Results 1 to 15 of 15

question on romex

| Scrap Metal Tips and Advice
  1. #1
    mike1 started this thread.
    mike1's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Rochester indiana
    Posts
    551
    Thanks
    231
    Thanked 93 Times in 76 Posts

    question on romex

    i was wondering if i was to get 14 gauge 3 wire romex and i had 300lbs of it insulated how much would there be in bare wire? i saw somewhere that 3lbs of insulated is 1lb of bare is that true for romex?



  2. #2
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Tucson AZ
    Posts
    361
    Thanks
    306
    Thanked 579 Times in 231 Posts
    I think I read somewhere that Romex was 60 percent copper but I guess it depends on what gauge. We can't sell stripped wire here in AZ so I never bothered to do the math on it myself.

    But I do think the 3lb to 1lb ratio is off. At 60 percent it would be 1.8lb per 3lb. For it to be only 1lb per 3lbs the recovery rate would be 33 percent. I know for a fact it's more than 33 percent.

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to 520 for This Post:


  4. #3
    mthomasdev's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Apr 2012
    Location
    pittsfield, ma
    Posts
    1,300
    Thanks
    348
    Thanked 1,532 Times in 704 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by mike1 View Post
    i was wondering if i was to get 14 gauge 3 wire romex and i had 300lbs of it insulated how much would there be in bare wire? i saw somewhere that 3lbs of insulated is 1lb of bare is that true for romex?
    Romex is roughly 65 percent copper. 300 pounds should yeild 195 pounds of bare bright.

  5. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by mthomasdev:


  6. #4
    mike1 started this thread.
    mike1's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Rochester indiana
    Posts
    551
    Thanks
    231
    Thanked 93 Times in 76 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by mthomasdev View Post
    Romex is roughly 65 percent copper. 300 pounds should yeild 195 pounds of bare bright.
    ah so that would yeild me a extra 90$ u know some people dont bother stripping romex or extension cords? i think thats strange. i always strip extension cords and any wire except for anything smaller than cat 3 wich i think is 24gauge wire? ok how many feet of romex would that be if it was one long section of romex and not cut? that way i would know how many feet is in 300lbs of romex 14gauge wire.

  7. #5
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    1,306
    Thanks
    3,232
    Thanked 1,922 Times in 785 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by mike1 View Post
    ah so that would yeild me a extra 90$ u know some people dont bother stripping romex or extension cords? i think thats strange. i always strip extension cords and any wire except for anything smaller than cat 3 wich i think is 24gauge wire? ok how many feet of romex would that be if it was one long section of romex and not cut? that way i would know how many feet is in 300lbs of romex 14gauge wire.
    There are resources posted in the threads many times about how ft/lb for wire. Also easily googleable. And lots of people don't strip much or even all wire, preferring to spend that time instead sourcing more wire to sell as is. Deciding on which strategy works best probably hinges upon material availability and hauling capacity.

  8. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by JJinLV:


  9. #6
    mike1 started this thread.
    mike1's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Rochester indiana
    Posts
    551
    Thanks
    231
    Thanked 93 Times in 76 Posts
    ah i see thanks for the info=)

  10. #7
    mthomasdev's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Apr 2012
    Location
    pittsfield, ma
    Posts
    1,300
    Thanks
    348
    Thanked 1,532 Times in 704 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by mike1 View Post
    ah so that would yeild me a extra 90$ u know some people dont bother stripping romex or extension cords? i think thats strange. i always strip extension cords and any wire except for anything smaller than cat 3 wich i think is 24gauge wire? ok how many feet of romex would that be if it was one long section of romex and not cut? that way i would know how many feet is in 300lbs of romex 14gauge wire.
    I currently don't strip any wire. I have some 500 mcm copper that I'm not stripping. When you can get dealer pricing, it isn't always worth the time to process stuff. If I had a high quality stripper or granualtor, that would be a different story.

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to mthomasdev for This Post:


  12. #8
    SKWrapper's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Posts
    377
    Thanks
    578
    Thanked 404 Times in 203 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by 520 View Post
    We can't sell stripped wire here in AZ
    ...whaaaaa??? OK then so how do they recycle it? It's only legal for the yards to remove the insulation? In order to recycle it, the insulation has to come off either stripping or melting it etc... and there has to be a buyer somewhere...
    Last edited by SKWrapper; 12-18-2018 at 03:52 PM.

  13. #9
    Dystopia's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    May 2018
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    13
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked 8 Times in 5 Posts
    I don't bother stripping any wire either, Romex or otherwise. I get payed a little more for Romex and CAT 5. A bit less money for insulated wire, but being the insulation adds a good bit of weight, I don't see I'm losing enough to warrant the time / energy cutting off insulation. Some of the wire I get, I'd bet the insulation weighs as much or more than the copper, so the extra weight there "somewhat" gets me closer to what I'd get stripped. At the end of the day, I have no desire to manually strip wire, just not worth it to me.

  14. #10
    mike1 started this thread.
    mike1's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Rochester indiana
    Posts
    551
    Thanks
    231
    Thanked 93 Times in 76 Posts
    I see yeah i strip everything except 18 gauge. Since i dont find or get muxh wire to begin with.

  15. #11
    t00nces2's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Sarasota, FL
    Posts
    1,693
    Thanks
    1,187
    Thanked 2,341 Times in 958 Posts
    I think it would be a lot of work for little return. Best case, 330# of clean bare bright... eh, $2 a pound=$600 and I don't think you would realize anywhere near that. 300# @ $0.80/# would be about $240 and you would be in and out without spending hours stripping wire. Unless you have a ton of time to sit and drink beer and strip, just turn and burn. Just my opinion.

  16. The Following User Says Thank You to t00nces2 for This Post:


  17. #12
    hills's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,351
    Thanks
    797
    Thanked 1,276 Times in 721 Posts
    I bought a variety of salvaged " house wiring " as mid-grade .40 /lb last summer. That way i would have some work ahead for when things get quiet this winter. ( It's all experimental.)

    Some of it was romex where the outer sheath was removed and the bare ground taken away as easy copper. What was left over was spaghetti wire. Insulated strands w/ 14 - 10 gauge copper wire inside. It's about 70 % recovery. The copper wire inside doesn't always qualify as bare bright. Oftentimes it's tarnished and has to be downgraded to #1 copper.

    The heavier insulated 2ga - 4ga. cable varies. It's seldom bare bright. More often goes as #2 copper. Recovery is anywhere between 30 - 60 % by weight. Jumper cables are the worst. Hard to strip by hand and fairly low recovery because they are so heavily insulated.

    Hand stripping doesn't seem like a good way of doing things. Had a small windfall last Christmas so i'm going to order in a small motorized stripping machine in a few weeks and see how that goes.

    The machine will (hopefully) pay for itself after the first load.

  18. #13
    hills's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,351
    Thanks
    797
    Thanked 1,276 Times in 721 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by 520 View Post
    I think I read somewhere that Romex was 60 percent copper but I guess it depends on what gauge. We can't sell stripped wire here in AZ so I never bothered to do the math on it myself.
    Just curious ... is it possible that the ban is on burnt wire ?

    That was the way the old timers used to do it.

  19. #14
    auminer's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Allen, TX
    Posts
    1,233
    Thanks
    579
    Thanked 2,301 Times in 857 Posts
    What sort of stripper are you guys using? I bought this model a few years ago, and while I only strip romex/solid wire ad heavier gauge strand wire (no lamp/extension cords) I find it worthwhile for my limited purposes.

    It's a decent way to stay busy on a rainy day sitting in the garage with a few brews listening to Blackberry Smoke!

    https://www.bluerocktools.com/manual...AaAnvrEALw_wcB


    Out of clutter, find simplicity. --Albert Einstein

  20. The Following User Says Thank You to auminer for This Post:


  21. #15
    mike1 started this thread.
    mike1's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Rochester indiana
    Posts
    551
    Thanks
    231
    Thanked 93 Times in 76 Posts
    Im using a box cutter lol. That machine of yours looks good though i think i have arthritis lol from manual stripping lol.


  22. Similar threads on the Scrap Metal Forum

    1. Scrap Romex: Should you strip it?
      By ggariepy in forum A Day in the Life of a Scrapper
      Replies: 18
      Last Post: 08-04-2018, 11:30 AM
    2. question on romex
      By Scottthescrapper in forum Introduce yourself
      Replies: 2
      Last Post: 01-11-2015, 09:58 PM
    3. romex stripped to becoem bare and bright?
      By exibar in forum Dismantling, Breaking Down & Maximizing Scrap
      Replies: 5
      Last Post: 11-01-2012, 06:34 AM
    4. Romex wire breakdown
      By thirsty in forum Dismantling, Breaking Down & Maximizing Scrap
      Replies: 5
      Last Post: 03-12-2012, 12:25 AM
    5. Urgent!! I need ROMEX and THHN badly
      By High Voltage Processing in forum Scrap Buyers & Sellers
      Replies: 0
      Last Post: 09-16-2011, 07:13 AM

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

 
Browse the Most Recent Threads
On SMF In THIS CATEGORY.





OR

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

The Scrap Metal Forum

    The Scrap Metal Forum is the #1 scrap metal recycling community in the world. Here we talk about the scrap metal business, making money, where we connect with other scrappers, scrap yards and more.

SMF on Facebook and Twitter

Twitter Facebook