scrap copper: what do you do with yours?

[long-pass]

my mate seems to think i would get a lot more money for my scrap copper if i removed all the brass fittings and olives and cut out all the solder joints and just had a pure copper pile.is this true? it seems like a lot of work (especially as it builds up) but is it worth doing? he even said to clean the paint off the pipes. is he pulling my leg? cheers in advance

 

[SimonJohns]

Yes it can be. Depends on your scrap merchant and if they care

 

[Simon F]

it is true you will get more for copper on its own,
whether you are particularly that bothered is your call
if you have some spare time, its something to do.

 

[Barry98]

i keep a bucket in van and just strip it down as i go. dont mess about removing paint though

 

[dontknowitall]

I leave mine with the customer or if I'm due to see my mate in the next few days, then I keep it and give it to him.

I'm probably odd but to be honest I don't want heaps of other people's rubbish lying around my van/house.

 

[SimonG]

I have three piles, copper, brass and heavy. Occasionaly a bit of lead as well. Can't be chewed past that.

 

[dancinplumba]

i cut off all brass an weigh em in seperately. i dont remove soldered joints

 

[JCplumb]

Agreed, it's worth seperating brass and lead if you have a fair amount to take to the scrappers.

 

[Leo21]

Led to believe 20% more if stripped into copper, brass and soldered fittings removed. I drop it to my dad who strips it weighs it in and we go halves. Oh and removing paint, no way.

 

[billychuff]

i take off the brass, but no need to take off the olives. Their not that strict

 

[grahamgas]

I seperate mine into two groups.
All clean copper is put into one group ie no soldered fittings or olives, and any pipe with solder or olives goes into the other group.All rad valves, showers, taps etc goes in as mixed brass
At my scrappy it does make a difference, just before xmas clean copper was £4.10 a kg and braziery copper, with solder and paint on etc was £3.10 a kg. So as you can see it soon does add up.

graham

 

[ADM360]

strip mine right down, several bags and buckets, cut all soldered joints off as close as to joint, strip all brass fittings to the point of stripping olives off, end up with- clean copper, mixed soldered and brass olives I can't get off, brass, taps, a bag of aluminium can I crush up and any other aluminium, then a bucket of rubbish- rad brakes and other metal!

there can be several hundred pounds between clean copper and mixed/ dirty!

but you do need to point it out to the scrappy as some will try and. lump it all on the scales at once!

it can be worth doing! I had a tidy out in the van the other day split it up and droped it off on the way round to get rid and best part of a £100, and that was just couple of small bags!

 

[Rickster123]

I separate mine into 2 piles, one for the tax man and one for the ex wife..... I'm not bitter!

 

[scotty plumber]

Simon made a fair point in saying if they care as i believe that my scrap merchant does not as when i asked him if i should strip it down/clean etc he said it does not matter to him and the money will just be the same

 

[Kyle87]

Someone ran a red light and ruined my car. Should I do a job with angle grinder and take a few loads to scrappy or just get it towed to the scrap yard intact??

 

[Rickster123]

View attachment 6489

Someone ran a red light and ruined my car. Should I do a job with angle grinder and take a few loads to scrappy or just get it towed to the scrap yard intact??

A lucky escape there matey!

 

[Best]

Be wary of scrap men who are not fussy if the scrap is a bit mixed, as they are probably giving you less per kilo than others!
Real easy to do the least amount by cutting off soldered & brass fittings & painted or badly corroded pipe, so that you have pure copper for top dollar, & the rest for brazery.
Last time I priced scrap, the pure copper was £4.60 kilo & brazery ( they called just "copper" ) was only 0.30 pence less. Still adds up if you have a spare bit of time though.
Don't forget old car batteries, s.steel sinks, etc.

 

[Kyle87]

Yea I'm just glad the Missus wasn't in the car...... She's pregnant!

And it was my late grandads car so that sucks too.
I just gota deal with the hunk of metal on the driveway now. I mite break a few parts if I can find people who want them. Th tow bar can go on eBay, what about the rest? Is it more valuable to take to a scrappy intact or should I cut the sheet metal off???

 

[Rickster123]

Yea I'm just glad the Missus wasn't in the car...... She's pregnant!

And it was my late grandads car so that sucks too.
I just gota deal with the hunk of metal on the driveway now. I mite break a few parts if I can find people who want them. Th tow bar can go on eBay, what about the rest? Is it more valuable to take to a scrappy intact or should I cut the sheet metal off???

Insurance won't pay out then mate?

 

[Kyle87]

It's all going through the process. Wasn't my fault and first thing I did was got the cops there to exchange details properly. So her insurance will have to pay. Haven't touched the car yet because I'm not sure what happens next. Playing it by ear

 

[smtplumbing]

scrap if it you get to keep it cut the cat off take the alloys of take the battery in extra for these bits

 

[snowden]

It's all going through the process. Wasn't my fault and first thing I did was got the cops there to exchange details properly. So her insurance will have to pay. Haven't touched the car yet because I'm not sure what happens next. Playing it by ear

Usually the insurance company will take your car and pay you out. or they will give you a pay out less the scrap value of your car if you decide to scrap it yourself.

My guess would be £800 for the car minus £200 scrap so £600 payout. Or let them take it off your hands and get the £800.

If they pay you out full market value and let you keep the wrecked car then you're actually in a better financial situation than you were before the crash and insurers dont like that.

 

[westyvip]

I seperate my copper into 98% and braizery. Basically 98% means you can leave all soldered fittings and paint on and you still get only a fraction less than the clean price. Surely your time is worth more than the £10-£20 extra you might get from stripping all soldered fittings and paint. Braizery is all the copper with rad valves on, gate valves and compression fittings. It has to have a decent amount of copper still on it so its not classed as just brass. Get really good price for this too as it can get quite heavy!

 

[gavinwilson]

if you buy it back from insurance and have the space strip down completely doors,seats etc and ebay it prob make more money than scrapping it ,if you can be bothered that is.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

if you buy it back from insurance and have the space strip down completely doors,seats etc and ebay it prob make more money than scrapping it ,if you can be bothered that is.

and have the space to store it all

 

[Best]

Scrap values 2 days ago here were - per kilo, Lead £1.10, Brass £2.80, stripped copper wire £4.65, Copper £4.45, Brazery £4.30.
I guess the 15 pence difference between copper & brazery means it probably isn't worth separating clean copper as the odd brass fitting will add weight anyhow.

 

[smtplumbing]

there is cable strippers online saves you hours stripping the cable. also is weird how it works up here in scotland

 

[dwgas]

Is everyone aware that all income from scrap is taxable and you now need ID<driving license> to sell your scrap.

 

[SimonG]

Yep

 

[stevetheplumber]

Simon made a fair point in saying if they care as i believe that my scrap merchant does not as when i asked him if i should strip it down/clean etc he said it does not matter to him and the money will just be the same

they will say that as they then clean it and up the value by half again thats why they spend thousands on electric shears and wire striping machines it bneeds to be in three bags clean copper is nothing but copper braizery is copper with solder on but no brass brass is brass when you take it in uncleaned the y put it in as mixed and usually give you a price between brass and braizeery
if you take all the brass of a cylinder including the imersion heater out youll get at least 30% more for it it goes in as braizery i normally knock a big hole in the top and as i cut soldered joints of drop them inside it saves another sack