Buying insulated copper wire from scrap yard?

Originally Posted by greytruck

Pretty cool you had the opportunity to do this.... i was wondering last nite about this. i was wondering about how much of the actual wire would be bare bright considering some wire i stripped in the past was shorted / burnt out. you know how it turns brown or green and is all slimy, sticky, ect. i stop stripping it if i find that. i just sell it as #1 ins wire. But considering that electricians remove alot of wire, i would think a descent amount of replaced wire would be shorted out like that. Idk just a thought.

I seem to be running about 50% bare bright and about 50% tarnished lately. Got about 50 lbs each put up so far. Bare bright is about 3.20 and #2 is around 2.80 so it's not a terribly big difference.

The electricians in this area don't seem to tear out all that much. (Too much like work.) They usually cut an obsolete wire back about a foot from the breaker panel and call it good. Most of what copper i do get from them is just short pieces or part of a roll.

It's funny ... the insulation around a wire really isn't air tight or water tight. It can look perfectly good from the outside but be green or brown on the inside. It just tarnished over the years. Even brand new wire just off the roll won't quite pass for bare bright sometimes.

Originally Posted by hills

I seem to be running about 50% bare bright and about 50% tarnished lately. Got about 50 lbs each put up so far. Bare bright is about 3.20 and #2 is around 2.80 so it's not a terribly big difference.

The electricians in this area don't seem to tear out all that much. (Too much like work.) They usually cut an obsolete wire back about a foot from the breaker panel and call it good. Most of what copper i do get from them is just short pieces or part of a roll.

It's funny ... the insulation around a wire really isn't air tight or water tight. It can look perfectly good from the outside but be green or brown on the inside. It just tarnished over the years. Even brand new wire just off the roll won't quite pass for bare bright sometimes.

I did a hoarder garage clean out a few years ago. there were box's and box's of used wire rolled up in there. i was like OMG $$$$$. but it was all brown and green inside so i said forget it and sold it as is. Could have been from sitting in there for who knows how many years, or decades for that matter. But usually if i ever get wire its from demo company's who throw the conduit in the dumpster with the wires still inside. Most of it is still nice copper color but every now and then when i open a junction box there's burnt out ends on some wires. but that was before the prices went up. now theres only empty conduit. Oh well got to roll with the punches in this game.

I probably shouldn't say anything, but the bulk of what i'm getting these days is well pump wire. Literally getting hundreds of feet come in at a time. It's a lot of work to process the stuff but it keeps my hands busy when things are slow. Copper seldom comes easy anyway. It's something you have to work for. All part of the game.

It seems like everyone is trying to scratch out some extra bucks these days. Cost of living is going up and the weekly paycheck doesn't to go as far as it used to. Copper is up so the electricians take the wire home instead of pitching it in the dumpster. That will get old after awhile.

The big thing in this area now is telephone wire. They're going from DSL to high speed fiber internet so there's literally hundreds of miles of copper telephone wire coming out of service these days. It would be nearly impossible to strip but you would be sitting pretty of you had a granulator or just sold it to the yard "as is". It's a good opportunity for someone in the right place at the right time.

Originally Posted by hills

I probably shouldn't say anything, but the bulk of what i'm getting these days is well pump wire. Literally getting hundreds of feet come in at a time. It's a lot of work to process the stuff but it keeps my hands busy when things are slow. Copper seldom comes easy anyway. It's something you have to work for. All part of the game.

It seems like everyone is trying to scratch out some extra bucks these days. Cost of living is going up and the weekly paycheck doesn't to go as far as it used to. Copper is up so the electricians take the wire home instead of pitching it in the dumpster. That will get old after awhile.

The big thing in this area now is telephone wire. They're going from DSL to high speed fiber internet so there's literally hundreds of miles of copper telephone wire coming out of service these days. It would be nearly impossible to strip but you would be sitting pretty of you had a granulator or just sold it to the yard "as is". It's a good opportunity for someone in the right place at the right time.

True last I knew num 3 was 75$ for 100lbs. Insulation on it adds up fast extension cords are now num 2 here where I go so I get 1$ a pound for em yay. If it's 10gauge I'll probably strip it I have never got one though haha.

Originally Posted by greytruck

I did a hoarder garage clean out a few years ago. there were box's and box's of used wire rolled up in there. i was like OMG $$$$$. but it was all brown and green inside so i said forget it and sold it as is. Could have been from sitting in there for who knows how many years, or decades for that matter. But usually if i ever get wire its from demo company's who throw the conduit in the dumpster with the wires still inside. Most of it is still nice copper color but every now and then when i open a junction box there's burnt out ends on some wires. but that was before the prices went up. now theres only empty conduit. Oh well got to roll with the punches in this game.

I woulda stripped it weather green or brown or bare around here it's only 2.85$ for bb and 2.65$ for num 2. A 20c difference vs insulated price. I only don't strip it if it's a lower gauge wire starting with 14awg and below just run it through the stripper.