change the color, coils, chokes and degaussing cables are varnished and usually you'll only get #2 price for it.
Alum. heat sinks that look like they have been pulled thru a die is called extruded and usually pays .05-.10 a lb better. My yard throws most everything else in what they call "old sheet".

As far as steel, if you have some heavy (thick) stuff, keep the length down to 2 or 3 ft. (depends on your yard) and that should pay better than the lightweight stuff, tin and such. I think they call it #1. prepped.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...GfoDQX-ulL4p6i This stuff is varnished so it won't short out.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

The copper might be varnished which could change the color, coils, chokes and degaussing cables are varnished and usually you'll only get #2 price for it.
Alum. heat sinks that look like they have been pulled thru a die is called extruded and usually pays .05-.10 a lb better. My yard throws most everything else in what they call "old sheet".

As far as steel, if you have some heavy (thick) stuff, keep the length down to 2 or 3 ft. (depends on your yard) and that should pay better than the lightweight stuff, tin and such. I think they call it #1. prepped.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...GfoDQX-ulL4p6i This stuff is varnished so it won't short out.

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So that's why I can't find my #2 copper...its varnished :-O

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Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

So that's why I can't find my #2 copper...its varnished :-O

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I didn't say it vanished, ??

I think it was a joke Mechanic688, haha

Ok I took some pictures, here are some of the types of copper I have been saving; there are 6 examples of wire type, some hydraulic line and plumbing. Normally I just throw everything in a 5gal bucket and bring it in like that :-/

The wire on the far left is very red in color, the next one to the right seems to have an extremely thin coating of plastic or clear coating, 3rd to the right still has a little red in the color. The 4th 5th and 6th on the right are a lighter color in various sizes, I make sure there is no solder on the plumbing so that's #1 copper right?
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...psf7b764e4.jpg


Here is some of my aluminum, which I think can be sorted? I assume the painted gutter/siding is not worth as much as the ski poles, heat sinks and iMac G5 computer casing?
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...psc2d9d1b3.jpg


It's all clean aluminum so is it #1 aluminum and the gutter/siding is #2 aluminum?
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps4d551d43.jpg


I also have 5gal buckets full of aluminum that is either painted, greasy, or very dull looking is this all considered #2 aluminum?
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...psb3b44d9e.jpg


Now for my steel/iron prep confusion...for example I have these motor end caps on the left, motor cores stripped of the copper in the middle, and center spindle drums on the right. I assume the end caps are considered "prepped steel" and the pile on the right would be what light iron?? They consist of a mix between aluminum and steel/iron and are way too much work to separate...
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...psea561c40.jpg


The stripped motor cores I am unsure on, I think the outer housings are steel but the one on the left is a cast...and the centers the wire is wrapped through are always sandwiched plates of I think steel?
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...psa2118cc2.jpg

Seems like scrap yards grade thiere scrap diffrantly so it realy depends on your yard as far as sorting and grading. At the yards that I use, all the copper in the top pic would be #2 copper.From what I can tell the aluminum in the next two pics seem to be sheet aluminum but one piece in the bundle to the right of the pic looks like it might be extruded. I would have to see the end view of the square piece in that bundle to be sure. At my yards they don't care if it's painted or not. Also did you check the bottems of those heat sinks to see if they are copper or not, sometimes the bottem plate is copper, take a file and scrape the finish off and see what color it is. The aluminum in the bucket looks to be cast aluminum except the red pieces look to be sheet. As far as the steel goes someone else will have chime in on that. 99% of the steel I get is shred so it all goes as shred. Hope this helps, but the best thing to do is ask your yard how they want it sorted.

Yes this helps, now I can start to see the difference in aluminum grades; sheet and cast. I'm also getting the concept that only copper has to be "clean" of dirt, grease, paint, etc?

I checked the heat sink bottoms they are aluminum, however there is a copper tube that runs up the heat sink fin layers that is too much of a hassle to remove but I figured they would accept it since the copper is worth more than the aluminum.

Someone told me to take sandpaper to the copper plumbing to raise the value, but the last time I took stripped wire I think they took it as #1

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps4d551d43.jpg

Thats two G5 heatsinks. Its made of copper, but its plated with nickle or something so it looks silverish. Its a nice chunk of copper though.
You have to cut thru the copper heatpipes & break the Ali fins off. Then pull the heatpipes out of the fins.

You still have a few of the bolts attached to it too.

When I grinded into it with a bench grinder it did not show red/orange. The bolts were non-magnetic so I figured they are aluminum as well

Alright numbers are in, I went to AKS recycling which I believe is the best yard around Fitchburg MA.

They took literally all my wire as #2 copper even though I'm pretty sure a lot of it was not varnished @ $2.00/lb and all the plumbing copper (as long is there was no paint on it) was taken as #1 copper @ $2.20/lb

I had a mix of white & yellow brass but they took it all as the same class @ $1.40/lb

My aluminum was both sheet and cast but they only take that as one class as well @ $0.40/lb

I had some non-magnetic stainless and they bought that @ $0.35/lb

I brought 180lbs of light iron and I got $14 so that's still at least $0.07/lb


I have a bunch of steel and iron left to bring, but need to get the sorting understood. Seems there are two iron types; light and heavy. Is steel only considered a single class? Or is heavy iron considered steel??

Some places consider 1/4" X3ft or less to be a #1 steel/or prepped at that to get top price. The bolts that you assumed to be alum were probably SS.

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They took literally all my wire as #2 copper even though I'm pretty sure a lot of it was not varnished @ $2.00/lb and all the plumbing copper (as long is there was no paint on it) was taken as #1 copper @ $2.20/lb

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I imagine they want your wire to be bigger than a #2 pencil lead to be considered as #1 copper, and sometimes they just throw all brass together for simplicity. For the copper, that is the "official" ruler at some yards is guaging it according to the pencil lead, others say 14ga.or12ga..

Makes sense.

I still have these motors but they are a pain in the balls to strip, usually I take a saws-all to one or both coil bundles and hammer out the bundles that run through. However the shell is in the way and I do not have a press to remove the center so I'm not sure what to do...
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps4625a49e.jpg

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Originally Posted by PinkFloydEffect

Makes sense.

I still have these motors but they are a pain in the balls to strip, usually I take a saws-all to one or both coil bundles and hammer out the bundles that run through. However the shell is in the way and I do not have a press to remove the center so I'm not sure what to do...

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http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...ine-motor.html

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/disma...or-copper.html

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/disma...en-copper.html

Those links do not help, these are casted steel bodies there is no weld line to cut to remove the center wingdings.

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Originally Posted by PinkFloydEffect

When I grinded into it with a bench grinder it did not show red/orange. The bolts were non-magnetic so I figured they are aluminum as well

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The outer silverish layer is softer than the copper, when you hit it with the grinder, it ground off some of the copper metal & at the same time, smeared the silvery tin (or nickle) over the copper face & that made it look silvery again.

The bolts were stainless steel. Because of how they look I think theres a 'steampunk' interested in them somewhere.

You lost some easy $$ there, not much, but easy $.

Bugger.

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Originally Posted by PinkFloydEffect

Those links do not help, these are casted steel bodies there is no weld line to cut to remove the center wingdings.

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You need a face sheild & glasses & sledgehammer to bash them apart.
The cast iron breaks easy like with a sledge hammer. Or just use a carpenters chisle & hammer to cut thru the copper wire loops on one end, then pull the rest of the copper wire out.

The pics of the sheet metal surrounded motor, bash the outer casing at the point where theres a gap between the sheetmetal & the laminations, that'l make is squarer & loosen it so it may slide off.

I actually saved the heat sink bottoms for later scrapping, I will try to bash those motors but they look thick.

So I think I'm getting better at this but curious of really how for to take my sorting? I know everyone puts a different value to their time but all things equal, is it better to sort stuff down as far as possible? Example... aluminum by quality or thickness? Copper Wire by thickness? Steel by cast etc?

Again, I apologize for my newbie terminology :)

Cheers.

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Originally Posted by recyclocan

So I think I'm getting better at this but curious of really how for to take my sorting? I know everyone puts a different value to their time but all things equal, is it better to sort stuff down as far as possible? Example... aluminum by quality or thickness? Copper Wire by thickness? Steel by cast etc?

Again, I apologize for my newbie terminology :)

Cheers.

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I would say that sorting, like most things, depends on what your customer wants to buy. whenever I'm not sure I leave the stuff at home, but for a small sample. I show it to my customer (the guy at the yard who gives me money) and ask him how he wants to buy it.

I have found it all depends on your yard, I was separating sheet aluminum from casted, dirty, etc but my yard only gives me a set price for aluminum regardless what form it's in which means they take the lowest quality pay rate and apply it to all; you loose some money on your "better" aluminum at my yard.

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Originally Posted by eesakiwi

You need a face sheild & glasses & sledgehammer to bash them apart.
The cast iron breaks easy like with a sledge hammer. Or just use a carpenters chisle & hammer to cut thru the copper wire loops on one end, then pull the rest of the copper wire out.

The pics of the sheet metal surrounded motor, bash the outer casing at the point where theres a gap between the sheetmetal & the laminations, that'l make is squarer & loosen it so it may slide off.

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I tried and this did not work, it only crushed the sheet metal housing and began folding. Now its more oval shaped so I need a new method....

Floyd, do you maybe have another yard around that has a better rate for alum.?? May have to juggle your stuff between the yards.
You know, figure who has what better price.

for just aluminum there's only two choices here, one separates it and the other don't. I make sure to know what they're paying before I go though. A simple call first can sure save you some headaches

It's the best yard within a 20min drive which works for my bed size and profit amount, it's a matter of loosing a few cents per lb not like I have that much aluminum that is super clean and in solid block form anyway. Trust me, you just have to get back at the yard and cheat them back within toleration ;)

its hard to tell you how to seperate as many yards class things different.here in southern ohiothere are 2 aluminium prices.regular and aluminium wheels.now we need to seperate our cast from sheet but the price is the same.on the steel if your area is like mine anything as thick as a lawnmower deck pays better than the thin shred items.we call them shred/tin/appliance.anything that is thick enough and is no more than 2 feet wide by 4 feet long is called short iron,so i seperate that,any thing the same thickness but longer is long iron.in the recent years long iron often pays the same as shred so i always call to see the difference in price befor i seperate,or to decide if i want to cut the long down to short,also to be short or long iron grade it needs to be free of wood,plastic,aluminium or anything else.around here they wont mind a touch of aluminium or something thats really fused to something as long as its 98 percent clean.it will take you time to learn what your yard wants.i read in hear earlier someone telling you to bust those motor casings,thats what i do also .any cast iron will break fairly easy.also on our wire if it is shiny or bigger than a pencil lead we get number 1 if not number 2.and that means not varnished,painted,or coated.we just recently have been outlawed from burning the wire in my state.so our copper grading is in the process of changing drasticly.anyhow i hope this may help you a bit

So I have been getting pretty good at this over time, now I want to expand :D

It dawned on me...when I tear things apart trash costs $ to dispose of and the town takes all plastic away for free and you can drop as much of it as you want off for free at the landfill so plastic in bulk must be worth something somewhere?!?

Also it has come to my attention that some scrap yards also buy circuit boards? That would be an awesome nitch to get into, the TVs and Computers I take apart all have circuit boards and some places pay per dead motherboard or by weight. Any recommendations/thoughts??

Rather then pulling motors apart for the copper now I just bring them as is and they have a class/price per pound for electric motors that is high enough for me to not bother dissembling them unless they have an aluminum case, they take everything from a bucket of drill motors to large industrial motors for factory machines all the same price!

For the power supplies with copper heat pipes running through them, I keep those separate from the rest of my aluminum and get 'Alum/Copper rads' price for them, usually .80-1.10. If you get a bunch of them you'll see the difference in your pocket.

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Also it has come to my attention that some scrap yards also buy circuit boards? That would be an awesome nitch to get into, the TVs and Computers I take apart all have circuit boards and some places pay per dead motherboard or by weight. Any recommendations/thoughts??

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Go thru our sections and know what circuit boards are worth more than others. Then check out our buyers after checking the yard's prices for boards, you should be surprised at the price differences. By all means do the reading so you don't get taken at the yards.
It's your work, it's your money, don't give it away.

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/elect...rds-parts.html

Scrap Buyers & Sellers - Scrap Metal Forum

What power supplies with copper pipes, you mean PC power supplies with that tiny piece of copper in their heat sinks?

Wow those threads are a bit complex, I thought grading could be done by color and size of components on the board I will deff have to check with my local buyers to see how simple they want things!

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What power supplies with copper pipes, you mean PC power supplies with that tiny piece of copper in their heat sinks

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I think he was referring to the heat sinks with copper tubing running thru it

Regarding electronic board scrapping with all the various grades, I see some people on Youtube fill buckets with the components off the boards such as capacitors, diodes, IC chips and gold fingers. If I am stripping components off the boards will places still take the boards for whatever is left?? I assume this drastically alters the price per lb for the boards and when they are stripped possibly there is less need to grade/sort them so specifically?? It seems like the real money is in selling bags full of board components on say eBay, which is what I am trying to weigh out...should I sell the boards as is or sell the components off the boards in bulk?

Any idea if cracked LCD screens are worth money from laptops, TVs and monitors?

Usually I cut the power cords off electronics and throw them in my light iron loads so I have barrels of wire...today I sorted the wire into three categories. Copper core, aluminum core (silver color), and copper coated aluminum, I was surprised to find that well over 80% of my wire is copper core. My old boss used to throw his wire in the fire and melt off all the plastic illegally then I believe he only got #2 copper for them, someone told me today they sell their wire with the plastic on it and their buyers can make money off the plastic as well as the wire itself plus this means the wire is clean #1 instead of burnt up #2 all in all selling the wire with the plastic shielding seems more profitable then burning it.