new scrapper sad begginer mistake

[frankieg079]

So when I say new. Month in. Haven't even brought in first haul. Fig do some stock piling so when do jump in. Have lil stock pile for slow weeks. Well as every Scrapper knows. Magnet. Well I been collecting broken electrons TVs etc. Mostly wire. Stripped lot of wire. Thought I hit beginners score. Lot of tv cable wire. Spent half hour stripping. To realize. Copper plated steel. So threw rest wire in corner. What do I do with it???? Feels like I found fools gold. Lol. But I'm not to bummed. The dumpster I found that In. I also took out other good wire. Tv. Vacuum and a broken extension cord

[hobo finds]

Coax cable can be tricky, depends on your yard. One yard here buys it as is for a little bit more than shred steel. Other yards do not take it, or only take it in with the shred steel. As you have stripped it I feel the yard will take it as steel no questions asked...

[nutpie]

The metal ends are almost always brass (dirty or clean, you have to figure that out ((depends on the buyer)). The rest of the cable wire (co-axial) in the shred pile (again, depends on the buyer).

[hobo finds]

Yep, I forgot to mention the ends. By me you get dirty brass or copper content for them, with dirty brass paying more...

[miked]

Most coax that the cable tv providers use has the copper plated steel center conductor you found. Other coax that is used for radio transmission has solid copper center conductor and often the shield braid is copper. If the shield is silver in color it is either Al or tinned copper. Scrape the shield with a knife and if you see some red then you will know its copper.

Mike

[bick23]

I usually stick the coax cable into washer or dryer tubs and then move it through as shred. If I run out of things to do I know I have them stashed there and will go after the ends, otherwise I just let it all go as shred and it makes the load look good when the office people see it.

[Hurrikane]

got a roll of coax that had been stored for thirty years or so. copper color outside tough to tell inside though. not magnetic. no sparks with grinder. solid copper? coated aluminum? fairly stiff so i'm not leaning towards aluminum. thoughts?

[Mechanic688]

30 year old, almost definitely copper.

[nutpie]

got a roll of coax that had been stored for thirty years or so. copper color outside tough to tell inside though. not magnetic. no sparks with grinder. solid copper? coated aluminum? fairly stiff so i'm not leaning towards aluminum. thoughts?

Can you cut the wire and look at the center of the core metal?

[miked]

30 year old, almost definitely copper.

Without a doubt if its anywhere near that old then its copper not steal.

I have yet to see any Al that is plated to look like copper. You can cut off a a piece of metal and feel how it feels in your hand often you can feel the difference. This does that experience and testing is always best. Mike

[RLS0812]

Aluminum will become slightly oxidized ( turn whitish ) when it contacts hydrogen peroxide.
Steel will rust.
Silver will turn slightly black.

[wavecrazed]

Use the magnet to test