Motors, Worth the effort?

I just stripped a condenser motor, (fan motor for outside ac unit).
Starting weight was 12 pounds. At my yard they give $0.20 a pound.
After about ten minutes I ended up with 2.25 pounds of #2 copper, thus leaving 9.75 pounds in steel scrap.



Motor as is would be worth $2.40
Cleaned the copper comes out to $7.31 at current yard prices.
Left over steel is worth $0.98
So in about ten minutes I now have $8.29 in total scrap worth.
That comes out to 5.89 profit for cleaning the motor.
So in an hour I will have made $35.34, not bad for standing in my work shop having coffee.

Yep. Well worth the effort. I like to let them pile up a bit as doing several in a row is even more effecient. I just wish that I could get my hands on more of them. It is actually worth buying them at the same price the yard pays for them.

thanks injunjoe. I always thought it wasnt worth it, but after reading this ill be tearing my motors apart.

My "real job" is working in an electric motor factory in Juarez Mexico. Here at the plant, we press the stators (the part with the copper wire) out of the motor shell and then we have build a maching that cuts the end coils off one end of the winding. The rest is pulled out of the slots from the other end.

We recover about 3,000 lbs. of copper each month from the defective motors and received #2 copper price for the laquerred wire. If it's worth doing to a corparation, it should be for an individual scrapper as well.

Originally Posted by c4f5

A guy about needs to do a few & figure up for himself which is more profitable. I am only getting $2.25 for the copper, $.075 for the steel, or $.34 for whole motors, so for me they are not worth breaking down.

For the same example motor, I am getting $5.06 for the copper, and $.73 for the steel, a total of $5.79, OR $4.08 to turn in the whole motor. That's $1.71 to tear apart the motor.

If I am tearing down 6 identical motors per hour, like you, that's 10.26 an hour to break them down. When I compare that to about $500 per hour profit to save them up and turn in a pickup load, breaking them down does not pay nearly enough to cover my tools and time, not to mention utilities, and the time & vehicle usage used in colletion and delivery, and any cash I had to kick out to buy it in the first place.

As it sit's right now, my "disassembly pile" is about 8 tons high. If that ever gets reduce to a managable point, I might quickly change my tune on the $10 per hour to tear down motors.

I wish my day to day financial situation allowed me to save up the copper to haul to further to get paid better for it, but sadly, it doesn't.

Very interesting and thanks for your numbers on this. It makes a big difference. My numbers around here are very similar to the OP, so definately worth the effort for me.

Originally Posted by c4f5

A guy about needs to do a few & figure up for himself which is more profitable. I am only getting $2.25 for the copper, $.075 for the steel, or $.34 for whole motors, so for me they are not worth breaking down.

For the same example motor, I am getting $5.06 for the copper, and $.73 for the steel, a total of $5.79, OR $4.08 to turn in the whole motor. That's $1.71 to tear apart the motor.

If I am tearing down 6 identical motors per hour, like you, that's 10.26 an hour to break them down. When I compare that to about $500 per hour profit to save them up and turn in a pickup load, breaking them down does not pay nearly enough to cover my tools and time, not to mention utilities, and the time & vehicle usage used in colletion and delivery, and any cash I had to kick out to buy it in the first place.

As it sit's right now, my "disassembly pile" is about 8 tons high. If that ever gets reduce to a managable point, I might quickly change my tune on the $10 per hour to tear down motors.

I wish my day to day financial situation allowed me to save up the copper to haul to further to get paid better for it, but sadly, it doesn't.

Well my friend your numbers are not clear but seems like you are getting jacked on the the copper price to start with.

I am not posting this information to confuse folks, yet I post to show the true value of a little hard work and the end result! I take chicken feathers and make chicken soup!

To me it is a easy way to make money while in the comfort of my own lodgings! No people involved, just convert one product into even more profitable product.

Simple as that! No BS from people just profit while I relax with my tools at home!!!

c4f5, I didnt think my situation allowed me to save up that copper either til I saw a guy at the yard bring in a tub full of stripped copper his payday was about 300 bucks for the one container full! Now I strip electrical cords and save every piece of copper i find! I want that big payday myself! just sayin!

woops...should reword that...although I could make a lot more money if I did the "other" kind of stripping. I don't mind getting literally dirty but not that kind of dirty.

Hello c4f5 and skipRat Your right c4, there are many people in the country and on this forum struggling. Im 54 and have lost it all in the last 36 months. How ever a truer set of words
have never been spoken , from skipRat than the words of The Don;t Quit Poem I;ve been sharing it with others for some 33 plus years. And was I ever greateful to see them tonight .I to am stuggling beyond what I ever could have imagined. None the less those words keep me hanging in there. Just in case skipRat you gave the short version of the poem for expiedency here;s the rest of the story.


WHEN THINGS GO WRONG AS THEY SOMETIMES WILL
AND THE ROAD YOUR TRUDGING SEEMS ALL UPHILL
WHEN THE FUNDS ARE LOW AND THE DEBTS ARE HIGH
AND YOU WANT TO SMILE BUT CAN ONLY SIGH
WHEN CARE IS PRESSING YOU DOWN A BIT
REST IF YOU MUST BUT DON;T YOU QUIT
LIFE IS QUEER WITH ITS TWIST AND TURNS
AS EVERYONE OF US SOMETIMES LEARNS
AND MANY A FAILURE TURNS ABOUT
WHEN THEY MIGHT HAVE WON HAD THEY STUCK IT OUT
SUCCESS IS FAILURE TURNED INSIDE OUT
THE SILVER TINT OF THE CLOUDS OF DOUBT
AND YOU NEVER CAN TELL HOW CLOSE YOU ARE
IT MAY BE NEAR WHEN IT SEEMS SO FAR
DON;T GIVE UP THOUGH THE PACE SEEMS SLOW
YOU MAY SUCCEED WITH ANOTHER BLOW
SO STICK TO THE FIGHT WHEN YOUR HARDEST HIT
IT;S WHEN THINGS SEEM THE WORST
THAT YOU MUST NOT QUIT

Your welcome.

Oh one more point c4, you are getting screwed on scrap prices, were are you from a third world country?

Originally Posted by c4f5

On the down side, I do have to cut the cases off of refrigerant compressors to get motor price for the innards

Wow, that is the hardest part! You are cutting open the compressor yet selling the thing as a motor? Are you sure? Did I read this right?

You have scrapping all F'ed up!

Which part is unclear?

Yes I am....with no vaseline. Don't even get dinner or a kiss first.

2 miles from my nearest neighbor and 20 miles from town. Town is 500 miles from anywhere.

Yes, you read it right, and 30 seconds with the torch, 5 more seconds with a cutter....not too tough.

Originally Posted by c4f5

Which part is unclear?

Yes I am....with no vaseline. Don't even get dinner or a kiss first.

2 miles from my nearest neighbor and 20 miles from town. Town is 500 miles from anywhere.

Yes, you read it right, and 30 seconds with the torch, 5 more seconds with a cutter....not too tough.

I'm with c4 when it comes to motors, for the most part. My prices for copper and steel don't make up for the time it takes me to disassemble. Of course, whenever I come across something big enough I go ahead and rip into it.

It is very subjective.

Originally Posted by TheIrrationalist

Of course, whenever I come across something big enough I go ahead and rip into it.

It is very subjective.

Right! If I have a big motor, and estimate that it will net me 10 pounds of copper, and I think I can tear it down in a reasonable time frame, I'll do it, but these are few and far between for me.

I'm stripping more also.....don't like the insulated or motor price !