What types of copper wire are worth stripping. I do the experiment so you don’t have to!

[@murlbailer3755]

I am the only wire stripper here. I get every little piece. I’ve got the time ❤️. 🐎🌻✌️

[@edwinsmith1774]

I do respect your videos teaching people most don't want to teach

[@ecoscrapper3501]

Great and informative video! I use a wire stripper and for the finer grades it has to be set just right to avoid shredding the wires. Can be a useful thing for rainy days ☺

[@TinManScrapper]

Yup, would agree. Also a nice winter project

[@rossbrumby1957]

scrapyards can make it not viable to strip appliance cords and smaller if you don't do your homework on scrapyards pricing. I'm lucky in that my local country town scrapyard will clean swap all my lighter wires for heavy- weight for weight.( here there is no segregation between any types of plastic coated wires- it's all the same price) so I get better stripped value from heavier, easy to strip wire and then I strip some for them too so they get a better value also. (I have an enerpat 9 cutter wheel electric stripper)

[@108CAM]

I strip whatever fits through my stripper without getting chewed up by the blade although I sometimes strip the small stuff when I'm bored and don't have any larger wire left. The reason I do it is because I rarely get the very thick wire and I don't let my pile of unstripped wire build up too much.

[@paulfuller3668]

Great video. I'm just learning about this copper scrapping stuff and you video was very informative. Thank you

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you for the kind words and support. Glad to see this video was informative. I have many others. Hope they help as well. Stay well and happy scrapping!

[@TheLaughingLion]

Wow this video is very detailed. If you're a scrapper ora person who just like recycling, then watching this will save you time calculating the price of this wire. Well done Tin Man and i enjoyed watching this! Greetings from Las Vegas! New supporter #466+ 🔔👍 We appreciate the support too

[@TheLaughingLion]

like#13

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you for the kind words and support. Stay well and look forward to more of your videos.

[@jamesthompson8254]

Any wire is worth stripping

[@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking]

Hey mate - love your research! This is science and saving the planet. :) I do have a little bit of a worry for ya, and a few tips. 2:34 - What you have in your hands is so dark - I think you may possibly have taken an asbestos risk. Avoid stripping any wires that look old enough to be early 80's or older. Yellow plugs, obvious age, rubbery feel to the insulation, vintage-style plugs - all danger signs it could be that old. This 2:34 pic is a great example of why one shouldn't strip old wire too. The result is tarnished stuff anyway. I stripped about 60 old wires, and two flew asbestos up into my face before I bitterly learned that lesson. Asbestos was "fireproofing" - and they threw it into all sorts of wiring. Any variety can have it. Just bag the old in a "danger wire" bag. Sort by type, of course. 2:34 - You bit too deep into the wire while stripping. You'll cut up the strand and it'll fall apart on you like cat hairs, and be impossible to spool up nice into an air-tight container. (Keep it bright!) If you hear a tearing or SCRIIIIIICH sound, stop immediately and raise your blade height. It should pull smooth as butter, with just a small amount of resistance - and come off easy like a banana peel. Take the time to test a few end pieces to get the depth right - and the result is a nice finished product should feel smooth to the touch. Do all the wires of that same size so you adjust it less, if you have a plate or machine. Keep it coming, i'm staying tuned!

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you for your concern and comments. Luckily the wire at 2:34 is from an extension chord made only 10 years ago.....it was cut by accident.

[@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking]

@@TinManScrapper I do hope so! I am also more concerned for Canadians because I was shocked to read how Canada hasn't really banned it. They are talking about doing so. Any insight you have would be wonderful. www.asbestos.com/news/2018/10/22/canada-asbestos-ban-exemptions/

[@TinManScrapper]

@@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking interesting, I am going to have to do more research. My teacher side is going to make me investigate.

[@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking]

​@@TinManScrapper Wonderful! I tell ya the most terrifying 2 moments scrapping was when I had asbestos fly up at me in the kitchen. I wrote it off as an anomaly the first time, just to encounter it again. Knowing I put it in my actual living space, not my garage made me ill. I am starting to think more and more the most important scrapping info is that of occupational safety - and that's what we need to teach first. (I teach informally too.) :) You're doing a wonderful service, will stay tuned!

[@TinManScrapper]

@@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking thank you very much for the kind words. I too want to make sure I street safety and health in the videos. Thank you again and stay well

[@pederlindstrom3132]

Hello again from Sweden. Strip or not is the Scrappers contanstant struggle. Most wire I don't strip, rule of thumb is if it bends I strip. We don't have Romex like you do but we got simular but it's a hassle to strip. Good information in the video I think, as a pointer if it's worth to strip.

[@TinManScrapper]

Thanks Peder, yeah it was a pain to strip the extension chord for sure, but my curiosity took the best of me. Stay well.

[@tomkelly8827]

This is very good to know! Yes, Thub from Calgary inspired me to get a stripper but it turns out my large pile of wire is not well suited to stripping! It is ok though, I plan to call my electrician friend to see if he wants to sell me a big pile of wire at the reduced rate, That will pay for my new stripper

[@cuetTimmonz]

hey. Torontoian here. I do strip the extension cords.lol. I work from home so i can sit on the floor, on my down time, and do it. listen to music while im doing it. each to their own though, right. thanks for the tips though, on the wires to not strip, if too thin.. dsl cables, etc. i do have a bin of the: way too thin wires.i even have Rogers cable wires. u dont see anyone stripping those anymore...

[@TinManScrapper]

thanks for the comment. As mentioned, yeah some do strip everything. it is up to the individual stripper.

[@DieterSoegemeier]

Here in Brisbane Australia in April 2021 we are getting $3.40 per KG for standard shelded wire. We are getting $10.50 per kg for bere bright copper

[@TinManScrapper]

Nice prices here too. Unbelievable how much construction is going on here right now and demand. Thanks for the comment. Stay well

[@kluafoz]

What about speaker wire? I found a couple spools that doesn't have much on them?

[@TinManScrapper]

Not worth stripping, just put in 60% copper recovery pile

[@mikehasit73]

great info for someone starting out. i granulate all my wire thick or thin is grinds up, strips, separates in the machine and left with clean beautiful copper. little hard to hear ya when you turn from the camera to talk. nice video bud

[@TinManScrapper]

Thanks Mike, sounds like an efficient method and little waste. Stay well and look forward to more of your videos.

[@silver_salvage_savage]

Very helpful. Where do vacuum cords fall? Are they worth doing anything to? I'm thinking, probably not......

[@TinManScrapper]

I actually have a full video just of stripping vacuum cleaner chords. in my experiment I found I lost a little money or just got a very small difference in pay so they were not worth it.

[@jesseFNjames]

An idea for future videos would be to add overlaying text showing the weight and prices or maybe a breakdown at the end with charts or excel sheet

[@TinManScrapper]

Thanks for the ideas. Stay well and happy scrapping

[@TheFredfredd]

Fellow Canadian here. Great video, I have come to pretty much the same conclusion. 👍

[@TinManScrapper]

Hey fellow Canuck, thanks for the support. stay well.

[@MrsGreenThumb]

Was very nice meeting you. Love the fact that you donate the money to charities. We are friends and thanks again for your comment.

[@TinManScrapper]

No worries and thanks for the support and the things you do as well to help promote a clean environment. Stay well

[@LordPadriac]

Almost nothing described in this video as bare bright actually is. To be bare bright the individual strands need to be the size of a #2 pencil lead or larger. The size of the wire itself or how bright it looks does not matter if the INDIVIDUAL strands making up the wire are smaller than a #2 pencil lead. Only the romex and bx type wires in the video would qualify as bare bright. Everything else is #2 copper.

[@TinManScrapper]

I know that, and I acknowledged that. Watch my other videos and I explain that. It is 16 gauge or higher ( as I go on to explain, is the width of a pencil lead). Romeo wire is actually thicker than a pencil lead btw.

[@TinManScrapper]

Lvt wire is not bare bright but #2 copper. Thanks for the correction.

[@rossbrumby1957]

Legally to be bare bright it has to be bare and bright. When the name is the description theres no argument. Here the scrapyards pay the same for all plastic coated wires- just depends on the industry where you are. I swap all my lighter appliance etc wire for heavier house wiring, weight for weight at my local friendly scrapyard. I get better weight of stripped wire, and in return I strip heavy wire for them to make a bit more on.

[@MomsSelfReliance]

Beautiful information thats some awesome work you are doing,wish you all the best nice channel 👍

[@UKscrapper]

Great information for anyone starting out very helpful keep up the great videos

[@TinManScrapper]

Thanks UK. Stay well

[@wnytrashtrucks]

Romex and #1 out of BX is the only thing I even consider stripping. Romex I do take a utility knife strip the outside take the bare wire out and will either strip the other 2 or 3 real quick. Because I don't get much I just do it right away. The bx#1 wire is something I just do when I am bored.

[@TinManScrapper]

Yup, real simple and nice amount of copper. Thanks and stay well

[@golftownpro999]

You've heard of farm stimulator....I want scrap simulator!

[@tommielee8]

The LVT is a single strand wire. Easily de-coated with the right machine. Sometimes the unprocessed wire, plastic on, is worth more to the scrapyard. They pay more for unstripped wire than the raw copper inside. Go figure. It has to do with "recovery amount" for the different wire types. It has do with the weight comparisons....copper to plastic.

[@TinManScrapper]

Yup, all depends on scrapyard. I got paid a lot more in London On. than Sarnia. Thanks for the comment

[@julieatkins8146]

Thank You so much for going into details

[@TinManScrapper]

Glad you found it useful, although prices would have been lower back then, but at least you know which wires are worth stripping.

[@alrdyreg]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. Way down in Texas but I was told all the same information by the scrapyard next to my house. RJ-45 (phone wire) not worth it while RJ-11 is. In case anyone has some laying around. Ever had experience with jelly wire?

[@TinManScrapper]

Nice to meet you and thanks for the support. Love Texas btw. Stay well.

[@HeavensGatesCherryFarm]

Here I am, great channel, here to support your channel, have a great day!!!👍🍒

[@TinManScrapper]

Thanks back for the support and kind words. Stay well. You have a beautiful place btw.

[@kennyspringer7668]

Yesterday I stripped a 150 foot electric cord it was so heavy in the casing I cut it out I got a eight pounds it looks like a cross between bare bright and number two because of the redness but it is 50 years old and some of the rubber was heated onto it and would not remove anything I should do microwave heat gun clean it or let it go as is clean with some bits of rubber

[@TinManScrapper]

It is still going to go as #2 copper because the individual strands are smaller then 16 gauge. Nice thing about #2 you can leave a little of the rubber on as #2 can have paint, soldering, oil etc. On it

[@JohnnySwedishScrapper]

awsome video ;) i only strip the cabels i can and i know will give 999 pure copper, other vise it will sell as cabel whit the plastic on ;) i have short video about some price on ;)

[@Freeisbetter86]

Great Informative Video !!!

[@reedschmidt7275]

I know this is old video. But do scrap yards take all cat wire together? I have cat 5 and cat 3. Is that gonna be considered the same price wise?

[@TinManScrapper]

I think it depends on your scrapyard. In London there is no category for cat 5 and 3, just 40% and 60% appliance wire. Since they both have an outer coating and individual coated strands of wire they would go as 40% appliance wire and $1.37 lb. I would remove the outer casing with a wire stripper and upgrade to %60 appliance wire and get $2.56 lb. Again, some yards do take cat in categories and they look at thickness of strands.

[@reedschmidt7275]

@@TinManScrapper thank you so much!

[@TinManScrapper]

@@reedschmidt7275 no problem. I hope that helped

[@jeremyowens7560]

One suggestion I would have is to also keep track of how much time it took you to strip the different wires in each stage. Doing this you can also figure the increase of price per hour. If you’re not doing it for fun then this would help you decide what you time is worth for each type of wire.

[@TinManScrapper]

Yup agree. I guess it also depends on if you have a wire stripper or not too. Stay well and happy holidays

[@rossbrumby1957]

It's a hobby that pays. If you look at it as a job where time is money, stop doing it and wash cars or mow lawns in your spare time. Because if time taken is accounted for, don't forget to add the time it took to scrounge it or strip that appliance you got it from too.

[@NoMoreBsPlease]

Christmas lights aren't worth stripping, but it's definitely worth cutting the lights off! It goes from $.10/lb to $.85/lb. Definitely worth the tiny bit of work.

[@TinManScrapper]

agree

[@L3V1T8-84]

What to do with the wire insulation/coating? Is it worth anything?

[@TinManScrapper]

Unfortunately it is garbage

[@L3V1T8-84]

@@TinManScrapper okay, thanks for letting me know.

[@hossamslime9354]

Nice video Copper like silver coat Can remove this layer Think y

[@jefferybrown8062]

Thank you for making this

[@TinManScrapper]

My pleasure!

[@MrsGreenThumb]

Very good information.

[@MrG-ce6tb]

Thumbs up to you man that is some good info catch you later

[@CrazyShepherd]

From Rafael Scraper 😊 watch some latter for now 👍

[@bradosbourne587]

New subscriber, enjoying your videos! Thanks

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you for the support. Stay well

[@theskiprat1632]

Good information clearly explained 👍 Good all round video New subscriber u.k 👍 Take care & be lucky mate

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you for you your kind words and support. Stay well as well.

[@rolandkeith5322]

Good job man thumbs up

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you Roland. Stay well.

[@andrewcannon587]

my best friends are strippers.

[@BushDogScrapper]

I have close to a 1000ft of cat 5e was dreading stripping it by hand lol

[@TinManScrapper]

Glad I could help save you on that. Good weight though, glad that you will make some money on it

[@BushDogScrapper]

@@TinManScrapper thank you again for the awesome videos and knowledge 👍

[@DonnasJourneychitchat]

Good knowledge to know ...thanks

[@michaelwillcutt2619]

Finer wire is less than thicker copper

[@sdkick-lr3ew]

I strip every bit of copper

[@darnellwillis4450]

Are computer cords worth stripping,I have about 500 lbs

[@TinManScrapper]

No, I think too small of wire. You would loose a lot from coating if stripped

[@audriussedbaras8584]

💩♻️💩Scrap=angry birds=copper💩♻️💩

[@damwolf]

You live where I live. There's only #1 copper and # 2 copper. You strip or burn it. If plastic is on it not worth anything

[@TinManScrapper]

Actually there is also #3 copper. Not sure where you live exactly, but check out Zubicks in London. Appliance wire has plastic type of coating and worth either 40% or 60% appliance wire.

[@damwolf]

In the states. And in a town so crooked it's funny

[@damwolf]

Unless you have over 200lbs of bare bright they will only give #1 price

[@walterpacheco-ru6kj]

With my granulator, I strip it all

[@TinManScrapper]

Nice, if you can and given the price of copper it can be worth it. It does depend on the scrapper and price vs. time vs. tools.

[@walterpacheco-ru6kj]

@TinManScrapper With my granulator machine, I do 125 pounds an hour. I just turned in 1200 pounds. At a price of $3.40 a pound not bad for 6 1/2 hours work.

[@j.crandom2077]

amazing work and great info but why not get ya self a auto wire stripper make your life better

[@TinManScrapper]

I have drill powered one. It does the job

[@youvashekel6509]

The irony of it all is if you had a granulator everything would be worth fast $$ greetings from, Europe 👍

[@TinManScrapper]

Hello Youva. I just wish North America did not waste as much resources as we do. We really need to look at Europe as an example, as you guys have a great way of conserving and reducing waste.

[@youvashekel6509]

@@TinManScrapper that is so true buddy, but you are doing good, I recycle all of my wire her in the Capital of Oslo, Norway 🇳🇴 😊👍

[@TinManScrapper]

@@youvashekel6509 thank you. I have done a lot of research on Europe an recycling. Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, etc have an amazing and efficient system. I am trying to do my part and educate my students at school about reducing waste and the importance of our environment. Stay well and thanks again.

[@MrRussian187]

scraping is not profitable anyways so might as well strip all wire you can and if you got stripper you just must be lazy

[@TinManScrapper]

No not lazy. Too busy. Also, the copper strands are too small to fit into the stripper. I scrap also because I hate seeing the reusable materials going into the landfill.

[@thaisoverthehill]

Darn waist of time. Didn't say anything about automotive wire. Or like 2/0 copper

[@TinManScrapper]

Sorry if you didn’t like it. There is a lot of wire out there, tried to give people some common ones.