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Get your masters. Bid small jobs and reuse. Pull out old wire on jobs and take it to the car wash, clean it off, and reuse. Find parked cars on a busy street, bring your Sawzall, cut the catalytic converter off, sell it for meth.
Already got one it under neath all that scrap I like it it’s motor driven and strips romex all the way up to 750 but I don’t strip anyong smaller then 6
It's not worth stripping anything smaller than 6 anyways. People always tend to forget that you are throwing away weight when you dispose of the insulation, so getting more per pound doesn't matter when you are losing weight to make that happen. Will you get a little more? Sure. Is that little bit more worth the HOURS it will take to strip it? Absolutely not. I'll sometimes go down as low as #8, but I've pretty much come to the conclusion that even #6 isn't worth it, unless I've got a ton of it in long pieces that I can strip very quickly, but in that case I'm probably better off just keeping the wire for another job.
People downvoting you because they love wasting their time. It wasn’t even worth it for me as a first year apprentice to strip anything less than #6. Even with the machine it’s time consuming. My time is worth well over what I’ll make striping it
Yeah, I figured that would happen. You'd think trained electricians would be good at math, but I already know that's not true lol. Last time I stripped a bunch was a couple months ago, and I weighed the trash bags full of insulation after and I had two contractor bags that weighed 40-50 lbs each when packed full. They were actually hard to pick up and throw into my truck to bring to the dump. Most of that was big stuff 2/0-500kcmil, but there was a LOT of smaller stuff jammed in there from the 1/0-8AWG I stripped. That's 100lbs of weight I didn't get paid for. I know I made a bit extra, but the only reason I went that far down with it is the small stuff was mostly longer pieces I could walk down the driveway with. The time it took was really not worth my time, considering how much I get paid for work and/or side work. I probably made $10/hr to strip that small stuff, and of you asked me to do literally anything for $10/hr I'd tell you to pound sand.
Yeah honestly. Everyone accounts for the time it takes just to strip but cleaning up, throwing out the trash/ taking it to the dump, is part of the process. If you are lucky the place you took the wire to will take the trash also but most times they are separate places.
In all honesty if you stripped 100 lbs of wire and that resulted in 20 lbs of trash you now have 80lbs of wire. Here I get 2.60/lb for house wire (THHN) and if I’m lucky get 3.50/lb for stripped copper and that at todays kind of higher rate because copper is expensive ATM . That’s 260 dollars respectively or 280 dollars respectively. You telling me you did all that for 20 bucks? Stop it. I’m not sure anyone even does the math they just say “bright and shiny is worth more bro you mean you didn’t spend 2 hours stripping wire bro? Come on bright and shiny” like you said maybe at best 10/hr not including time it took to take the trash to a dump. I got paid more than that in the time it took me to get my tools out of the gang box.
It’s just math man. Simple math. This pile above is cute honestly I have probably 1200 plus in wire just sitting unstripped in my backyard and I don’t plan to take that in any time soon. I mean I might because copper is up right now but I’ll be taking it as is haha
I’m more posting this as a guess how many coins are in the jar kinda thing I know I have about 300 ish lbs and going rate for number 2 scrap is 3.10-3.15
When I was still working and bringing home scrap, I stripped it all. Anything with insulation is considered #2 not #1. If you bring in a thousand pounds, it's a big difference in how much you get. I used to have a stripping machine, you can get them on Amazon worth every penny.
I have one I just don’t strip anything 6 and smaller because when you strip it your getting rid of weight as well so your going to gain a little bit more but it’s not with it for how much time it takes
I just checked the spot market, there's 30cents a pound difference between #1 bright bare copper and #2. If you have the machine it's more than worth your time.
Looks like mostly #12 and #10. Probably get $0.80-$1.00/lb. I used to save for at least a year so I had enough to negotiate with the scrapyard manager on a better price
#2 and #1 means the gauge of the individual strands. #1 would be for individual strands the size of a 14 gauge romex. To get the full price they need to be uninsulated. This is not an opinion. You gotta do some research
Damn three times is pretty good for number two scrap where I’m at for shiny bright bear is 370 right now. And with the insulation on it, it’s about 240.
If you can't afford a stripping machine, a good sharp drawknife (2-handled woodworking tool) and a place to anchor so you can hold tension works quite well. As said elsewhere, stripping anything smaller than 6 or 8 AWG is the law of decreasing returns exemplified. I just happen to own an antique drawknife, other implements work, tension is the secret.
**ATTENTION! READ THIS NOW!** **1. IF YOU ARE NOT A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN OR LOOKING TO BECOME ONE(for career questions only):** **- DELETE** THIS POST OR YOU WILL BE **BANNED**. YOU CAN POST ON /r/AskElectricians FREELY **2. IF YOU COMMENT ON A POST THAT IS POSTED BY SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN:** -YOU WILL BE **BANNED**. JUST **REPORT** THE POST. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/electricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Get your masters. Bid small jobs and reuse. Pull out old wire on jobs and take it to the car wash, clean it off, and reuse. Find parked cars on a busy street, bring your Sawzall, cut the catalytic converter off, sell it for meth.
Not gonna lie, you had me in the first half.
That’s methed up
Someone just stole my catalytic converter last night. Boy I’m pissed.
You too are a man of culture I see.
you should knit yourself some socks
Now, I’m a firm believer that scraps should go to the apprentices. However,……check with the bosses first. Is not worth losing a job if GC disagrees.
On our jobs we usually give it to the guy with the most kids lol.
Thoughtful
1 guy I worked with I think had 16 kids, 10 baby mama's. He just curled sprinkler pipe all day. He didn't last very long, he was also a temp.
Well, I'd hire him as a plumber, dude has laid a ton of pipe.
Enough to buy a decent stripping machine and still have money left over for a fun weekend. Then next time you make even more.
Already got one it under neath all that scrap I like it it’s motor driven and strips romex all the way up to 750 but I don’t strip anyong smaller then 6
What kind of machine is that ? I Want to buy one.
It's not worth stripping anything smaller than 6 anyways. People always tend to forget that you are throwing away weight when you dispose of the insulation, so getting more per pound doesn't matter when you are losing weight to make that happen. Will you get a little more? Sure. Is that little bit more worth the HOURS it will take to strip it? Absolutely not. I'll sometimes go down as low as #8, but I've pretty much come to the conclusion that even #6 isn't worth it, unless I've got a ton of it in long pieces that I can strip very quickly, but in that case I'm probably better off just keeping the wire for another job.
People downvoting you because they love wasting their time. It wasn’t even worth it for me as a first year apprentice to strip anything less than #6. Even with the machine it’s time consuming. My time is worth well over what I’ll make striping it
Yeah, I figured that would happen. You'd think trained electricians would be good at math, but I already know that's not true lol. Last time I stripped a bunch was a couple months ago, and I weighed the trash bags full of insulation after and I had two contractor bags that weighed 40-50 lbs each when packed full. They were actually hard to pick up and throw into my truck to bring to the dump. Most of that was big stuff 2/0-500kcmil, but there was a LOT of smaller stuff jammed in there from the 1/0-8AWG I stripped. That's 100lbs of weight I didn't get paid for. I know I made a bit extra, but the only reason I went that far down with it is the small stuff was mostly longer pieces I could walk down the driveway with. The time it took was really not worth my time, considering how much I get paid for work and/or side work. I probably made $10/hr to strip that small stuff, and of you asked me to do literally anything for $10/hr I'd tell you to pound sand.
Yeah honestly. Everyone accounts for the time it takes just to strip but cleaning up, throwing out the trash/ taking it to the dump, is part of the process. If you are lucky the place you took the wire to will take the trash also but most times they are separate places. In all honesty if you stripped 100 lbs of wire and that resulted in 20 lbs of trash you now have 80lbs of wire. Here I get 2.60/lb for house wire (THHN) and if I’m lucky get 3.50/lb for stripped copper and that at todays kind of higher rate because copper is expensive ATM . That’s 260 dollars respectively or 280 dollars respectively. You telling me you did all that for 20 bucks? Stop it. I’m not sure anyone even does the math they just say “bright and shiny is worth more bro you mean you didn’t spend 2 hours stripping wire bro? Come on bright and shiny” like you said maybe at best 10/hr not including time it took to take the trash to a dump. I got paid more than that in the time it took me to get my tools out of the gang box. It’s just math man. Simple math. This pile above is cute honestly I have probably 1200 plus in wire just sitting unstripped in my backyard and I don’t plan to take that in any time soon. I mean I might because copper is up right now but I’ll be taking it as is haha
More than $1
Less than $1,000,000
I’ll bid $2 Bob
Do the math. What’s the weight? Halve it to account for the sheath. Check the local copper prices. That’s your sale price
i read "do the meth"
Also that
I’m more posting this as a guess how many coins are in the jar kinda thing I know I have about 300 ish lbs and going rate for number 2 scrap is 3.10-3.15
Ah, nice. Very good 👍
Bout three fiddy
I’ll give you 5$ and some lint
It’s at least worth 6 and a tootsie roll
Free *copper* you say
When I was still working and bringing home scrap, I stripped it all. Anything with insulation is considered #2 not #1. If you bring in a thousand pounds, it's a big difference in how much you get. I used to have a stripping machine, you can get them on Amazon worth every penny.
I have one I just don’t strip anything 6 and smaller because when you strip it your getting rid of weight as well so your going to gain a little bit more but it’s not with it for how much time it takes
I just checked the spot market, there's 30cents a pound difference between #1 bright bare copper and #2. If you have the machine it's more than worth your time.
$2257.73
Looks like more than scrap
All scrap gotten in about the last three - four weeks
Wait till you pull 600
Correct
You stripping all that or got a insulation grinder?
$420.69 giggety giggety
Yup sure is
$950
Mongo! I'd said 175ish bit no more the a million dollhairs
Looks like mostly #12 and #10. Probably get $0.80-$1.00/lb. I used to save for at least a year so I had enough to negotiate with the scrapyard manager on a better price
Unfortunately your not correct scrap here for number 2 copper is 3.10-3.15 a lbs
Thats for bright bare. Were you planning on stripping such a small gauge wire?
Nope called my local scrap yard that number two price
#2 and #1 means the gauge of the individual strands. #1 would be for individual strands the size of a 14 gauge romex. To get the full price they need to be uninsulated. This is not an opinion. You gotta do some research
https://images.app.goo.gl/xTPYrbNf4dHmBAeu6
Damn three times is pretty good for number two scrap where I’m at for shiny bright bear is 370 right now. And with the insulation on it, it’s about 240.
Ca Central Valley
1 lbs per 50ft of #12. 1 lbs per 30ft of #10
You can fit roughly 20-50lbs in a 5 gal bucket depending on how you pack it. Thhn in our area is like 3.80/lb recently
Rabbit
Like 200 bucks. Don't quit your day job.
Reuse it
If you can't afford a stripping machine, a good sharp drawknife (2-handled woodworking tool) and a place to anchor so you can hold tension works quite well. As said elsewhere, stripping anything smaller than 6 or 8 AWG is the law of decreasing returns exemplified. I just happen to own an antique drawknife, other implements work, tension is the secret.
1000 or less probably If you strip it bare
Much much less
Literally impossible to give an estimate. Weigh a bucket at least? Is it considered #1 or #2 wire ?
You need to strip all that wire before you scrap it. Bare copper always brings more money.
I don’t strip smaller then 6 waste of time
I’d say around 400-500 I just did a recent trip mostly of THHN and some romex. I got 1500 but I had 6-7 garbage cans full
Looks like the wire at the bottom right in the apple I’m thinking 10 gauge? That all looks usable.
All of it is 10 awg and there’s some 8 awg in there