What is Your Single Favorite Item to Scrap?

If you could pickup and scrap any single one item all day, every day, what would it be? Cars, Machinery, Electronics, Appliances, Furnaces. Im not necessarily talking about just monetary value either but something you enjoy doing and make fair wages with.



For me I think it would be air conditioners. I wouldn't mind Collecting, Evacuating and Disassembling Ac's. As long as the weather is nice I enjoy working outside and air conditioners are a decent pay day.

So what would you choose if you could?

Computers! I don't pull a lot of them in but its always a surprise to see what is hiding underneath that cover. Never know if its going to be a giant heat sink or a butt ton of ram. Or maybe a Pentium pro.

Last month I was dismantling these metal halide warehouse lights...about 1000 of them. Cast aluminum case, plastic lens, MLC and sheet aluminum, copper transformer, and wire. Worked out about $5 each scrap value. Easy to take apart, not too heavy to move, and do 10-12 per hour. I could do those all day every day and be happy.

Aluminum grills and computers

Telephone systems first and computers second.

Old flat screen tv's. These have lbs of low grade, mid grade board, tons of wiring, aluminum framing on inside, aluminum backing, mostly all aluminum and no steel. Got 15lbs of al out of some, also heat sinks and Ic's a million! Little to no trash, now they make these out of plastic and steel and they are junk

I love computers. I cracked one open I found at a flea market for 5 bucks. Apperantly old gamer and was able to net 200 in used parts..he he. Also vintage arcade boards are quite nice...100 a board untested. I love pinball machines

Computers or washers and dryers or dishwashers

Microwaves would be my favorite because they are fast and easy and most people are scared to touch them.

Printers would be my least favorite because they take sooooo much time.

Wire. Fastest buck you'll make in scrapping. Easy on the back too. But when comes down to it, I love scrapping anything.

Miller and Lincoln welders, transmission and rotor cores, appliances like nice frost free refrigerators, washer and dryer combo's.

The miller welders are a tricky buy they have a habit of splitting one of the stator rings if this happened you may not have much in the way of scrap copper as the Millers used aluminium windings, but if the stator rings are in good shape then I dive into the welder further most of the time I'll find a broken wire on one of the two rectifier diode package making this a cheap fix.

Older Lincoln welders after sitting idle for years may loose their residule magnesium and will not produce a welding current, this is an easy fix all you need to do is flash the exciter field with a 12 volt battery. If the engine is seized from rain water making its way into the engine through the exhaust system and the engine has not been frozen and cracked I'll often rebuild the little Continental engine.

Frost free fridges most often quit cooling in the lower compartment because of a defrost timer failure, these used to cost me less than $30.00 but these new electronic times could run you a hundred bucks or more so its always best to search ebay for new old stock. I have changed out the odd compressor but with the new regulations on freon will not encourage you do to this.

Cloths dryers a favourite, usually just a broken belt needs replacing, a funky lid switch can render a washing machine inoperable or perhaps a sock or a pair of panties made it over the top of the wash tub finding its way into the water pump. All easy cheap fixes.

I was always on the hunt and my list to watch out for, the larger rental yards always had a bone yard from which they're willing to sell from.

I do not have any particular item I favour over another, it's the people who I deal with that can make or break my day.