Reminder about whether to strip wire or not

**TheMetalizer** · 01-14-2011, 08:52 PM

Has anybody that strips wire ever actually weight what they start with and what they end with? Up until recently, the only wire I would strip was cable out of computer monitors and TVs (only the heavy gauge stuff). Not too long ago I scrapped degaussing cable

Turns out I was actually making nothing (or close to nothing.) If I stripped the small gauge wire, I was actually losing a little.

But over all, I don't strip wire, just like I don't strip lead out of car batteries. It would end up being too much of a hassle and I would end up getting payed about the same.

**Scrap man** · 01-15-2011, 11:15 AM

I don't think you guys understand what I mean.

Say, for example, you get a 10 ft peice of wire, 1/8 inch thick with insulation, but the actual copper inside is only a few millimeters thick. Unstripped, the wire weighs a few pounds, but just the copper weighs a few ounces. If copper price is $3 and insulated wire price is $1, the wire is going to be worth a few bucks, but just the copper would be less than a dollar.

I'm don't mean that all wire isn't worth stripping, just certain sizes

**injunjoe** · 01-20-2011, 05:04 AM

I agree that some stranded wire is worth the effort and some is not. I am in the A/C business and find some wire is say 18 Ga. with a thin insulation and others have a very thick insulation yet same wire size.

I will test a wire if it strips easy it gets stripped. If it gives me a hard time it goes in the can. When I clean the wire from the units I try to leave the wire as long as possible, making it faster and easier to strip!