What type of wire is this and how to scrap?

I have somewhere between 50-100lbs of this wiring. It has 2 coated copper wires inside then what might be a wire of aluminum that has no encasing. No magnet will stick to this part. Then it also has the outside spiral encasing made of some type of metal and a magnet will stick to it. My first question is what is this called and what type of metal would it go as if scrapped as is? Would it be better to strip out the copper wires? If so should I only strip the copper wireing down to the encasing or strip it down to straight copper? Any info and help is appreciated. I have been reading on this for a few days so I have done some research but I want to ensure I'm optimizing my return. I tried to upload and link a pic and neither will let me since i'm new i belive so if someone wants it in a message to post for me that would be great!

Like this?

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...psknhzzmbd.jpg

Take an angle grinder to the steel casing. I highly recommend a vice to hold it so you don't lose a finger. Idk what it's called. Came off a furnace. Yes remove casing, yes remove wires, yes strip wires.

P.S. Then you should introduce yourself to the forum.

Welcome.

It is BX cable (Flexible metallic sheathed flexible cable)
Some have steel casing, some have aluminum casing.

You can sell it to your yard as-is, or break it down.
Do the math and see if it is worth it to you.
You can cut it into short lengths, and pull out the wire by clamping into your bench vice and pulling on the sheathing.
Some comes out easier than others.
... according to spin, anyway

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Originally Posted by turtlejuice

I have somewhere between 50-100lbs of this wiring. It has 2 coated copper wires inside then what might be a wire of aluminum that has no encasing. No magnet will stick to this part. Then it also has the outside spiral encasing made of some type of metal and a magnet will stick to it. My first question is what is this called and what type of metal would it go as if scrapped as is? Would it be better to strip out the copper wires? If so should I only strip the copper wireing down to the encasing or strip it down to straight copper? Any info and help is appreciated. I have been reading on this for a few days so I have done some research but I want to ensure I'm optimizing my return. I tried to upload and link a pic and neither will let me since i'm new i belive so if someone wants it in a message to post for me that would be great!

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If you have that much of it, sell it by the foot to electricians. I would think 50-100 pounds of it, you have 50 to 100 feet at least. I am not quite sure the going rate, but I bet an electrician would jump at the chance to pick up BX 12? 14? with a ground at $2-3 a foot. It would also be very useful wiring a shed or shop. That is exactly the wire you would need to pull through wall unshielded (the flex cover is the shielding required). I would not scrap that wire, I would list it on CL or ask a buddy if they needed it.

100ft BX at Home Desperate... 61.73 for 12 wire

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire...3123/202819636

First off, you guys are awesome! I expected to wait around a few days before getting very much feedback. This is exactly what I have. It is in i'd say between 10-20 ft legnths at the moment. It has been used before. Will people still use it if so? At this point any extra money is worth the work with the holidays coming. How do i figure out if it is bx 12, 14 or anything? Is the number the gauge of the copperwire itself? If so what is the best way to figure this out? As for introducing myself, i'm not sure if theres a particular place for that but I'm a father of 2, married, and I run my own Mushroom business for gourmet and medicinal mushrooms so I have lots of extra time for a hobby that makes money :) Plus I do a walking paper route on trash day through a neighborhood 1 day out of the week which will give me a great chance to scope out a neighborhood while not wasting any gas since i have to do it anyways.

I have 14 legnths of 10 ft or so and have no idea what to even ask for on c/l. Just for knowing what would this be graded as is and for stripped?

Most electricians will not chance a customer job not knowing if the wire has a short (or rub thru) spot in it. A short could be deadly. I'd strip it down and the sheath could go into your steel pile and strip the inner wire and sell to the yard as clean #1 or Bare Bright. (depending on your yard). Usually only about a dime's difference between #1 and BB.

Had a bit of it last trip, it was sold a copper bearing. 10 cents a pound. Won't sell anymore like that. Will at least remove the steel or pull it out.

The AL sheathed one, I got 1.19 a pound.

sometimes the wire will pull out easily and sometimes its a royal pain. it should sell for about the same as electric motors if you sell it whole

I used to eat those funny mushrooms back in HS and college. Until I had a bad experience with them.

Now I am a mushroom. Kept in the dark and fed bullsh!t as they say.

Okay. Ten foot lengths are not gonna sell on CL. 14 wire will bend fairly easily, 12 will be stiffer to bend. Try to bend about a 1/2" end into a loop. If it can be done fairly easily with your fingers, it is 14. If you cut your finger, it is probably 12.

To remove the wire (not gonna be easy-easy), the easiest way is to clamp the WIRE in a vise and pull the wire sheaf off. If you twist the sheaf one way, it will loosen on the wire. Turn it against the spiral of the twist. Wear gloves! It is likely the jacket will start to unwind. Once that happens, the jacket will just unravel from the wire.... or the jacket will just slide off the wire (if you are lucky). Stripping the insulation off the copper should be the more difficult of the two jobs.

When calling around to check prices for this wire hole and stripped I would ask for #1 price stripped and then what would the as is be called for pricing reasons?

Its called steel BX wire. Metal armored cable.

I have it stripped down to insulated copper wire and man there went all the weight! Lol I'm guessing the casing is going to be just bulk metal or whatever it is called and then there is the ground wire which is very malleable and I think is aluminum?

Aluminum ground?....probably not. If the wire looks like copper then it is copper; copper color meaning the same color as a new penny.

Can you post pics yet turtle? Someone can help you ID it if you have a pic. Probably copper like scrappinlife said.copper can be kind of a dark color also if it is old and tarnished. Aluminum will be silver in color. Cut into it or snip a little off andbsee what color it is inside.

Its probably aluminum. Weigh it. It should be significantly lighter than the copper wire.

You might have done a little better selling it whole if it is an aluminum wire. Stripping this wire takes time, and the 3 copper wires make it worth it. Not 2 copper and 1 aluminum. my .02

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Originally Posted by turtlejuice

When calling around to check prices for this wire hole and stripped I would ask for #1 price stripped and then what would the as is be called for pricing reasons?

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Start reading old threads

The 2 insulated wires are definitely copper but the ground is silver, very light and has no insulation. I'm almost done takin off the insulation off the copper. Next time I may just try leaving it whole to see how it turns out.

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Originally Posted by turtlejuice

I want to ensure I'm optimizing my return.

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I think it is olddude that says: "Anyone who thinks scrapping is easy ain't doing it right"

Forgive me olddude if this is not your quote.

What you have is one of the types of BX cable. As others have said, this can come in either a steel jacketed configuration or aluminum jacketed configuration. The grading will depend on your yard and the prices vary considerably. For Steel BX, I have one yard that makes you thow it in with light iron / shred at less than 6 cents right know. I have another speciality yard that pays 29 cents for it.

One thing that I've noticed nobody has mentioned, and this should answer your question on the 3rd wire, is that there are 2 different types of steel and aluminum BX. These types are AC ans MC. AC has the thin wire that you are talking about and it is bonded to the metal jacket which then acts as a ground. The MC wire has a seperate insulated copper ground wire. Here is a link to another forum with a discussion on these wire types. Please note that the electric code (NEC) that they are refering to is from 2002 or before, so don't assume that the allowable uses are still the same.

http://www.mikeholt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/002081.html

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Originally Posted by mthomasdev

What you have is one of the types of BX cable. As others have said, this can come in either a steel jacketed configuration or aluminum jacketed configuration. The grading will depend on your yard and the prices vary considerably. For Steel BX, I have one yard that makes you thow it in with light iron / shred at less than 6 cents right know. I have another speciality yard that pays 29 cents for it.

One thing that I've noticed nobody has mentioned, and this should answer your question on the 3rd wire, is that there are 2 different types of steel and aluminum BX. These types are AC ans MC. AC has the thin wire that you are talking about and it is bonded to the metal jacket which then acts as a ground. The MC wire has a seperate insulated copper ground wire. Here is a link to another forum with a discussion on these wire types. Please note that the electric code (NEC) that they are refering to is from 2002 or before, so don't assume that the allowable uses are still the same.

http://www.mikeholt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/002081.html

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One more link to clarify my last post a little more:

http://www.afcweb.com/media/afc-1001...stallation.pdf

I finished stripping all the wire and it wasn't as much as it seemed but I have 6.5 lbs of copper wire, .5 lbs of the ground wire, and 26lbs I believe it was of the casing which I take to be steel since a magnet sticks to it. It was a lot of work but I'm learning a thing or two!