Stripping SWA - any quick methods

[gazdkw82]

iv got a large amount of 4 core 10mm SWA to Weigh in.

Iv never took copper to a waste site before to get weighed in.

Few questions

Do they take the steel armouring too?
Is it actually worth stripping?
Has anyone used brownhills before?
Is there any quick ways to strip? It's took me ages to strip about 60 metres

 

[telectrix]

save it till the price goes up. it's down to under £3/kilo bare copper atm.

 

[gazdkw82]

Ok cool.

So is it worth stripping? What's the price difference generally?

 

[westward10]

You are always going to get a higher value if the copper is seperated from ferrous metals.

 

[telectrix]

about double the price for bare copper as opposed to insulated.

 

[rsgaz]

4 core 10mm SWA to Weigh in

So, that weighs 998 grams per metre.

40mm² * 1000mm * density of copper per mm cubed = 358 grams per metre of copper

If you bin the steel, PVC and PE, you just threw away 64% of it's weight.

• So, if the scrap dealer is only paying double for bright copper/kg vs the SWA/kg as is, you just lost money by stripping it.
• If the dealer is paying 2.77 times, it's a tie, but you just wasted an awful lot of time/effort and now have a load of cr@p to get rid of.
• If they are paying triple, you gained 8% by stripping it, but was it really worth all the effort and rubbish you've now got to dispose of?

The steel is practically worthless in that sort of quantity and not worth calculating.

Moral of the story - Don't bother stripping scrap cable!!!!!

 

[davesparks]

So, that weighs 998 grams per metre.

40mm² * 1000mm * density of copper per mm cubed = 358 grams per metre of copper

If you bin the steel, PVC and PE, you just threw away 64% of it's weight.

• So, if the scrap dealer is only paying double for bright copper/kg vs the SWA/kg as is, you just lost money by stripping it.
• If the dealer is paying 2.77 times, it's a tie, but you just wasted an awful lot of time/effort and now have a load of cr@p to get rid of.
• If they are paying triple, you gained 8% by stripping it, but was it really worth all the effort and rubbish you've now got to dispose of?

The steel is practically worthless in that sort of quantity and not worth calculating.

Moral of the story - Don't bother stripping scrap cable!!!!!

The scrap dealers around here pay around 40% of bright for PVC insulated and around 20% of bright for armoured.

 

[rsgaz]

around 20% of bright for armoured.

So five times the value for stripping it would be worth it, because you'll add 80% (5/2.77 in this case) value to what you already had. Still seems like a lot of effort though, depends on how quickly/efficiently you can strip it I guess.

 

[davesparks]

So five times the value for stripping it would be worth it, because you'll add 80% value to what you already had. Still seems like a lot of effort though, depends on how quickly/efficiently you can strip it I guess.

For me it depends on the size of the cable, the bigger it is the more likely I am to bother stripping it.

 

[Generator]

so, if I wanted a length of 10mm armoured, could I get it for next to nowt from a scrap dealer? Seems such a waste to strip it!