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tyoon21
Penny Sorter Member
52 Posts |
 Posted - 04/13/2008 : 14:54:49
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Scrapped a bunch of computers and servers...harvested all the wires out. Started to strip the plastic coating but noted that the wires were silver in color, not copper looking.
I thought that computer wires were copper? Am I way off? Is it still worth to collect and sell these?
Also, does the color of the plastic mean anything?
Sorry about the newbie questions...still learning a lot!
Great forum! Thanks again for all the help.
Tom
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Take this job and shove it. I don't want to work here no more... |
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110 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2008 : 16:18:43
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Hi Tyoon. I'm pretty confident you are dealing with tin coated copper. You can tell if theres copper by looking at the end that you clipped off. It might be hard to see if too small. You can also scrap off a little of the coating and you should see copper underneath.
Where I recycle, I'm not sure how they treat this, but I'm pretty sure they pay less for it than regular copper. If you don't strip it, again, this is where I live, they pay based on a percentage of recoverability. I think small wire like this is around 50 percent or so? This is just a guess. You should call and ask the people that you sell to. Also, if you really wanted to, you could burn the insulation off, this will also burn the coating off the wire. I'm not saying you should do this, but I've seen it done. In that case, they'd treat it as #2 copper, which is worth just a little bit less than #1 copper. You have to weigh the hazards, etc, but I know that in some states it's legal. It's not legal in Washington btw.
I guess bottom line is you should call and ask your buyer how they treat wire like this.
Hope that helped, and good luck. |
24 Empty Missile Tubes, A Giant Mushroom Cloud....It's Miller Time!!! |
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tyoon21
Penny Sorter Member
52 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2008 : 20:34:30
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Hi Subsailor!
Thanks for the great help again!
Is most wire from computers like this? I am wondering now if it's just easier to take the lower payment than try to burn or strip it all out.
Again, thanks for the help subsailor.
Tom |
Take this job and shove it. I don't want to work here no more... |
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Flbandit
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
851 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2008 : 08:02:56
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| Most computers I've encountered are like this. My impression is they are aluminum wire. Someone told me this, but I've never really checked into it. I'll take a piece down to the yard next tme I go and see what they say. |
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110 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2008 : 08:56:55
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No problem Tom. I'm pretty sure that most of the wire is like this, except maybe for the power supply wires. You're just going to have to check.
Flbandit, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they're copper wires, with some sort of coating, it may be aluminum, but I'm pretty sure it's tin. If you scrape away the coating, you can definitely see the copper.
Tom, yeah, it might just be easier to sell it just like it is. Although I hate not getting max value out of anything I recycle. If I have the time, I'll always try to go that route. People always say, time is money, but if I'm just sitting on my butt watching tv, etc, why not make a couple bucks at the same time?
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24 Empty Missile Tubes, A Giant Mushroom Cloud....It's Miller Time!!! |
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tyoon21
Penny Sorter Member
52 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2008 : 10:03:32
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quote:
Originally posted by USNavySubSailor
Although I hate not getting max value out of anything I recycle. If I have the time, I'll always try to go that route. People always say, time is money, but if I'm just sitting on my butt watching tv, etc, why not make a couple bucks at the same time?
Amen to that Subsailor. With today's economy a couple bucks can mean quite a bit.
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Take this job and shove it. I don't want to work here no more... |
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110 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2008 : 10:36:01
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| Yeah, especially when it's an easy couple bucks. As a matter of fact, I just stripped about a pound of speaker wire. It only took a couple minutes, the copper just pulled right out of the coating. All I had to do was pull. I work in a Communications Center while in port, and they let me do some recycling work while on watch. As long as I get the work done, etc. We just basicially monitor voice comms and some data circuits, but it doesn't get too busy. They also give us the internet, but we're restricted on what web pages we can go to, as you can probably understand why. They're okay with this one though. |
24 Empty Missile Tubes, A Giant Mushroom Cloud....It's Miller Time!!! |
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copper wire scrapping
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